Heart of Darkness.
The Riverside Chaucer - Yes, all of it.
Heart of Darkness.
The Riverside Chaucer - Yes, all of it.
Ishmael
I've never read any infuential books.
I have read some pretty influential books though.
Heart of Darkness is a good one. Walden, 1984, Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, Catch 22, The Brothers Karamazov all influenced me.
By far the most influential book to me has been: "Are you there God? It's Me Margaret"
If you haven't read it yet, go read it now!
Walden for me.
I think what we're looking for is books you read at pivotal moments in life that help shape who you are or who you become.
So ....at age 13, "All Quiet On The Western Front"
At 18, "The Stranger" by Camus
I just read 1984, finished yesterday. One of the better books out there. Must read.
I agree with the above poster. 1984 is a must read for everybody. Kind of scary when you relate it to today's world.
I forgot one.
A Brief History of Time.
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee - Dee Brown
A Civil Action (forget the author at the moment...)
Savage Inequalities
The Japanese and the Jews: Isaiah Ben-dasan
Dick and Jane
sweet wrote:
If Once a Runner changed your outlook on the world than you need to read more. It was a good book, but come on...
I'd say Whitman's Self-Reliance influenced me the most--followed probably by Hemingway's short story "The short happy life of Francis Macomber".
Whitman has been pretty influential, and "Self Reliance" has been critical to the American temper over the past century-and-a-half, but Whitman didn't write it; Emerson did.
I'll second Night. It was impossible for me to view human beings in the same way again after reading that. Same with "The White Hotel."
I recently read "The Time Traveler's Wife" and have not been able to get that out of my head, either.
I spend a lot of time coaching runners, though, so the most influential book I've read that impacts my daily life is "Daniels Running Formula." I don't follow the plans religiously, but in some way every day I use what I initially learned from reading that book (along with Coe/Martin and Noakes).
I've tried to read "The Stranger" before, but could not get through it, probably I hardly know any French (The French version was the only one at my local bookstore). Did you read the French or English version? If you read the English version and liked it, I might order it off of Amazon.
Walden
Into the Wild
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintnance
Once a Runner
the Life of Pi
the Alchemist
Mountains Beyond Mountains is a pretty damn inspirational non-fiction.
In terms of how I view the world? Maybe 100 Years of Solitude. Fantastic.
When I was younger Still Life With Woodpecker made me want to be an outlaw. Ditto with The Monkey Wrench Gang. Kind of silly in retrospect, though I still like The Monkey Wrench Gang a lot.
Whoever said Catch-22 is pretty spot on.
If you're looking for something pretty unique (and amazing) check out Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
I forgot the Sound and the Fury. I couldn't imagine a more amazing literary accomplishment than that book when I set it down.
On the Road
The Dharma Bums
Walden
Night
Those four are my favorite
Viivi Avellan, Sinkkunaisen käsikirja
book reader wrote:
This isn't necessarily the same as what is your favorite book(s).
These are books that changed how you act, think, or perceive the world. What are they? Why were they the most influential?
Let's hear them.
OK...Not trying to pick a fight...but since the thread is still here, I will say the Bible. For Me...It has been profound. For Me...It exposes my hidden agendas as I relate my world to God as I believe I know Him. For Me...I have a sense of knowing better the mind of God as my life experience influences my understanding of the things I read in The Bible.
No other book has the same impact...For Me. You asked.
Old Runner wrote:
No other book has the same impact...For Me. You asked.
Yup, I did ask. The good thing with this question is that the answer is personal. You are the only one who can say which book is the most influential for you.
Given my spelling of "influential" [sic] in the subject line, it is clear that the dictionary is not mine!