"Omg! That book changed my life!"

Hello everyone!

Since i'm new here i thought i'd give it a try and start a new thread.

Curently i'm looking for some interesting books to read, that would, perhaps, alter my perspective on things (i'm still in a sort of accumulation process at the moment...).

So what i'd like to know is: what book(s) have changed your life (if any), making you look at things in a different way?

My personal example... I've read "The name of the rose" (by Umberto Eco) and "A century of loneliness" (by G. Garcia Marquez... i hope this was the exact translation of the title). This two books that i found to be very entertaining have brought me, at a random point in my life, to a state of meditation, making me think of some aspects i had neglected before...

Anyway, i'd really like to know you're opinion... So don't be shy! :D

5 views and no replies... Looks like nobody's had any life shattering experiences concerning books here...

Hi Adso, welcome

From where I see it, every (good) book you read alters your perspective on things. Some in a big way, others in much smaller, sutil way. Life shattering experiences concerning books are personal, nothing guarantees that you'll experience the same thing than others did. If you're looking for good reading material, check the other threads (and maybe even the archive pages), there's plenty of examples there.:)

I think you don't have many replies cos I'm sure there was at least one other topic about this... look for it and check it out! :)

The book that changed my life is American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I was recommended it at a bookstore in Switzerland and rolled my eyes at the recommendation. I bought and read it anyway. The book, though it has strongly anticapitalist themes, made me want to go to become a yuppie. Because of that book I forced myself to do better in school, which led to my acceptance (less than a week ago) to one of the best undergraduate business programs in the world. :D

I haven't read the book, but loved the movie though. I don't know if it's supposed to be scary or anything, but it made laugh my *** off. The music criticism is hilarious. :D

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Originally posted by crisaor
I haven't read the book, but loved the movie though. I don't know if it's supposed to be scary or anything, but it made laugh my *** off. The music criticism is hilarious. :D

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Yeah, it was very funny. The book made me laugh out loud so much more though. It's one of the only books that ever made me laugh out loud uncontrollably. It includes two or three chapters about music which are funny. :D

1984 (Orwell) changed my life, as did J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I'll have to check out American Psycho. Also, there is a good book called "The Holy Man," (a parable) the author of which escapes me.

Illusions by richard bach...such a fresh, golden way of looking at life; esp. liked "...everything you read in this book may have been wrong." so stunning and lovely in the context it was written :)

Thanks for the replies everybody!

I was just wondering... I heard that a perspective-changing book is "Walden" by David Thoreau. Has anyone here read it? Any opinions?

I slept through it. Hard to do with a book ;)

I never had to read that book, but I remember I had to read something by Thoreau, and after about 1 or 2 pages, I decided to skip it. I wonder why I got C's and D's in my high school lit classes...

Few books which I think have changed my perspective (not my life though) are 100 years of Science Fiction (edited by Damon Knight), Sophie's World (Jostein Gardner), ans those Holmes stories (Sir Arthur C. D.)

I've always wanted to answer such a self-indulgent question, heh. Three novels come to mind, that have changed my life and how I see the world
'Nineteen Eighty-Four' by George Orwell
'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' by James Joyce
and most recently, 'In the Skin of a Lion' by Michael Ondaatje
which becomes more amazing every time I read it.

Every book I've ever read, has changed me in some way.

The 'rat scene' in American Pyscho was great.