NationStates Jolt Archive

But this isn't a "what are you currently reading" question. That just turns into a list with no discussion, and that's boring. I'm interested in books that changed your outlook on life or a particular issue, and at what period in your life you read them. In other words, don't just list a book--tell a story about why it's important to you.

For instance, when I was 15, I got a copy of E. E. Cummings's Selected Poems. I'd always been a big reader, and had even had a smattering of interest in writing before then, but Cummings blew my mind. I saw poems like "since feeling is first" and I thought "so you can do that with language?" It got me to writing, and even though I've had some detours along the way, I'm now somewhat successful as a writer and I teach literature as well.

I eventually grew out of trying to write like him, thank goodness.

So tell me your stories while I wait for my students to email me their essays on war poetry.

I read Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story at a time when I wasn't functioning at my highest level, and I related to the story and the character so much it gave me hope and helped bring me back to a stable place at a time when'd I really cut myself off from help from my friends and family. It's not the best book I ever read, but it really means alot to me.

Coming up for Air by George Orwell really resonates with my apocalyptic view of society, and reassures me that there must be other people out there who do not subscribe to the catastrophic fuck-up we call 'progress' and 'freedom'.

I'm reading Simon Green's latest Nightside book "Hell to Pay." Hehehe, silly Brits.

I read Buddenbrooks at a time of my life when I was getting up at 6am to take a 2 hour bus to work and then back home again. So I was able to really read the entire thing fairly uninterrupted.

At the end of the book, you suddenly very much feel for one of the daughters, who had so much promise but was constrained somewhat by her position, her family and her own internal elitism to some extent. She's left a widow who regrets never having taken the chance on love, mirrored by the decline of the family itself until she's left quite isolated and reflective of those things she fought for that, in the end, were not worth quite as much as she thought.

I was listening to Massive Attack's Blue Lines album and as I turned the last few pages, the song The Hymn of the Big Wheel came on, which is the last song of the album.

I cried, on the bus, I really felt the enormity of life and those decisions we make that, well we just have to accept them at some point.

the big wheel keeps on turning
on a simple line day by day
the earth spins on its axis
one man struggles while another relaxes

I can still tap into that sense of the enormity of life, both how wonderful and inspiring it is, just by remembering myself on that bus, the power of words eh?

I'm also trying to get my hands on a copy of "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny.

It's a mixture of intrigue and Lovecraftian horror, told from the perspective of Jack the Ripper's pet dog, Snuff.

I'm also trying to get my hands on a copy of "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny.

It's a mixture of intrigue and Lovecraftian horror, told from the perspective of Jack the Ripper's pet dog, Snuff.
That sounds interesting. Before I forget, what's up with the diplomacy game? it appears to be stalled.

When I was younger, I suffered from general anxiety disorder. I got better, but during that time, I read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Everyone thinks that is such a pessimistic book, but I found it a story of triumph. Marlowe went to the ends of civilization, and got himself back, unscathed. It's significant in light of what happened to everyone else there. It's still shaping my thinking today, and is one of my all-time favorite books.

I read Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story at a time when I wasn't functioning at my highest level, and I related to the story and the character so much it gave me hope and helped bring me back to a stable place at a time when'd I really cut myself off from help from my friends and family. It's not the best book I ever read, but it really means alot to me.

that sounds like a book i need to read.

The Handbook of the SAS and Elite Forces

The Handbook of the SAS and Elite Forces
Story? Let's not start ignoring the OP so soon...

That sounds interesting. Before I forget, what's up with the diplomacy game? it appears to be stalled.

Are you in there? Hmm...which nation are you? I'm getting my ass handed to me.

It seems like one of the players, I think England, is on an extended break. It should be over with by the end of this week.

Frustrating as hell, but it happens.

Are you in there? Hmm...which nation are you? I'm getting my ass handed to me.

It seems like one of the players, I think England, is on an extended break. It should be over with by the end of this week.

Frustrating as hell, but it happens.
I'm Russia. If you're Austria, I was one of the players handing your ass to you. Of course, I am now getting my just punishment from Turkey, my ex-ally. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!

You can basically ignore both of the books I already mentioned. My problem of not really reading the OP.

At 9, I read The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas. It really got me into reading the classics, and I've read many of them since. My personal favorite remains Anthony Hope's "The Prisoner of Zenda."

In 6th grade I read Isaac Asimov's "Second Foundation" which got me interested in Science Fiction, and all of Lloyd Alexander's books by the time I got to 8th grade. By then I'd also started on my (now complete) collection of Asimov's Robot, Foundation, and Empire series.

And it was all those science fiction and fantasy novels that got me interested in my own writing, which took off in 9th grade and has slowly and steadily evolved since.

Oooh, and I read "Elminster, the Making of a Mage" which got me interested in the Forgotten Realms world setting, which has resulted in me collecting a large number of those as well, especially R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt books.

I'm Russia. If you're Austria, I was one of the players handing your ass to you. Of course, I am now getting my just punishment from Turkey, my ex-ally. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!

In a way, that's only fair. And yes, I'm Austria :(

I'd say the most recent book to change my life was "Wake Up, Sir!" by Jonathan Ames. Not so much that book itself, but because it introduced me to the other books he wrote, which were amazingly funny and honest and sometimes disturbing. It helped me realize that I'm not a crazy person, that lots of people (or hell, maybe just him and me, but that's fine too) think weird things and long for strange experiences, and it feels like finding a long-lost twin or something when I'm reading his stuff. I highly recommend his writings...as long as you're not, you know, an uptight sort of person. In a conservative way.

In a way, that's only fair. And yes, I'm Austria :(
I actually never expected the game to be so fun... but, enough hijack. My apologies, the Nazz.

Story? Let's not start ignoring the OP so soon...

one of many books to do with war yes, that book came out in 1997 when i was 14 and im still read it as it got useful things like first aid and so on

I actually never expected the game to be so fun... but, enough hijack. My apologies, the Nazz.

They're always a blast, but they're also cutthroat as hell.

It's a rare game where a player isn't eliminated in the first three-four years.

I read David Malouf's Fly Away Peter for Literature earlier this year, and while I didn't enjoy studying it, I found it really altered the way I thought about life... it has no meaning, its pointless, but it is unique, indeed every life is unique, and that makes it important. It struck a chord with something I've always felt, but never been able to express.


Thats it, though. I'm afraid my literary experiences have been somewhat lacking, but I make do with what I can.

I actually never expected the game to be so fun... but, enough hijack. My apologies, the Nazz.

Don't sweat it--it's keeping the thread bumped. ;)

I'd say the most recent book to change my life was "Wake Up, Sir!" by Jonathan Ames. Not so much that book itself, but because it introduced me to the other books he wrote, which were amazingly funny and honest and sometimes disturbing. It helped me realize that I'm not a crazy person, that lots of people (or hell, maybe just him and me, but that's fine too) think weird things and long for strange experiences, and it feels like finding a long-lost twin or something when I'm reading his stuff. I highly recommend his writings...as long as you're not, you know, an uptight sort of person. In a conservative way.

That's a similar experience to the one I had with Hemingway. I had to read A Farewell to Arms in high school, and hated it, but I liked the style enough that I read a half dozen of his other books before the term ended.

that sounds like a book i need to read.

The setting was very specific to where I was, like, down to the exact neighborhood and school and the type of friends, so I'm not sure if it would have the same impact on someone else.

In order of having read them:

Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth: it's kind of hard to sort out exactly what this one did - humor, puns, imagination, the list could go on and on...

Asimov's The Caves of Steel: like Deus Malum, this set me up for SF.

Machiavelli's Il Principe: got me interested in political philosophy, set me on the road to my major in poly sci, and helped set my political views.

One book I'm reading right now (that I haven't finished yet) that has radically changed my outlook is Murray N. Rothbard's For a New Liberty.

My girlfriend introduced me to Augusten Burroughs just a few months ago. Absolutely hilarious stuff, I loved Running With Scissors, laugh-out-loud funny.

bump

The Great Gatsby.....made me really hate rich people......

Frankenstein...taught me not to fuck around with cadavers and electricity :p

But this isn't a "what are you currently reading" question. That just turns into a list with no discussion, and that's boring. I'm interested in books that changed your outlook on life or a particular issue, and at what period in your life you read them. In other words, don't just list a book--tell a story about why it's important to you.

For instance, when I was 15, I got a copy of E. E. Cummings's Selected Poems. I'd always been a big reader, and had even had a smattering of interest in writing before then, but Cummings blew my mind. I saw poems like "since feeling is first" and I thought "so you can do that with language?" It got me to writing, and even though I've had some detours along the way, I'm now somewhat successful as a writer and I teach literature as well.

I eventually grew out of trying to write like him, thank goodness.

So tell me your stories while I wait for my students to email me their essays on war poetry.

Hmmm... I had read Moby Dick as a young teenager, and it made no impression on me. I read it again in college, and it made no impression on me.

But, after being involved with a start-up company, and watching the way we all went along with the owner as he rode the company into the ground, I read it again, and it had a powerful impact on me.

I even have a bumper sticker now that says, "Call me Ishmael".

Reading Solzhenitsyn's "The First Circle" as a youth set down the ethical framework that still compels me.

Hesse's Steppenwolf and Siddhartha shaped my ideas about myself and about things to a pretty big extent.

Vonnegut gave me an appreciation for the absurd, and Marquez for a lot of the beauty in life.

I don't read novels much anymore - I'm most interested by well-written history nowadays - but consumed them voraciously, especially Nobel winners, all through high school.

A good novel I read recently though is Norman Mailer's "The Castle in the Forest" - strange book, about Hitler's childhood, worth reading.

Reading Solzhenitsyn's "The First Circle" as a youth set down the ethical framework that still compels me.

Hesse's Steppenwolf and Siddhartha shaped my ideas about myself and about things to a pretty big extent.

Vonnegut gave me an appreciation for the absurd, and Marquez for a lot of the beauty in life.

I don't read novels much anymore - I'm most interested by well-written history nowadays - but consumed them voraciously, especially Nobel winners, all through high school.

A good novel I read recently though is Norman Mailer's "The Castle in the Forest" - strange book, about Hitler's childhood, worth reading.
I was trying to clip this down and say, "Ooh, good choices!", but I couldn't cut any of them out. They're all excellent.

I'd say the most recent book to change my life was "Wake Up, Sir!" by Jonathan Ames. Not so much that book itself, but because it introduced me to the other books he wrote, which were amazingly funny and honest and sometimes disturbing. It helped me realize that I'm not a crazy person, that lots of people (or hell, maybe just him and me, but that's fine too) think weird things and long for strange experiences, and it feels like finding a long-lost twin or something when I'm reading his stuff. I highly recommend his writings...as long as you're not, you know, an uptight sort of person. In a conservative way.

I just checked that book out from the library this weekend on a whim. I'm glad to hear that I'll probably enjoy it. :)

As for my response to the OP - how do I pick just one? The Chronicles of Narnia convinced me, as a small child, that writing was something I really, really wanted to do. Moby-Dick greatly refined my thoughts on religion and fate. As I Lay Dying blew my mind in more ways than I can count. The Waste Land and Other Poems inspired me in numerous ways, both by pushing me towards a lot of analysis of the nature of hope and despair, and by introducing me to a poet whose approach to free verse was very similar to my own. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead has had me pondering the relationships between reality and art for years, and, incidentally, also got me hooked on the "question game" for months and months after the first time I read it. And, of course, I can't leave out The Lord of the Rings, a book that affected me indirectly by influencing my mother so deeply that both my brother and I were named after beings in Middle Earth.

I could name more, but that's probably enough of a list to be getting on with. :)

There have been three major books that really changed my life.

The first one of them was "Musashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musashi_%28novel%29)" by Eiji Yoshikawa. I readed it when I was about 17, very close to the end of the year. I was facing a hard time in my life where I felt was I being left behind, and when I readed the book and was amazed by how much character development there is in the book, I realized that I would have to work really hard to acomplish everything I wanted. It also trigered my desire to explore eastern philosophy and zen-buddhism.

The second one is "Tao Te Ching (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_te_ching)", written in the sixth century before christ by Lao Tzu. This one really opened my mind to another way of thinking and improved my mind and the way I perceive and experience the world. Also made me realize what the phrase "when a man points at the moon, the ignorant looks at the finger, the wise, at the moon" means, and that all the diferent philosophies, religions and sciences mankind has made (fingers) were all atempts to discover the real truth (moon), and that if I wanted to come closer to this absolute truth, I would have to study all of them, find paterns and see what I could salvage from each and everyone of them. Only after doing that I would be able to understand the truth of the universe (moon) without any rational processes (fingers).

The third one is "Guns, Germs and Steel: The fate of Human Societies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns%2C_Germs%2C_and_Steel)", written by the Pulitzer award winner Jared Diamond. The book uses so many diferent sciences and fields of knowledge to explain the development of the human civilizations that its overwhealmingly mind numbling. This one really broaded my mind and my perceptions, making me realize all the infinite variables that change every single consequence and how many of them influence human behavior and the development of culture, technology and our society.

Mainly the first taught me the value of hard work and personal growth, the second taught me that every single religion, science or philosophy is a true atempt at understanding the wisdom and unknown truth about the universe, and that if you are willing to study and understand each one of them you can learn much. The third book taught me how everything fits together and that the meaning of wisdom is to find the paterns, understand the variables, recognize how they influence each other and that you can understand how some processes works by combining all the information and try to predict a certain outcome.

The third one is "Guns, Germs and Steel: The fate of Human Societies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns%2C_Germs%2C_and_Steel)", written by the Pulitzer award winner Jared Diamond. The book uses so many diferent sciences and fields of knowledge to explain the development of the human civilizations that its overwhealmingly mind numbling. This one really broaded my mind and my perceptions, making me realize all the infinite variables that change every single consequence and how many of them influence human behavior and the development of culture, technology and our society.
Another excellent choice.

http://www.amazon.com/Ride-Shoot-Straight-Speak-Truth/dp/0873649737

I read Other Losses last year. It really got me thinking about politics. That in turn is how I ended up discovering NS, and that has helped me stay elightened by the various arguments people have about everything in NSG. So without that book I would just be another ignorant teenager that knows who Jessica Beal is but has no clue as to who Ike was.

I'd have to say, above all the Xanth books, above Hitchiker's Guide, above everything else, there lies Odd Thomas.

Dean Koontz eventually wrote two sequels to the book because of the huge request for them - the character, Odd, is amazing. He's both a character you want to relate to and a person you want to try and be like.

This had never happened before to me - when I got to the end of the book, and that horrid but needed plot twist came to light, I cried. I don't mean I just teared up like I'm doing now, while thinking about it, I mean, in my bed, I had to put the book down and cover my face so I wouldn't be too loud because I was sobbing like my mother had just died.

It's very safe to say that I love that book and its sequels, and I love the character like a brother. Odd comes alive and touches your heart when you read that book.

I'm hoping to god that they make a movie about it so it'll get the recognition it deserves, but at the same time I'm very apprehensive about what'll happen if the movie sucks.

"Guns, Germs and Steel: The fate of Human Societies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns%2C_Germs%2C_and_Steel)", written by the Pulitzer award winner Jared Diamond. The book uses so many diferent sciences and fields of knowledge to explain the development of the human civilizations that its overwhealmingly mind numbling. This one really broaded my mind and my perceptions, making me realize all the infinite variables that change every single consequence and how many of them influence human behavior and the development of culture, technology and our society.

.

One of the best and most important and compelling books written on any subject in a long time.

Another excellent choice.

Seconded. Diamond may go down as one of the seminal figures of this period.

Another excellent choice.

Yes. Its the kind of book that every single student should read at high school. Its the kind of book teachers should teach for at least 6 months, or even more.

Not just for its scientific explanations, but also for its human intent and attempt to crush racism and show that we, in the end, are all equals, and only show to be diferent because of oportunities.

Its not a dry scientific book like most I´ve ever readed, but it also has a soul, a spirit that you dont see often.

Obs: Its good to see many people have readed it and enjoyed it.

Yes. Its the kind of book that every single student should read at high school. Its the kind of book teachers should teach for at least 6 months, or even more.

Not just for its scientific explanations, but also for its human intent and attempt to crush racism and show that we, in the end, are all equals, and only show to be diferent because of oportunities.

Its not a dry scientific book like most I´ve ever readed, but it also has a soul, a spirit that you dont see often.
Exactly. Have you read 'Collapse', same author?

Its not exactly a high-brow book but Yes Man by Danny Wallace definitely made me have a lot more fun (even if he does say not to treat it like a self help book :p)

Exactly. Have you read 'Collapse', same author?

No, not yet. In fact, I didnt know about this book until a few weeks ago. Ill try to read it in the future.

What do you think about it?

No, not yet. In fact, I didnt know about this book until a few weeks ago. Ill try to read it in the future.

What do you think about it?
It's excellent. The section on Easter Island is particularly interesting, and some parallels between their society and ours are immediately apparent. With the exception that, if/when our society collapses, I think it will be society as a global entity, in a domino effect with nowhere to run. They literally ran their economy into the ground building stone heads.

I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in grade ten, at a point in my life where things were sort of falling apart - yeah, I was a teenager, insert angst here, but there were valid reasons. Looking back, it's still the worst year of my life. Atticus' strength, and the lessons on courage, affected me more than I knew how to explain at the time. Especially little old Mrs. Dubose - she stood out incredibly.

Basically anything I read in grade 12 was also monumental; that's the year I decided to major in literature and teach, which is what I'm working towards now. Though, my teachers had almost as much to do with that as the literature itself; still, there's a selection of poems by various authors (Keats, Browning, Donne, Shakespeare, the classics) to which I owe the direction of my life.

And finally... special mention to Pride and Prejudice, the first classic I ever read, which inspired me to read many more. Those are the only ones that come to mind at the moment.

I'd like to put my two cents worth in, if only to give you a chuckle over my choices.

Jack London wrote about some of what were probably the most self-sufficient men that ever existed. i figured that's the way everyone ought to approach life. If you own something, you should be able to fix it and if you want something, you should be able to make it. I can't blacksmith, but I figure that's only a temporary setback. When I want some wrought iron, I'll learn.

The Road was something entirely different, but it sounded exciting.

Currently reading 'The world according to Garp' by John Irving, and 'Love and Limerence' by Dorothy Tennov; the former hilarious at times and very deep at others, the latter very interesting though I only started reading it last week (it promises to be perhaps a life-changing book considering my experiences, we shall see).

I'm not sure if this is what is being looked for in the OP but the book that probably affected how I thought the most was a non-fiction book.
I had always been into natural history and animals in particulalr but I was at the age when the nature books in the children section were far too simplistic so I was having to get books from the adult section that were really written with adults in mind.
I remember buying a book called Pyramids of Life. It was on the ecology and as it was aimed at adults, it would explains things in biological processes that I had never heard of (it was the first time I heard of Osmosis and Thermodynamics). I loved it. I would read a page or two and then go back over it trying to understand it. It was the first time I had read a book and had to do the thinking instead of just reading facts. I'm sure lots of my explanations were probably incorrect but I had reached them using logic and what information was availiable. The author also had a good sense of humour and nice style of writting. It's probably the non-ficiton book that I have read with the most warmth and wit in it.

V for Vendetta really made me think about what will happen in the world

But this isn't a "what are you currently reading" question. That just turns into a list with no discussion, and that's boring. I'm interested in books that changed your outlook on life or a particular issue, and at what period in your life you read them. In other words, don't just list a book--tell a story about why it's important to you.

For instance, when I was 15, I got a copy of E. E. Cummings's Selected Poems. I'd always been a big reader, and had even had a smattering of interest in writing before then, but Cummings blew my mind. I saw poems like "since feeling is first" and I thought "so you can do that with language?" It got me to writing, and even though I've had some detours along the way, I'm now somewhat successful as a writer and I teach literature as well.

I eventually grew out of trying to write like him, thank goodness.

So tell me your stories while I wait for my students to email me their essays on war poetry.

My views on human nature, the State and Capitalism, social ecology and the relationship between freedom and equality are heavily influenced by the Murray Bookchin book, The Ecology of Freedom. More than any other book, it has defined my current outlook on life.

That's a difficult question.

I'd have to say William Julius Wilson's "When Work Disappears" and Philippe Bourgois "In Search of Respect" were probably by far the most influential ones in determining my main interest in my studies for a long time and in reinforcing my view on just how social, economical and political factors interweave and defy simplistic catch-all "solutions" like the ones party platforms are so fond of.

Naomi Klein's "No Logo" was my first conscious in-depth look at globalisation criticism, so that was a big eye-opener and stayed with me for a long time (well, still does).

Then there was Tom Neale's "An Island to Oneself", which was the only book I had from my late mother when I was a kid (no idea why, there were shelves of books of hers in the basement and stuff, but I guess this was just the one that was explicitly given to me to read, maybe because the other ones were all "boring grown-up books"). It's a non-fiction account of a New Zealander living on an otherwise uninhabited island in the Pacific, and it fit right in with all the big plans I had to travel all over the world and live in all kinds of places. I can't remember how often I read that book, taking mental notes of important things like how to pollinate the tomatoes you're growing in your island garden with a little feather brush because there are no insects who could do it... :p

And finally of course "The Lord of the Rings". It doesn't really have a special meaning but it's the one book I wouldn't ever want to be without and would actually take with me on that uninhabited island, so I'll just mention it anyway. ;)


I'm not sure if this is what is being looked for in the OP but the book that probably affected how I thought the most was a non-fiction book.
I had always been into natural history and animals in particulalr but
I was at the age when the nature books in the children section were far too simplistic so I was having to get books from the adult section that were really written with adults in mind.
I remember buying a book called Pyramids of Life. It was on the ecology and as it was aimed at adults, it would explains things in biological processes that I had never heard of (it was the first time I heard of Osmosis and Thermodynamics). I loved it. I would read a page or two and then go back over it trying to understand it. It was the first time I had read a book and had to do the thinking instead of just reading facts. I'm sure lots of my explanations were probably incorrect but I had reached them using logic and what information was availiable. The author also had a good sense of humour and nice style of writting. It's probably the non-ficiton book that I have read with the most warmth and wit in it.
That sounds great. =)

I'm currently reading a library copy of "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut. It distinguishes itself by having the musings of some massive asshole who felt like everyone who reads it need to see HIS underlines and fucking opinions on the fucking writing written in the margins. It is currently expanding my horizons about how fucking self-important some people are.

Sorry...had to rant...

The first story (it really wasn't a book except as part of an anthology) that influenced me was Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. I read it when I was 12 years old and it knocked my socks off. As I got older, the more relevant it became. In fact, the political correctness movement was portended in Harrison Bergeron.

The second book that really changed my way of thinking has become sort of a cliché among books that have influenced people. The book is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. I had seen the movie many years earlier but the book just took my breath away. The humanity and the insight into the human condition is unparalleled. I've always strived to be the kind of parent Atticus Finch was but usually end up more like Homer Simpson.

The third book that had a tremendous influence on my thinking was The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata. It asks the question "What does it mean to be human?" in a way that is as entertaining as much as it is provacative. It changed the way I thought of technology and progress. If a third of the predictions of how nanotechnology is going to change society come true, it would be a bigger cultural shock than a Cro-Magnon stepping foot in modern New York city.

Labyrinths, by Jorge Luis Borges.
It's not actually a novel, and I don't even know if Borges himself compiled the short stories and essays into a single volume. Still, he wrote everything in it, and that's what I loved.
Right now, my biggest goal in learning Spanish is to get to the level where I can read his original works, without a translator. I have heard Spanish-speaking people call his stories poetic, but it's hard to tell when they're rendered in English. I heartedly recommend them (in any language) to anyone who hasn't read any of him, particularly "The Library of Babel" and "The Circular Ruins".

One particularly good book I'm reading right now is "Making a Killing" by Captain James Ashcroft (ret. British Royal Army). Its about a Security Contractor in Iraq. Very good story, much like McNabb's Immediate Action and Bravo Two Zero.

One particularly good book I'm reading right now is "Making a Killing" by Captain James Ashcroft (ret. British Royal Army). Its about a Security Contractor in Iraq. Very good story, much like McNabb's Immediate Action and Bravo Two Zero.
Whoa... I picked that up myself on my breaks at the local library in the last week or so. It's... interesting. He certainly seems a cut above the average grunt, IQ wise, and it has a nifty perspective on what's really going on in Iraq.

Whoa... I picked that up myself on my breaks at the local library in the last week or so. It's... interesting. He certainly seems a cut above the average grunt, IQ wise, and it has a nifty perspective on what's really going on in Iraq.

Aye, that he does. However, just because someone is an infantrymen, does NOT mean that they are inherently stupid.

Currently reading 'The world according to Garp' by John Irving, and 'Love and Limerence' by Dorothy Tennov; the former hilarious at times and very deep at others, the latter very interesting though I only started reading it last week (it promises to be perhaps a life-changing book considering my experiences, we shall see).

I saw the movie to Garp a while back. Robin Williams does quite possibly the best acting he's ever done with that character, most likely because the character seems so similar to himself.

It's a great movie in general, one of, if not the one favorite I have of Robin Williams.

I'd like to put my two cents worth in, if only to give you a chuckle over my choices.

Jack London wrote about some of what were probably the most self-sufficient men that ever existed. i figured that's the way everyone ought to approach life. If you own something, you should be able to fix it and if you want something, you should be able to make it. I can't blacksmith, but I figure that's only a temporary setback. When I want some wrought iron, I'll learn.

The Road was something entirely different, but it sounded exciting.

On self-sufficiency, and being a man (a topic that is politically incorrect in this Age of the Irresponsible), Jeff Cooper's "To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth".

On why people should serve the nation that they believe in (in some capacity, if not military), Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers (required reading for Marine and Army officers for the past decade).

And what I believe was Steinbeck's best novel, East of Eden (on the subject of forgiveness).

Well, I'm currently reading this thread... Aside from that, does a play count? I'm reading Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King (in French because I couldn't find a copy in english :() because my favourite actor Geoffrey Rush recently played the title role in Australia and I want to try and imagine what it would've been like to see him in it...

Well, I'm currently reading this thread... Aside from that, does a play count? I'm reading Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King (in French because I couldn't find a copy in english :() because my favourite actor Geoffrey Rush recently played the title role in Australia and I want to try and imagine what it would've been like to see him in it...

On the subject of plays, King Lear is my favorite Shakespeare, but my favorite film is Ran (Kurosawa).

It's because it parallels my own relations with my father and siblings. I'm Saburo (but I'm not dead yet).

And what I believe was Steinbeck's best novel, East of Eden (on the subject of forgiveness).

Damned decent James Dean movie.

Now that you've mentioned it, I've seen the start of Ran (I had to study King Lear in school and my teacher showed us the first half hour of it), but I didn't know that it was a Kurosawa film! I've never seen (fully) a Kurosawa film but now I'm even more curious knowing that I've seen some of his work.

And it's very ironic that you mentioned King Lear (which I saw David Warner perform in a few years ago) because somebody described the play as Geoffrey Rush's version on King Lear (I doubt that he'll ever play King Lear because he tends to prefer pays that break with tradition, but if he did I know that he'd be amazing in it).

Ran, Throne of Blood, and Rashoman - some of the best movies I've ever seen.

On the subject of plays, King Lear is my favorite Shakespeare, but my favorite film is Ran (Kurosawa).

It's because it parallels my own relations with my father and siblings. I'm Saburo (but I'm not dead yet).

Now that you've mentioned it, I've seen the start of Ran (I had to study King Lear in school and my teacher showed us the first half hour of it), but I didn't know that it was a Kurosawa film! I've never seen (fully) a Kurosawa film but now I'm even more curious knowing that I've seen some of his work.

And it's very ironic that you mentioned King Lear (which I saw David Warner perform in a few years ago) because somebody described the play as Geoffrey Rush's version on King Lear (I doubt that he'll ever play King Lear because he tends to prefer pays that break with tradition, but if he did I know that he'd be amazing in it).

That's a difficult question.

I'd have to say William Julius Wilson's "When Work Disappears" and Philippe Bourgois "In Search of Respect" were probably by far the most influential ones in determining my main interest in my studies for a long time and in reinforcing my view on just how social, economical and political factors interweave and defy simplistic catch-all "solutions" like the ones party platforms are so fond of.

Naomi Klein's "No Logo" was my first conscious in-depth look at globalisation criticism, so that was a big eye-opener and stayed with me for a long time (well, still does).

Then there was Tom Neale's "An Island to Oneself", which was the only book I had from my late mother when I was a kid (no idea why, there were shelves of books of hers in the basement and stuff, but I guess this was just the one that was explicitly given to me to read, maybe because the other ones were all "boring grown-up books"). It's a non-fiction account of a New Zealander living on an otherwise uninhabited island in the Pacific, and it fit right in with all the big plans I had to travel all over the world and live in all kinds of places. I can't remember how often I read that book, taking mental notes of important things like how to pollinate the tomatoes you're growing in your island garden with a little feather brush because there are no insects who could do it... :p

And finally of course "The Lord of the Rings". It doesn't really have a special meaning but it's the one book I wouldn't ever want to be without and would actually take with me on that uninhabited island, so I'll just mention it anyway. ;)



That sounds great. =)

Yeah it was. It was a bit of a challenge which is probably why I enjoyed it so much and I guess as I'm still intrested in biology and the ecology in particular, it's stayed with me. Have to agree with you with Lord of The Rings. It gets a lot of slack for his style of writting and stuff but it was the first book I read in which the good guys didnt just win, even after the ring was destroyed the elves still passed on, friends got seperated. It was bleak but still had that little bit of hope running through the whole book.
I'd also like to mention Macbeth. I know its a play, but it was the first time I'd ever read or seen something in which the main character does fit the idea of an anti-hero. In most of the anti-heros in books and movies seem to tend to stop being anti-heros and turn into heros by the end. In macbeth, he really was a bad guy while still being heroic and someone you root for.

Damned decent James Dean movie.

The made for TV movie with Charlton Heston as the father was much better.

I think Bloom County collections greatly affected my sense of humor.

I'm going to do random stabs because I'm groggy but I like the thread and don't want to forget to respond.


The most generic would have to be On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I read it about the same time I was coming to terms with being a Slacker but about a year before seeing Linklater's film, Slacker (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102943/) (after viewing it a friend turned around to me and said, "You didn't tell me someone made a documentary about you.") There was something about that conscious naive hope and wonder that he knew was unsustainable. It's a little hard to explain, on one level he knew things where shit, that cynicism was well founded, that the ideal, even his ideal, was unworkable. But at the same time he allowed, sometimes forced, himself to find the joy that he could in an untenable situation.

I'm doing a shit job of explaining this.

Which has been a regular problem with liking Kerouac. He becomes that friend you have that you have apologize for at parties. "Yeah, he's a bit rambling and can crawl up his own ass now and then-and for gods sake, editing is not the root of evil. But, ah, you know, he's my friend." Ironically (or maybe not) my relationship with Kerouac as an author has come to resemble Sal Paradise's relationship with Dean Moriarty...

Another, from the same grouping, that had a pretty big impact was Exterminator by William S. Burroughs. It's not his most famous or probably even his best work, but it is the book I read by him where I finally 'got it' (if anyone could be said to 'get' Burroughs). I've since read things by him that might be considered better but I wouldn't have got there without Exterminator. I still to this day use a butchered interpretation of one of the essays in that book as a personal practice and philosophy. He managed to do what no social critic had done for me up until then, and that's bring into question even himself as a critic.

Joseph Heller's Catch 22 was a pretty big one for me, too. A friend of mine who is an English professor told me before reading it to look at it not as an anti-war novel but as a novel about corporations and capitalism. The big points for me was the old man in the whore house, Nately's Whore, and Orr. That there is this third option, even if not really, to opt out. For the old man it was pragmatism, accented by Nately's Whore-the idea that whoring with noble intentions is still whoring. If anything it's made me a touch more honest with what I do until I can find that raft to go off and join Orr...

Well, I'm currently reading this thread... Aside from that, does a play count? I'm reading Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King (in French because I couldn't find a copy in english :() because my favourite actor Geoffrey Rush recently played the title role in Australia and I want to try and imagine what it would've been like to see him in it...

Oh shit, plays! Two big ones for me-

Waiting for Godot by Beckett. I read that play for the silliest of resaons-in the opening scene of Chasing Amy Ethan Suplee (I think, it's been a while) calls Bluntman and Chronic (Jay and Silent Bob) Bill & Ted meet Cheech and Chong. Afleck responds, "I've always thought of them as Rosencrantz and Gildenstern meet Vladimer and Etregon." I knew the first two, so I read Godot to check out the second. First I was impressed in that that is exactly what Jay and Silent Bob where, but more impressed with the listlessness of that play, that you could write a play without a plot. My first play was a slacker alagory of Waiting for Godot. In fact, it had such an influence that it wasn't until I started my graduate studies that I was forced to write plays that had a plot.

The other is The Norman Conquests by Alan Ackborn. Mostly because of the use of time in the plays, that you can play with those things and the audience will follow. For me it was an eye opener about how a story can be unfolded for the audience, that it doesn't just have to be a series of events that you hope they get your point, you can shift the way the story is told to construct it the way you want it to unfold. It also helped me understand and better appreciate Citizen Kane.

Those two have had the greatest impact on my plays.

A Rumor of War by Phillip Caputo.

An excellent Vietnam book.

It will tell the reader why Vietnam sucked, why soldiers would ever do things like massacre villages, and it gives a great appreciation for anyone who served in 'nam.

*rolls thread over, slaps several times and calls 9-11*

Gone for Soldiers by Marge Piercy

It whetted my interest in the roles played by minorities in World War II in particular and American history in general. It's one of the books that I reread constantly.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

I read it when I was still in high school. Much to my mother's chagrin, it was instrumental in forming my attitudes towards religion and sex. My attitude toward sex has become somewhat more conservative - I still believe that marriage is not necessary, but I now believe that monogamy and fidelity are to be preferred. My attitude toward religion is, if anything, even more outside the box than before.

The Bible

I've read it several times. The more I read it, the more I question basing any belief on it. To my mind, it encourages war, rapine, plunder, sexism, violence, vengeance, racism, maintaining the status quo even at the cost of ethics, hypocrisy and all sorts of immorality. It's changed a lot of my attitudes, but not in favor of Christianity, Judaism or Islam - if anything, it's pushed me towards Taoism and Northern European paganism.

But this isn't a "what are you currently reading" question. That just turns into a list with no discussion, and that's boring. I'm interested in books that changed your outlook on life or a particular issue, and at what period in your life you read them. In other words, don't just list a book--tell a story about why it's important to you.


Our Culture: What's left of it (http://www.amazon.com/Our-Culture-Whats-Left-Mandarins/dp/156663721X/ref=sr_1_1/002-4116374-5440836?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181802822&sr=8-1). I won't go into detail about it since I don't want to get into a debate about morals and the decline of Western civilization, but I will say that reading it had a profound impact on my personal views about morality.

I'm not going to recommend any of you read it (unless you're already a conservative or have an open mind), since I'm sure most of the more liberal posters here wouldn't be able to finish the first essay before throwing the book down in disgust.

My current reading is very boring:

Ed Wilson's book on VBscript.
Actually good basic intro. Does some repeating on the layout structure of a script. Good if you need to read something a few times to sync in.

A book on Redhat. Basic stuff. Probably will toss it when done.

The dummies guide to Migraines.
- Actually very useful. It taught me a couple warning signs that I could attempt early treatment by meds or laying down for a spell. Also, points out the differences between regular headaches and migraines. Which helps avoid using the wrong meds(ie migraine pills for a stress headache).

Just finished "First Look Office 2007" Not worth purchasing but it does give you an idea to what's new and gives you an idea of what it will take to upgrade a user base.

I have too short an attention span to read novels at any rate fast enough to keep me interested

I think the book that has most influenced me in recent years was Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov: the views of Ivan Karamazov started my investigation of existentialist philosophy which is still going on and has had a huge impact on my outlook of life.