For sure. I was in the library and was reaching up for a book that was high on the shelf. As I pulled it out the book next to it fell out and hit me in the head. I lost all memory and my life hasn't been the same since.
P.S. - I only know this happened because someone told me. I don't remember it happening.
Spinoza's "Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated"
Hunter S. Thompson - "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
When I was in high school, I thought I wanted to be a Psychologist when I grew up but then a book changed my life. I read "Eric", a story about a teenager who had leukemia. I cried my eyes out reading it and decided to go into the medical field.
"A Tale of Two Needles" by Lance Armstrong is a good one
i went to catholic school through HS. our senior year we had to read Sidhartha. It changed my views on religion. It made me question which one is right? they all say if you don't follow their views, you will go to hell or not achieve nirvana. i haven't been to church 25+ years now.
Lorrie Moore's Self Help was really challenging for me when I read it as an undergraduate. Those stories--along with a healthy dose of Butler, Cixous, and Irigaray in grad school--made feminism real to me and offered me a way to probe my own and society's attitudes toward women.
Cheers also to whoever mentioned Zizek, another big influence. I don't love everything he's done, but he can be a fun read.
Blaise Pascal's Pensées
'The Sickness unto Death' by Soren Kierkegaard
And of course the Bible--but unlike many here, it convinced me even more of Christian truth.
The prior two just condensed all the serious existential thought that the third one brings with it.
Bible. 25 years is long enough for a boycott. I know I've hit a few stinkers of the hundreds of AA meetings I've attended, but I just avoided them & have been sober 15 years.
Camus' "The Stranger" changed my life. Didn't make me want to shoot anyone 'cause the sun was in my eyes, but the main character's refusal to act and feel and apologize the way everyone thought he should made me realize (at age 18) that I didn't need to keep pleasing everyone at my own expense anymore.
not life changer but good book is TENDER BAR, by JR MOERINGER.
I was heavily affected by Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for much the same reason -- the unyielding integrity of the protagonists.
I've always thought Moby Dick had some of the most compelling language, especially the metaphors, in American literature (James Wood has a wonderful essay on this.) It is a beautiful book with one of the greatest tragic figures in literature.
1984 scared the piss out of me, and still does.
"Cosmos" and "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynam" probably had a good bit to do with me getting a PhD in chemistry.
Brave New World was a big influence on my politics (this was still during the cold war). I found it infinitely more frightening than 1984. Give me Victory Gin over soma any day.
"A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London," Kafka's "The Trial," and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," probably contributed to general life-long existential angst.
Those were all in high school. I don't think my mind's been all that malleable in the years since although I just read "On Bullshit" and think maybe I could adopt it as a manifesto.
Read "Under the Banner of Heaven" - that was it for me.
ijsoifjd wrote:
Read "Under the Banner of Heaven" - that was it for me.
defintely an eye opener for me too and just another book that steers me away from organized religion.
No book in paticular has changed my life, however, Freakonomics has definitely changed the way I think about and view almost everything. It may not be a literary classic or any great work, but it is definitely worth a read. It will change the way you think about the world around you.
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut:
Brilliant. Vonnegut cemented my views on religion, greed, hypocrisy, etc. Vonnegut's wit is unmatched.
A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold:
As impassioned an intelligent as environmental defense can get.
East of Eden - John Steinbeck:
A masterpiece, I much prefer it to the Grapes of Wrath. A tale of human life, presents humans as everything they can, and will, be.
I like Stumbling Into Happiness and NonZero I read Atlas Shrugged expecting some big revelation but the plot was so implausible that it was hard to take seriously. I suppose it's a good reference when you want to be self indulgent and feel like paying less taxes. I think her books make Libertarianism look worse than it should - like it's a group of people who just think they are better the everyone else rather than being a group with a different take on government.
crazy person wrote:
Also Read Ayn Rand wrote:I think people are too hard on Atlas Shrugged. If you treat it like some sort of philosophical bible, you're probably an idiot, and you deserve some ridicule.
However, it contains a bunch of higher-level themes that I think are both reasonable and applicable on a philosophical level.
People just need to not take Rand's words as gospel at face value, and instead consider the generalities of individualism, hard work, relationships between people and government, etc.
I agree with both of you. My brain has always worked a bit faster than most, and that seemed to be a source of shame rather than a source of pride. My family would always tell me, "Why can't you just learn to talk about the things most people talk about?" Like gossip, shopping, their people problems, TV, stupid fights, and other non-stimulating issues. Spare me.
When I read Atlas Shrugged, I realized it wasn't a bad thing to value quality, competition, hard work, not being a lazy ass. My efforts to excel at my activities was held back by peers, and maybe it wasn't a bad thing that I cared about the quality of my efforts.
I never took her ramblings as gospel, though. I would recommend against taking anybody's ramblings as gospel.
The Dancing Wu Li Masters, I could not put it down. I read it now ever few years. It made me believe that nothing is really that hard, it's all how you see it.
The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink