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Jeanette Winterson ~ Written on the Body.
Changed my whole perspective on everything. She has an amazing gift for altering time and blending sexuality so you don't know where (timewise) the book is happening or what sex the narrator is. It's a treat to read the same book twice and get a completely different story the second time around.
The Bible has changed my life. Chronicling the life of God incarnate (and the 330 documented prophecies prior to His birth), it has revealed more truth about life than any book ever written. Since I have learned of Jesus Christ, no book has ever satisified me in the same way. Learn about God through Jesus. Read His inspired Word -- the Bible.
These aren't necessarily my favorite books now, but for whatever reason they clicked with me when I discovered them. A lot of them seemed almost to change how my brain worked when I first encountered them: authors that are good enough can almost change how you percieve the world, at least for a while.
Art of Writing Poetry - William Packard
Interesting book that introduced me to the idea of literature, and had a very comprehensive reading list that guided my reading when I knew nothing of books.
ABC of Reading - Ezra Pound
Not the best influence on me, I think, but there's a lot in this strange book.
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Mere Christianity - C.S.Lewis
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Down and Out in Paris and London and Essays - George Orwell
The best first hand reporting and essay writing I've ever read.
Understanding Power - Noam Chomsky
Even if you don't agree with him on all points, he's got a extremely cohesive and thought-provoking view of the world, and is extremely, mind-bogglingly knowlegdable.
I am Right, You are Wrong: From this to the New Renaissance - Edward De Bono
Very unusual book, based on new ways of using the brain, apparently.
Walden Pond - H.D.Thoreau
The Discourses - Epictetus
Incredible philosophy on how to live - not the one I follow though!
Ancient Wisdom, Modern World - the Dalai Lama
A really sane, practical method to a happer life: my first real introduction to Buddhism, though this book is not specifically Buddhist.
Aside from the Scriptures, which in some ways has changed me, all books that I have read, even the dreadful ones have still changed me, or rather added something to my way of perceiving the world and in fact different worlds. For each person lives in his or her little world which although appearing the same as others really is quite different; the reason being the players are different.So yes all books I have read.
I heartily nominate the following:
Thus Spake Zarathustra (Friedrich Nietzsche)
The Dictionary (Merriam Webster)
The Skilled Helper (Gerard Egan)
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Essays (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
In 1962 I began my final year of high school in Canada; 44 years later I am now retired and living in Australia. In a rough calculation over those 44 years, I have read approximately 10,000 books, 20,000 articles; 15,000 poems and parts of unnumbered print resources(not counting cereal boxes and other consumer trivia). When I look back at my life, a reading life which began 59 years ago at the age of 3, reading has had an influence far in excess of TV, radio and the general print and electronic media, all of which I enjoy. To name one book or even half a dozen as favorites/most influential, though, would be like picking my favorite word, sentence, paragraph, phrase, letter, atomic particle, star or one of the billions of stars/suns in the universe. It is an interesting question to ponder, though, for a few seconds. I think this is the best response I can make to this issue/question/topic.-Ron Price, Tasmania.
Peter Singer's Animal Liberation had the greatest immediate impact on me (I became vegan overnight after reading it).
As for fiction, Ayn Rand had the greatest impact on my life, "Nine Stories" by Salinger had the greatest impact on my writing.
Camus's The Stranger, Orwell's 1984, Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, and (I'm not kidding) Stephen King's novella The Long Walk also stand out in my life.
I've tried a dozen times, but I just can't force myself to enjoy "Heart of Darkness."
Mitch Albom's Tuesdays With Morrie.
Which book has most affected/changed my life?
The next one.
Adso,
as you mentioned shattering I must say the book that eradicates all your previous views is perhaps the best example of what is art...The basic component of one"s ideology and so on...And to share my experience...I would categorically state that "Idiot "by Dostoevski is the most proper example...In fact what is revulsion in one's worldview indicates the value of the work..."idiot"if not for anything else makes you feel undisturbed in your towers of insanity...And if I must present the content of this book by few words only according to me...it sounds like this:"Dare to follow your believes, if the price is your insanity in the eyes of the others than let it be..." I highly recommend this book...and the author undoubtedly...
And...Forgot to mention- A kind of bad taste to even discuss the impact of all the works of Niezsche...Not to aknowledge his influence on the deeply encrouched notion of individuality is without doubt a matter of infantility...For those who mentioned "1984" by Orwell- aperson must be completely insensitive to the world around him if he/she were not to appreciate this masterpiece,so I join you in this example
Wonderful thread. I am always interested to read answers to this question, and this thread does not dissapoint. My answer is as this fellow below me mentions: I have none in particular.
Then again, perhaps those of us who do not have an answer to this one haven't read the right books yet.
At your age, sir, I can only hope to have been as well-read as you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Price
- A fellow Canadian, though over fourty-years your junior.
Arthur W. Pink's The Attributes of God read 1972 helped me form the basis of my Biblical beliefs. Emphasis on the sovereignty of God and my responsibilites towards him to worship intelligently and from the heart and I plead a lifelong struggle to be 'from the heart' and not the head.
Note to Vampire Kari--checked my bookshelf and there is was: Phantom by Susan Kay--read it when it first came out (but did not remember who wrote it) and loved it for an intelligent well reasoned out life of Erik taken from what Gaston Leroux chose to reveal. In a similar vein (if you can find it) try The Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen--you'll never read Stoker's Dracula the same way twice.
"Siddartha" by Herman Hesse - I liked the part on singleminded focus. This is something I have tried to cultivate all my life. I'm getting there but a bit slower than I want to. I believe that greatness needs two things, one - the ability to focus and two - the ability to forget about everything else.The second chapter is a brilliant treatise on dedication and commitment.
Nausea by Sartre, The Outsider (L'Etranger) by Camus, and Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson made me think more than most - I suppose they 'changed my life'.