Books That Changed Your Life
 
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07/30/09 12:38 PM

I read 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' (Hubert Selby Jr.) when I was 13. Great book but altered my perceptions on a lot of things.

 

07/30/09 12:54 PM

His Last Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman! Read it when I was about 12 I think... Got me thinking smiling smiley

 

08/05/09 3:53 PM

trishalove posted:
The 1st one: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Then: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

I loved Flowers for Algernon!

10 Lost Years was written by Barry Broadfoot. Basically he interviewed a ton of people about their lives during the depression. The stories are true and he's really just transcribed what people told him. Read this at a young age and I really think it helped me think of others and develop compassion. You never know how hard someone else's life is.

 

08/05/09 4:01 PM

American Psycho.

Really, my copy is falling apart. I´ve re read it to death. You learn all you have to know about getting fooled by the shape of things and teaches truth is but an illusion.

 

08/06/09 5:10 AM

I am in the middle of reading 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace (it was made into the movie)
So far i am halfway through...i realized as soon as i started reading it that his life before saying yes was very similar to mine...i already want to start saying yes more and being more adventurous!

 

10/25/09 10:25 PM

For me:

1984- George Orwell
...But I Know What You Want: 25 Sex Tales For The Different- James Williams
SM101: A Realistic Introduction- Jay Wiseman
The Story of O- Pauline Reage
Solaris- Stanislaw Lem



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2009 10:33PM by dawn_.

 

10/29/09 9:53 PM

Sex Guide For Dummies



On a serious note,Fight Club. Really opened my eyes on how were all a product of our time and what the television says.

 

11/10/09 5:54 PM

Reading Stephen Kings The Stand at the age of 12 prolly wasn't a good idea, but I've been obsessed with apocalyptic scenarios ever since turning the final page of that huge book.


VigilX posted:

Atheism: The Case Against God
Pretty much helped me solidify my atheism and helped me better explain some arguments that I already had (not to mention giving me a few new ones)

back.

I'm gonna have to find this book. Thanx.

 

11/10/09 9:09 PM

flowers for algernon

fight club

it

the stand



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2009 10:22AM by taylormade1966.

 

11/11/09 10:52 AM

OH MY GOD...IT'S FULL OF STARS!!!

2001: A Space Odyssey
2010: Odyssey Two
2061: Odyssey Three
3001: The Final Odyssey

all by Arthur C. Clarke

Also,

The Martian Chronicles

by Ray Bradbury



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/2009 10:55AM by UlacAlmost.

 

12/14/09 1:05 AM

Ice Nine by Vonnegut for making me love reading

The Scar by China Mieville for making me love writing

and...

The Communist Manifesto for giving me a cause.

 

12/17/09 5:45 PM

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I read this at the age of 16 and immediately realized that there were people out there who shared many of my philosphies about life, love, money, ethics, etc. It was a personal epiphany and gave me a major sense of relief / comfort. I've read it many times since then.

 

12/19/09 9:57 AM

It may sound immature but Harry Potter series spoke to me in a way books never did before. The world that exists in them is so similar to ours but it isn't at the same time. There was a period of time that all I did was exist in those books and when I wasn't reading them I felt I was wasting time not reading them over and over.
The messages of love and friendship in them really touched me.

Those books are the greatest gift I ever got for Christmas. I love them with all my heart.

 

12/24/09 4:36 PM

Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green.
I got it when I was about 9 or 10, when I was first becoming fascinated with Ancient Egypt. This book was my first encounter with the Gods, and the awesomeness of Paganism. <3

Oh, and I've got to say The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevski. It made me more comfortable, with the world. And, I swear, I fell in love with Myshkin.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2009 04:46PM by SunshineGirl.

 

12/25/09 11:08 PM

Xanthe posted:
It may sound immature but Harry Potter series spoke to me in a way books never did before. The world that exists in them is so similar to ours but it isn't at the same time. There was a period of time that all I did was exist in those books and when I wasn't reading them I felt I was wasting time not reading them over and over.
The messages of love and friendship in them really touched me.

Those books are the greatest gift I ever got for Christmas. I love them with all my heart.

That's the sweetest thing. I'm currently reading the order of the Phoenix and am forcing myself to take my time with it and not rush though it...I get so overenthused and want to inhale a book whole, but these books are as you describe, sacred treasures smiling smiley

Book that changed me, a memoir called Lucky by Alice Sebold (who also wrote the really popular book the Lovely Bones which is coming out in the theaters next month.) I remember the way in which she wrote sucked me in, I felt like I was part of her journey somehow, like I wasn't a reader but the person actually feeling what she was. She talks about her life and some of the serious bad things that happened to her, you don't pity her though. You respect her and root for her and the all those positive thing come back to you, it's just a book that made me feel stronger, better...lucky to be alive.

 

01/11/10 11:04 AM

"IT" Stephen King (when I was 9 years old!)
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Douglas Adams
"The Diamond Age" Neal Stephenson
"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" Richard Bach
"Grandfather" Tom Brown Jr.
"Diet for a New America" John Robbins (already vegan when I read it, but worth it)
"Wicked" Gregory Maguire

 

01/11/10 12:45 PM

CLeek posted:
I read 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' (Hubert Selby Jr.) when I was 13. Great book but altered my perceptions on a lot of things.

Selby is one of my favorites. I like Requiem for a Dream the most, and obviously Aronofsky's adaption was incredible...

 

01/11/10 12:49 PM

Spettro posted:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I read this at the age of 16 and immediately realized that there were people out there who shared many of my philosphies about life, love, money, ethics, etc. It was a personal epiphany and gave me a major sense of relief / comfort. I've read it many times since then.

Ayn Rand has no literary value whatsoever.

 

02/09/10 6:07 PM

"the Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran warped and pretty much changed my whole outlook on life. I am a crazy quote collector...I have books FILLED with quotes I have written down over the years. This whole book is a quote, a way of life that everyone should check out. He is absolutely amazing. Here is a brief passage:

When you love you should not say,
"God is in my heart,"
but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

 

02/09/10 8:59 PM

Recently and off the top of my head, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Incredibly inspiring. The movie adaptation is also fantastic.

 

02/10/10 9:16 PM

Catcher In The Rye is definitely a book that changed my perception of the world. It was so real it was almost scary. Even though I have a very loving family, i never felt so alone while reading that book. Really heavy stuff.

Also Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.

 

02/11/10 8:47 AM

I read the Giver in 8th grade and it changed my life.

 

02/11/10 10:23 PM

I love the acknowledgement some books are receiving:

Wicked - Gregory Maguire
1984 - George Orwell
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Also have a few others:

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
The Collector - John Fowles
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Call of the Wild - Jack London
Hamlet - William Shakespeare

There are so many, but each of those have good reason for being on the list.

 

02/22/10 3:01 AM

The Chosen - Chaim Potok

and I just read JPod. Holy shit, are we fucked up as a generation.

 

02/22/10 5:31 AM

On The Beach - Neville Shute
The Spiral Dance - Starhawke
The Return Of Merlin - Deepak Chopra
Picnic At Hanging Rock -Joan Lindsay
Your Sacred Self - Wayne Dyer
Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

 

02/22/10 9:00 AM

from_tothis posted:
I love the acknowledgement some books are receiving:

Wicked - Gregory Maguire
1984 - George Orwell
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Also have a few others:

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre
The Collector - John Fowles
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Call of the Wild - Jack London
Hamlet - William Shakespeare

There are so many, but each of those have good reason for being on the list.

Sweet! The Call of the Wild! How I could forget that one? --never mind White Fang and my favorite short story Batard (or Diable).

Night is an amazing eye-opener, even if you know your history. Amazing account of a holocaust survivor. Dawn is a good sequel, although that one is fiction.

1984 was always my favorite dystopian future--until it became the present. Now it's like reading the newspaper sometimes.

Good taste up there!

 

02/23/10 9:28 AM

The Gargoyle- a beautiful story smiling smiley

Also To Kill a Mockingbird (deeply analyzed it during English lessons)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2010 09:29AM by ThroughTheCracks337.

 

03/23/10 11:58 PM

"Running With Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs. LOVE.
His book "Dry" about his alcoholism is also an incredible read.




(ETA: Running With Scissors affected me regarding trauma stuff. A trigger that needed to happen. Helped me come to terms with a lot of shit. Great read. I recommend it to anyone.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2010 12:00AM by dardardarstar.

 

03/25/10 2:37 PM

"The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson

 

04/28/10 2:42 AM

Damn there are too many to mention but I'll mention the most important...
Mescalito (Short Story) by Hunter S. Thompson
Venus In Furs by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch
The Doors Of Perception by Aldous Huxley
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

 
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