Once A Runner - I wasn't working hard enough.
Catch 22 - Someone who shares my sense of humor and jaded world view managed to get a novel published. (ditto Confederacy of Dunces)
Where the Red Fern Grows - I was in 3rd grade and it taught me so much.
Brave New World - Holy sh** the future is scary.
Born to read wrote:
Another for Atlas Shrugged. Read it first in high school and again in my 30s and 50s. It holds up and seems eerily prophetic. The vitriol directed at this book and its author really have nothing to do with the quality of the book but with dislike of the message. Which is not for everyone.
Boom. How'd ya like the dynamite?
Patrick Bateman wrote:
American Psycho, Less than Zero
Gave the feelings I had about life a voice...
Less Than Zero made me feel more grateful about my very modest life and upbringing than anything I've ever read.
On the Genealogy of Morality and Heart of Darkness have both left solid impressions.
krispy kremlin wrote:
Born to read wrote:Another for Atlas Shrugged. Read it first in high school and again in my 30s and 50s. It holds up and seems eerily prophetic. The vitriol directed at this book and its author really have nothing to do with the quality of the book but with dislike of the message. Which is not for everyone.
Boom. How'd ya like the dynamite?
Why Atlas Shurgged. The concepts are very basic and nothing ground breaking. Rand at the same time has to be one of the worst writers of all time. Who takes 100 pages to describe their love for someone they have never met. It so horrible written that it is just a tough read to get through.
Republicans love to latch on to the book because it seems to prove their point that everyone should die who can't take care of themselves and it is ok to be the most selfish person in the world even at the expense of everyone else. The concepts were basically disproven in the Gilded age when there basically was unlimited capitalism and a vast majority of America was suffering. Even Rand herself used government help during that later part of her life making her a huge hypocrite.
Now having said all this, I did read all of her works. I was economics major and one of my professors was in love with her.
Strangely, my example is nonfiction.
The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society Of Pickup Artists, by Neil Strauss.
Simply mesmerizing. It plunges so deeply and personally into this community of pickup artists that you cannot help but take to heart their advice and experiences. Though not a "how to" book per se, it will forever change the way you view yourself, carry yourself, and interact with people. Seriously: if you read this, you will become frustratingly self-conscious, simply because the content is that convincing.
PS
The original publication looks exactly like a leather-bound Bible (complete with cloth tassel for page-marking). This is not an accident.
Article 58 wrote:
The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn -- the end game of Utopian Socialism
Great choice. I almost wish I'd given this answer instead.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm wrote:
krispy kremlin wrote:Boom. How'd ya like the dynamite?
Why Atlas Shrugged. The concepts are very basic and nothing ground breaking. Rand at the same time has to be one of the worst writers of all time. Who takes 100 pages to describe their love for someone they have never met. It so horrible written that it is just a tough read to get through.
Republicans love to latch on to the book because it seems to prove their point that everyone should die who can't take care of themselves and it is ok to be the most selfish person in the world even at the expense of everyone else. The concepts were basically disproven in the Gilded age when there basically was unlimited capitalism and a vast majority of America was suffering. Even Rand herself used government help during that later part of her life making her a huge hypocrite.
Now having said all this, I did read all of her works. I was economics major and one of my professors was in love with her.
This ^
The notion that any vitriol toward the book could not possibly have anything to do with the 'quality of the book' is can only be ascribed to the naive dreams of a mediocre mind.
The diary of frida kahlo
From Here to Eternity- James Jones
For all the Ayn Rand fans, FHTE is a more realistic, heartfelt and historically accurate look at the individual vs. society. Its long but it's an actual story, not a lecture.
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater- Kurt Vonnegut.
GBYMR is the anti Atlas Shrugged. Short, simple prose and the protagonist is an alcoholic determined to give his massive fortune away to a general population of undeserving lowlifes. It is also a good read for those who feel strongly about the Bible as the "Sermon on the Mount"is a central theme.
Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
Great American scenery and the best line ever about morality and following your conscience
"All right, then, I'll go to hell,"
The Rum Diaries- Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson's minimalist masterpiece that took 40 years to publish. It's much better than the movie and contains a lot more insight into lust, desire, and ambition than you might imagine from Hunter.
Blow- Bruce Porter
Whatever your feelings about the US drug culture, the true story of George Jung is an amazing and ultimately tragic American story.
jjjjjj wrote:
Spinoza uses the phrase "deus sive natura," God or nature, and excludes any notion of a personal God or a directive, purposive God organizing the world for particular reasons, so there isn't much there to satisfy the religious types, and in fact, he was condemned in literally the strongest terms possible on Jewish religious grounds.
one book that changed my life? Plato, Republic.
Was it Plato's personally that made a great impression on your life?
Or was it his exceptional observations about the world?
If the later, do you think a man who lived over 2300 years ago had a useful understanding of how the world works relative to more recent thinkers?
Die Leiden des jungen Werthers convinced me that romanticism is a load of old bollocks. I was lucky enough to read it at a relatively young age (approx 15).
The Name of the Rose, read at the same age in a single sitting, completely changed my way of looking at humanities and started to get me interested in history.
Books should reinforce the lessons of life, not change them.
That being said .....
Lonesome Dove - taught me to relax more and to appreciate the beauty of this world even during life's hardships.
State of Fear - you mean not all elites are global warming idiots?!! Good to know.
A Christmas Carol - Dickens' best IMHO.
I honestly have to say, I cant even finish half the books mentioned in this thread.
"On the Road" - Kerouac
"Huckleberry Finn" - Clemens
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - Pirsig
none of the above wrote:
Books should reinforce the lessons of life, not change them.
An old book: How I helped OJ get away with Murder.
A very interesting documentary.