The Outsider - Camus
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Both read in the space of the last 3 months.
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The Outsider - Camus
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs
Both read in the space of the last 3 months.
"Cold New World"....can't remember the author. The author spends time living with American families with kids who are in gangs, or are drug dealers, or other things like that and reveals how nearly impossible it is for kids who are born into poverty and living in certain cities with not-so-promising schools to avoid becoming invovled in the world of crime.
"Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich (sp) had a huge effect on me. Ehrenreich abandoned her home and the money she had made writing (temporarily), pretended like she only had a high school education, and started looking for the best jobs she could find with that education and paying for her living expenses with the money she made. She wouldn't go to her private doctor and would rely solely on what she earned and what benefits she got from the jobs she found...the only thing she kept was her car. The results were incredible...she worked at a Wal-Mart, as a Merry Maid (house cleaning service) and as a waitress, each time in a different state. She could barely afford to rent the crummiest of apartments, had to rely on food stamps, and was amazed to learn that her co-workers were living in their cars and had children! She was forced to quit her experiment at one point because she got so sick she had to give in and see her doctor, and that meant she couldn't work for a while...so she couldn't continue to rent her apartment....imagine if she hadn't had that to fall back on...
Agree with subterranean, Sophies world really changes your way of seeing things. Otherwise, I have to say Kris (crisis) by a swedish writer, Karin Boye.
Anarchism: What it Really Stands For by Emma Goldman (this is actually a pamphlet, not a book, but I don't care).
A Tale of Two Cities by Chaz Dickens
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (not very much, but it changed my life).
The Men Who Climbed by Marjorie Pickthal (actually a short story)
Till We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity-C.S. Lewis
So Much More-Elizabeth and Anna Sofia Botkin
And, of course, the Bible.
All for various and almost obvious reasons. Till We Have Faces is amazing in that it shows the emptiness that life can have and that this void can be filled.
Every book I have read changed my life in some way or another. However, if I were to pick one book that had the greatest influence on me, it would be Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. In my opinion, Elizabeth Bennet is close to perfect, and I aspire to be like her. She's almost always collected, quick-witted, well-mannered and dignified. She makes mistakes, of course, but that's only human.
Also, Self-Reliance by Emerson has had a great influence on my life. The text is really dry, but it is thought provoking.
I've been religious since childhood, but my the Episcopal Christianity of my youth felt too burdened by fear to inspire my adult actions.
Then I encountered the Bhagavad-gita and my soul soared. Reading it not make me non-Christian, but it gave me a perspective that I felt came closer to that of Jesus and the early apostles, to whom Jesus taught a simple doctrine of the Way, which is remarkably similar to what Krishna teaches to Arjuna in the Gita.
The Gita has much specific information about the soul, and various ways to elevate one's thoughts and conciousness, culminating in pure loving devotion to the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead.
Hi,
I'm new too. This is like my second post.
Brave New World by Huxley made a big impression on me.
And strangely enough there is this little book called "Inventing Elliot".
Do anyone having any thoughts on this book.
i would have to say 1984 by george orwell,not that it changed my life just it had a huge impression on the way i think.
I was just about to say the same thing. Though, I keep wondering if I really am being watched all of the time. You can never be sure, can you?Quote:
Originally Posted by THX-1138
Quote:
Originally Posted by kheldar
oh i also loved Brave New World, just read it for 11th grade Eng Lit a few months ago and its scary how similar it is to today, even more so then 1984 i thought. really made an impression on me.
Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut also changed the way i view the world...it was so surreal yet made such sense. I just think of people a different way now.
I think all books have some impact on me. But the once I'll never forget and made me feel like a different person...
Black Beauty (I read it when I was 9 and then about 20 times after that and it's the only book I have loved and don't own. I don't remember the authors name)
Machbeth by Shakespeare (read it when I was 12 and fell in love with Will S.)
The Collector by John Fowles (read it for school and it is my fav book ever, it's so beautyful! I bought all of his books and his biography)
don't remember any more....
qu'ran,......
Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams. It gave me an odd sense of humour.
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman; Walden, Henry David Thoreau; On The Road, Jack Keroauc; Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller
:)