NationStates Jolt Archive

Books can have amazing power: To entertain, to educate and, rarely, change our very perspective of the world. Which ones have done this to you? I offer animal Farm, by George Orwell, which first made me determined to become active in the realm of world events and politics at age 11:) , when I first read it, and Under the Sea Wind, by Rachel Carson, which taught me to appreciate the world we live in and to find ways to help take care of it.

And you?

I read 1984 when I was about 9 and it creeped me out. These days thinking about it creeps me out even more.


I think the book that has had the most positive effect on me is actually a self help book, it taught me that I can control how I think, and how I feel about things, that nobody but me is responsible for my feelings. That was a good book.

"1984" by George Orwell. "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. "Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller (OK, so I read the text of it, still counts).

They're the first few that spring to mind.

Jane Eyre. It broke my heart.

Z for Zachariah

A forced read in 4th grade that 1) set off my love for reading (and I read a LOT) 2) scared the HELL out of me ... I was scared that the entire planet was going to die at any moment for about two years

I guess reading Kafka made me something of a paranoid middle-school student.. but nah, no one book has really changed my outlook on things.. not even the Bible, since I had been brought up in that culture (as most of us are), and had been taught along those lines for a decade before I was really capable of reading the Book itself on my own, so..

1984 when I read it a long time ago. more recently, Das Kapital by Karl Marx. It's very hard to look uncritically at capitalism after reading that.

A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard, both by James Frey.

Selected Poems by E. E. Cummings made me a writer.

Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright changed my perspective on the world.

My most fascinating recent read was Che: A Revolutionary Life. It didn't change my life in any way--rather, it reinforced my belief that the most dangerous people in any given situation are the true believers.

The Cat in the Hat

And you?

"Goodnight, Mr Tom," (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/058231965X/qid=1131504952/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_11_3/202-5448543-9195009) by Michelle Magorian.

I was greatly influenced by The Fountainhead - yea, it's a shoddy work of fiction but the philosophical undertones helped lead me to become libertarian.

Foucault's Pendulum, which made me intrigued in all religions, cultures, and ancient history, and led me to dabble in the world of psychedelic drugs

Selected Poems by E. E. Cummings made me a writer.


e.e. cummings, I'm sure you mean? :p

I can't say that any book has really affected me significantly. I did read parts of Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread and Berkman's ABCs of Anarchism that more or less solidified my decision to become an anarchism, though I was already on that path before I read them.

Lord of the Flies --senior year in highschool....deep down we are all savages, still on of my favorite books, just haven't had tiime to read it in soooo long

The Hot Zone-- made me want to work at the CDC and play with the viruses

The Cat in the Hat

I agree. I thought 1984 was shit though. If I'd have been Smith I would have begged to join the party again after Whathisname revealed that the other guy was the leader. Yeah, like a leader of a revolutionry group would get a regular ten-minute spot on the news every morning. There were so many ways for him to vanish, and he took none of them. Idiot.

e.e. cummings, I'm sure you mean? :p
Common mistake--the one you made, I mean. :D

'Heart of Darkness' Joseph Conrad

'Of Mice and Men' John Steinbeck

'Das Boot' Lothar Gunther Buchheim

'The Exorcist' William Peter Blatty

For me, I'd have to say either Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson or The Bridge to Teribithia (sorry if I spelled that wrong). The first one, I guess, made me love reading and showed me that even the smallest of us can accomplish great things, especially with a few friends. The second made me value friends more ever since I read it in fourth grade. Oh, and I'd have to say The Golden Egg Book. I read (or, rather, had it read to me) when I was about 3 or so. Once again, it taught me about the value of friends. The last one I'd have to put down would have to be I Was There. That one showed me the mindset of someone that had lived through WWII and had been in the Hitler youth. I'm not saying that made me agree with the ideals, but it put the author's situation into perspective and I gained an understanding about how someone could be indoctrinated to think the way they did and how society played so much of a role as well. It's an interesting read for anyone that likes things related to WWII or the time period. Strange how so many books can have such profound effects and in so many different ways.

naked lunch by Burroughs .... i dunno if it changed me, i don't feel like being a reefer, i do know it did revolutionize culture in the US and the hippi movement of the 60's. this guy was the first hippi

Lord of the Flies --senior year in highschool....deep down we are all savages, still on of my favorite books, just haven't had tiime to read it in soooo long

I beg to differ - I read it in a different way: we are trained to depend upon authority figures in society, and when those authority figures disappear we grasp onto anybody who carries the mystique of authority, no matter how crazy they may be. A more positive reading of the text: the savagery is not inherent in us, but is produced as a result of the way we have structured society. The boys on the island fall into the trap of trying to create the world that has been inculcated into them in school, not realising that there are other options open to them.

Just finished 1984 and am currently reading A Brave New World. The most important thing I have learned from these books is books are not the suxorz. I'll probably read Jennifer Government next.

I beg to differ - I read it in a different way: we are trained to depend upon authority figures in society, and when those authority figures disappear we grasp onto anybody who carries the mystique of authority, no matter how crazy they may be. A more positive reading of the text: the savagery is not inherent in us, but is produced as a result of the way we have structured society. The boys on the island fall into the trap of trying to create the world that has been inculcated into them in school, not realising that there are other options open to them.

Interesting take on this... i think that both points can be equally argued, but it has been to long for me to respond intelligibly.
*digs out battered copy of the book* grading lab reports can wait....

The Lord of the Flies Helped show me that most people are stupid and will turn on each other in an instant
The Fountainhead - Gave me a political philoshophy to hang my hat on, as opposed to just a general disgust at government
The Prince - Tough love governance and useful advice on things that I never notive until after I've done something stupid, and then look back and realize what I could have done.
Conan the Barbarian - From this series I have learned that all it takes to be successful in a field is finding the right formula for crappy fiction (the same applies to movies and music)

To name a few:

Guns, Germs, and Steel- Jared Diamond
Industrial Society and Its Future - Theodore J. Kaczynski
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny - Robert Wright
Naturalist - Edward O. Wilson

The Alchemist and Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho
Pierced by a Sword by Bud MacFarlane, Jr.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn
The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort
The Cathechism of the Catholic Church by the College of Cardinals, et al.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery


Indeed. This book quite affected me. I felt there were strong similarities (http://unr.edu/homepage/shubinsk/fox.html) between myself and the fox in the book, so much so I ended up getting a tattoo of the the fox (http://www.am-soft.com/images/pfox.jpg).

'Of Mice and Men' John Steinbeck


I couldn't stand that book. It just didn't... Argh! Words can not express my frustration!

naked lunch by Burroughs ....
That book deeply disturbed me... I loved it.

A Kestrel for a Knave (or just Kes) - Barry Hines
A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula LeGuin
L'Etranger (The Outsider) - Albert Camus

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Ken Kesey
Ball Four - Jim Bouton

more or less solidified my decision to become an anarchism,

heh?

EDIT: I'M SOMETIMES DEADLY-CELEBRATION!

For me, I'd say Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Bach.
To be yourself, and not in with the herd.

Stranger in a Strange Land and Job: A Comedy of Justice, both by Robert A. Heinlein, have profoundly affected my outlook on life, particularly in matters of religion/spirituality

"The Elegant Universe", "Fabric of the Cosmos" both by Brian Greene and "Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking.

Heh, obviously, The Bible, and the various books therein. It changed my world view.... :D

Other books? No, none I can really think of. Um...The Good Earth made me realise some things, various Holocaust books are in that catagory too, not anything really. Either I'm not easily influenced, or I don't read enough. :p

I've read far too many books to be able to really say which one impressed me or affected me the most.

A few of them are :

"The diary of Anne Frank"
"The lessons of terror" by Caleb Carr
"Blindness" by Jose Saramago
... and more or less all the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett

My most fascinating recent read was Che: A Revolutionary Life. It didn't change my life in any way--rather, it reinforced my belief that the most dangerous people in any given situation are the true believers.

Well said. Che is one of my heroes. Not because I agree with his philosophy(I don't) but rather because of his dedication to his cause. Anyway, Steinbeck's East of Eden really made me appreciate my family more. And when I was little I read most of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Maybe they weren't the best books in the world, but they did start my obsession with literature.

Oh, and the Satanic Bible.

The Rainbirds or in America it's called Yellow Flowers in the Antipodean Room by Janet Frame. Brilliant New Zealand writer. Started my love for reading.

There are so many good books I've read that changed my outlook on life. It's difficult to point out any specific ones that redirected my life but I'll try:

Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau was quite an interesting and deep read - but be warned, it's quite dry at times.

Interestingly enough, both Syrup and Jennifer Government opened my eyes to the pervasiveness of the marketing sector (I knew it was there before, just didnt realize how pervasive it was).

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Jurassic Park (in Spanish - definately helped me become fluent)
Catch-22

Off the top of my head...

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.
1984 by George Orwell.
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes.
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.

To name a few:

Guns, Germs, and Steel- Jared Diamond
Industrial Society and Its Future - Theodore J. Kaczynski
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny - Robert Wright
Naturalist - Edward O. Wilson
Every time someone starts a thread like this one, I list Wright's book, and no one else has ever done it, to my knowledge. I'm also a fan of Diamond's book, but I'm a little unclear as to why you didn't list Kaczynski's piece by its better known name--The Unabomber Manifesto.

A little plastic book called "ABC". I taught me my alphabet and pretty much showed me how to read. Plus, it tasted good when I sucked at it so I associated in my head reading with good.

The most influential book of them all. Way before all those otherwise fine book you all mentioned.

The Bible

Klaus Kinski - Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund ...

I don´t know what this means in english...

Atlas Shrugged

Books can have amazing power: To entertain, to educate and, rarely, change our very perspective of the world. Which ones have done this to you? I offer animal Farm, by George Orwell, which first made me determined to become active in the realm of world events and politics at age 11:) , when I first read it, and Under the Sea Wind, by Rachel Carson, which taught me to appreciate the world we live in and to find ways to help take care of it.

And you?
The list is long, so I've shortened it here considerably in the interests of brevity:

The Bible, by various writers
The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer
Advise and Consent, by Allen Drury
The Transformation of the Inner Man, by Watchman Nee
One, Two, Three, Infinity, by Issac Asimov
Ideas Have Consequences, by Richard M. Weaver
The Conscious Universe, by Kafatos and Nadeau
The Web of Life, by Frijof Capra
Deep Ecology, by Devall and Sessions
In Search of Deep Time, by Henry Gee
The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene
Frontiers of Complexity, by P. J. E. Peebles
Manual of Zen Buddhisim, by D. T. Suzuki

( and my most recently ordered book ) Imperial Grunts : The American Military on the Ground, by Robert D. Kaplan

... the list goes on. :)

Eut reading about Zen Buddhisim?!

That's like Melkor studying pacifism!

Eut reading about Zen Buddhisim?!

That's like Melkor studying pacifism!
Very funny. Ha. Ha. Verily, my body is wracked with hysterical laughter. :rolleyes:

Every book I've ever read has affected me in one way or another, and altered my perception of the world just a tad. However, the book that springs to mind most readily at this moment is Han Suyin's (http://www.notsorry.com/hansuyin.asp) "Lhasa", a novel about Tibet. It affected me so much because it was such an alien viewpoint...a very 'official Chinese party-line" viewpoint. That view had never really been presented to me in a comprehensive way. We all know that China feels justified in taking over Tibet, but the reasons to us are fallacious and murky. Her view of Tibet pre and post occupation are shockingly fresh, and heartfelt. I disagreed through the whole read, but not on every single point, which disturbed me somewhat. In any case, this book awoke in me the importance of understanding your opponents...and not just dismissing their views.

Han Suyin, by the way, also wrote "A Many Splendored Thing" and a huge autobiography series going through the pre, during, and post Communist Revolution years. She is an amazing writer, and I highly recommend her, even if you don't agree with her politics.

Books that have influenced me:

Our Enemy, the State by Albert Jay Nock
The Lysander Spooner Reader by George H. Smith
Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
The Black Book of Communism by various authors
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Human Action by Ludwig von Mises
The Case Against the Fed by Murray N. Rothbard
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
The Fearful Master: A Second Look at the United Nations by G. Edward Griffin
The Real Lincoln by Thomas DiLorenzo
The Roosevelt Myth by John T. Flynn
Education: Free and Compulsory by Murray N. Rothbard
Selected Writings of Edmund Burke by Edmund Burke
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Socialism: an Economic and Sociological Analysis by Ludwig von Mises
Economics for Real People: An Introduction to the Austrian School by Gene Callahan
The Economics and Ethics of Private Property: Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Antitrust: The Case for Repeal by Dominick T Armentano
Making America Poorer: The Cost of Labor Law by Morgan O. Reynolds
The New Color Line: How Quotas and Privilege Destroy Democracy by Paul Craig Roberts and Lawrence M. Stratton
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand
How Capitalism Saved America by Thomas DiLorenzo

George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series has to be best possible recreational read out there. Amazingly rich and intricate plot, beautifully written. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but more entertaining than anything I have ever read or watched. Shames Lord of the Rings.

Jesus and I, by Aloysious Heeg. I read it when I was six, and my life is still based on that book.