Has a book ever changed your life?

Thanks to this thread I was up all night going over the books I've read, and making lists and bringing down Amazon's server with excessive requests for titles. Haha.

Now I have to whittle down the list and pick a few.

From Heinlein and a ton of Sci-Fi writers, to some childrens books, and school text books, to Ayn Rand and William Faulkner, from Jim Marrs to Anthony Summers to David Lifton and James Fetzer, from Bruce Lee to Donn Draeger to Guro Dan to Ratti&Westbrook to Eddie Bravo, from Carlos Castaneda, to Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Joseph Chilton Pearce and Michio Kaku, and from Peter Capstick to Frank Buck, my books have mirrored my life.

Thanks for the additional tips. I'll keep working on the list.



[edit on 23-7-2008 by Badge01]

Hmm I would have have to say The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Im looking forward to reading the rest of Mitch Albums books. It definetly made me look at my life differently.

Not one specific book, of course. Most of the books by Kurt Vonnegut reinforced my own perspectives on things. Other than that... I honestly love many books that I've read. I can't just pick one!

Cat's Cradle and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater(both by the late-great Kurt Vonnegut, so it goes) both really made me look at things in a completely different way, which was great.

But, the book(well, play) that has really grabbed me the most has got to be Shakespeare's Hamlet. Such a beautiful text, combined with the luck of having a wonderfully passionate and 'different' teacher made for an absolutely amazing experience.

I literally couldn't put it down and read it overnight after we stopped at the end of Act 1, then spent the next two months just pouring over the hundreds of possible meanings, puns, interpretations, etc.

Hamlet also resonated with me personally, as well; most especially the "What a piece of work is a man" speech. ". . . What a piece of work is a man? How noble in reason? How infinite in faculties? In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals; and yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me."

Absolutely beautiful.

Middlemarch by George Eliot

I had to read the preface like 20 times before I could understand what she meant, and discovered how deeply I identified with it, then I devoured the whole book twice, deriving even more meaning from the second read.

I think that book is what made me really start to love people. The characterization is awesome, and I got so attached to all of the characters, even those I wanted to hate.

It's probably time to read it again. :-)

I've been reading adult level novels since I was 10. I average about 85 pages an hour. The best I can figure is that I'm at about 4000 books now.

I finally saw that I needed to take the next step and start writing when I read Steven Kings book "On Writing; A Memoir of the craft."

It made me realize that I had my own stories to tell.



[edit on 20-7-2009 by badgerprints]

Apologies,
Double post.

[edit on 20-7-2009 by badgerprints]

"The power of your subconcious mind" by Joseph Murphy - that book totally changed my way of thinking...

As mentioned earlier (Enrikez), Daniel Quinn's books changed my perception of the world in many ways. It was like a filter has been lifted from my eyes allowing me to see things as they truly are. Member Pai Mei introduced these books to me (thank you beyond words) and I will use them as a guide in my life.

Quinn explains where we as a culture have gone wrong.
He also shows a way out, albeit one that isn't popular.

If you want a real eye opener, grab a copy of Ishmael either online or in book form.

It's an odd little book, but I picked it up as an ESP Guide by Jane Roberts....and it really contained more about her channeling sessions with an entity named "Seth"...

Now, one can debate and argue ouija boards, etc., all they want, but here's what made it "life-changing" for me....

The ideas of reality, afterlife, existence, etc. all mirrored the conclusions I had come to since childhood. It was so weird and strange to see those ideas (which at the time, I had held as rather unique) echoed in a conversation between a person and an alleged spirit entity....

It was just weird, and it was nice to get some kind of small validation, even if it is from an alleged ghost (but then again, who'd know better?) lol

I find it strange that no one has mentioned the Dick and Jane learning to read series.

Were you all born being able to automatically read?

Those books had the most impact on me because they did what they were designed to do.

Teach me how to read!!!!!!

First and foremost:

The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Candide - Voltaire

Then:

Faust - Goethe
The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Magus - John Fowles
Zorba - Nikos Kazantzakis

Oooooohh; A Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda, The Shack by William P Young, The Chronicles of Thomas Covernant by Stephen R Donaldson...

For me it was The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

It was the first large book I managed to finish when I was younger and opened me up to reading long novels. Before that I had tried to read things like Lord of the Rings and other books but could never finish them, maybe not even get half way through.
But The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy changed that for me, it held my attention better than any book I had read so far. Also it was a damn enjoyable book and very easy to re-read, I'll probably read it again once I get through the Wheel of Time series, which could be a while.

To be quite honest though most books that I read affect my life in some way.
Giving me a different outlook on life, or a new philosphy to ponder over. But The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy came to my head when I first saw the thread so I assume it had the greatest affect on me.

'Voyage from Yesteryear' by James P. Hogan (the rest of his books suck!)

'The Principia Discordia' by Malaclypse the Younger (arguably not religious)

'Goblin Quest' by Jim C. Hines

Oh, and of course also the HHG2tG!

[edit on 2009.12.17 by Carlthulhu]

Gaz (now that's a person I have not seen in a while) you are most correct. I own all of the Seth books. They are quite a read aren't they? I think Robert published some more stuff after Jane died, I need to look into that. There was some real wisdom being shared in that group. It's good that someone else notices that series.

For me, it would be Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods?"

I would have been in my early teens when I read it. It fed my established interest in UFO's and extra-terrestrial life. It also sparked my interest in history -- alternative history to be more specific.

This book introduced to me the value being open-minded and not necessarily buying into established ideas in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Incredible book! My brother bought it for me when I was 18, deeply depressed and thought the whole world hated me. It had the desired effect.

reply to post by round_eyed_dog

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"Ulysses" by James Joyce

"The Courage to Create" by Rollo May

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" HST

I've read a couple others, but eventually I'll get around to getting the whole series... I'm great friends with a bookstore owner (and to depart a bit....this is something I HIGHLY recommend readers to do...support your local small bookstores, not the chains...sure, sometimes you pay more, but these stores have books the chains don't have (and they'll order what they don't have), and the personal service is worth it)....so I'll have to get with her and get these...

I too am glad to see others recognize these books. Even if you doubt the source or method, the information in them is priceless...