Books that changed your life

smoke · 26 May 2005

Until the age of about 15 i didn't really think books could really do a lot to change ones life...
That was until i read The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger.

Books were something we studied in school, but the aforementioned was not essential reading in my school and my reasons for reading it stemmed from the alledged links with Machurian candidates and Lee Harvey Oswald.
I can honestly say that this book changed my life...it made me realise a lot of things and made me feel less alone in the world. It also inspired me to write, more seriously than i had before...oh yeah, and it made me wanna shoot JFK!

But anyway, enough of my ramblings.

I was curious if anyone could name one (or several) books that changed their lives...and in what way, if not too personal of course.

Peace.

mad pierrot · 27 May 2005

Ishmael
by Daniel Quinn.

I read it when I was 15, and it really got me started down the line of work I'm into now. Great book. Now that I'm older and more cynical, there's alot I could complain about in the book, but still worthwhile.

Second to that, most of the books I read about Zen had a HUGE impact on me when I was growing up, especially considering I came from a strict Catholic family. Not one book in specific, but everything by both Suzuki's, and Taisen Daishimaru really hit home. I take that back. Questions to a Zen Master stands out.

:sorry:

andorin · 27 May 2005

smoke... you liked catcher in the rye? that book made me want to hunt down Salinger and throttle him. it was a whiney book about a brat of a kid that just needed to grow up. a good book i read was this book on einestein's theories of time and relativity. i forget the name, but it was so trippy... it spent a chapter makin a world based on each theory of time that he had. quite awesome

lexico · 27 May 2005

As scientific reasoning goes, one book that hooked me into evolutionary thinking was Ilian's The Dawn of Man. In today's standards, it has a lot of outdated material, but it showed me how to think in evolutionary terms how mankind emrged out of the biological tree of life. Not having a good library of other books to read, I read it 4 times in a row. Darwin himself could not have written more clearly.

andorin · 27 May 2005

thats because darwin was a drunken rambling idiot... who revoked all his theories on his death bed.

mad pierrot · 27 May 2005

thats because darwin was a drunken rambling idiot... who revoked all his theories on his death bed.

oy vey.......

smoke · 27 May 2005

andorin said:
smoke... you liked catcher in the rye? that book made me want to hunt down Salinger and throttle him. it was a whiney book about a brat of a kid that just needed to grow up.

I'm sure your synopsis would make Salinger proud.

Seriously though, i believe it's one of those books that you can only truly appreciate at a certain times in your life. I think that if you can not relate to Holden Caulfield then the book will be wasted.
If you can't relate to Holden in anyway, then life must be pretty good for you.

lexico · 27 May 2005

smoke said:
The Catcher In The Rye

It made me feel human even when things are pretty sh-tt-y. How easy it is to identify with the underdog when I feel crushed, esp. when I find it hard to believe that I truely deserved it. I can alway return to the first chapter. I think it has the power to make best seller many more times in this century as it has in the past. I sometimes think of myself watching over children running around the rye fields, so they don't fall over the cliff.

andorin said:
thats because darwin was a drunken rambling idiot...

That !
Maddeningly verbose !
Is quite the impression I got from reading him LONG BEFORE he revoked all his theories.
Whether he considered his theory of evolution blasphemy, I don't care and, if he did, I have little regard for such inconsistency.
If that were the case, Darwin may not have truely understood what the heck he was talking about, poor chap !

smoke · 27 May 2005

lexico said:
It made me feel human even when things are pretty sh-tt-y. How easy it is to identify with the underdog when I feel crushed, esp. when I find it hard to believe that I truely deserved it. I can alway return to the first chapter. I think it has the power to make best seller many more times in this century as it has in the past. I sometimes think of myself watching over children running around the rye fields, so they don't fall over the cliff.

If i could write a book that had an impression on someone similar to the impression Catcher In The Rye had on me...I think i wouldn't need to write again.

mad pierrot · 27 May 2005

Nice avatar, Smoke.

lexico · 27 May 2005

I do agree. In fact I like all smokey's avatars;
'I love ﾂ敕娯?佚?Tentables'
'The Smrking Sister with a Stick of Kancho'
'Time Cover Man' and
'This can't be happening ! Head Banger'

smoke · 27 May 2005

mad pierrot said:
Nice avatar, Smoke.

that's how i type my books!
You'd be amazed what comes out of a good face smash!

mad pierrot · 27 May 2005

that's how i type my books!
You'd be amazed what comes out of a good face smash!

Maybe I should give your method a try next time I write an essay!

Mycernius · 28 May 2005

I want to share with you all a book that changed my life and could change yours as well.. and that is the Bible. Er... no not really.
Actually I don't think I have read a book that has changed my life. I have read ones which make me look at the world differently, or have made me think. One of the most moving is 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman. It is a graphic novel about the Jews during WWII and is quite shocking in some respects.

Miko-Kokoro · 28 May 2005

The lovely bones.

I read it when I was 13 I read that book and it really makes you wonder if people you know who have died really watch you grow and live life the way they were ment to without you.

andorin · 28 May 2005

holden was a good role model? how so? he wandered around tryin to figure out what to do with his life... and if i remember correctly, he never did figure that out.
i read this sophmore year though[4 years ago] so i dont exactly remember all of it. i just remember threatenin my english teacher if she made me read anymore of the book.

on the darwin topic... i believe in a loose version of evolution, not all of it though. its to farfetched. i still believe in creation and then an 'adaption' not exactly evolution... its much more sensible

Satorian · 1 Jun 2005

I quite liked Catcher In The Rye. People aren't perfect, they don't have to be. It confronted me with how neccessary it is though to have a proper understandings of the time, place and culture a piece of literature is playing in, because I assume that it would change my view of it and deepen my understanding.
As of yet, I'm seeing it as a 'slice-of-life' type of work.

Life changing books were 'Steppenwolf' by Hesse and 'The Magus' by John Fowles for me. Both of them contained quite some asskickings for me and weren't easy or 'enjoyable' to read during some parts but ultimately rewarding and life changing.

But the best piece of literature I've ever read and that opened my eyes to how good literature can be is 'Focault's Pendulum' by Umberto Eco. I only read the german translation which was VERY good and I can only assume the original to be even better. I am just wondering if the original has this Max Frisch type of vibe as well.

goofy2feet · 1 Jun 2005

I'll second Satorian's comment about Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" - it's true genius and a real page-turner.
On the non-fiction front I'd go with Richard Dawkin's "The Blind Watchmaker" - a very inspiring presentation of the evolution argument. I have it on my bookshelf next to some Christian account of "The Message of Creation" which I don't think I'll be reading again in a hurry (unlike the Dawkin's book).

Anchyyy · 1 Jun 2005

Books that changed my life... There are two:
1. Talking to Blue: Ken Catran
2. Blue murder: Ken Catran

It made me hunt down all serial killers. I wanna work in police!!! Oh yyeaaahhhh!!!

smoke · 1 Jun 2005

andorin said:
holden was a good role model? how so? he wandered around tryin to figure out what to do with his life... and if i remember correctly, he never did figure that out.
i read this sophmore year though[4 years ago] so i dont exactly remember all of it. i just remember threatenin my english teacher if she made me read anymore of the book.

on the darwin topic... i believe in a loose version of evolution, not all of it though. its to farfetched. i still believe in creation and then an 'adaption' not exactly evolution... its much more sensible

I think any book you are "made" to read, especially in school will never be enjoyed as much as if you were to read it on your own accord...i think if i'd studied CITR in school, this post wouldn't exist and i probably wouldn't have had the desire to write creatively...the only analysis of any book needs to be "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". Analysis is something personal and by analysing (especially in a class situation) where there is right and wrong answers...well, it will spoil any book IMHO.

Peace

Mycernius · 2 Jun 2005

I tend to agree with you there smoke. When I was at school we were made to read 'Romeo and Juliet' at 13. Of course at that age you find it boring and nonsense. I never read it again until I was about 22/23 when I saw the play down at a local venue. It was very well acted and made me pull out the play again. This time I enjoyed it and have read it quite a few time since. I think you have to revisit books from your schooling to see if your age has helped your apprecaition for the books (still don't think I will re-read '1984' though. What a boring book)

andorin · 2 Jun 2005

1984 would probably be a good read nowadays... as were a bit more grown up and can understand the concepts.

salinger still sucks though, god, hes awful

smoke · 2 Jun 2005

andorin said:
salinger still sucks though, god, hes awful

That's your opinion, which you are entitled to.

Apollo · 3 Jun 2005

well, I read a lot of books but none changed my life...
However, I have read a few which made me think deeply about existence and the way we live in general.

The novels which are worth mentioning:

Yann Martel, The Life of Pi (a very sweet and powerful book about survival).

Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym
Paulo Coelho, Veronica decides to die

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

butsu · 5 Jun 2005

I really loved The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama.

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