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books that changed your life.

different books were monumental at different times, some of them were comic books...

grade school - handbook for boys by lord robert baden powell
i attribute this with sparking my transcendentalism and appreciation for both the outdoors and moral integrity.

middle school - the lord of the flies by william golding
helped me understand my peers at that age.

high school - the crow by james o'barr / the maxx by sam keith
allowed me insight into other people's pain and how they cope, allowed me to realize that my pain was managable- not uncontrollable and dominant.

college 1st time - on the road by jack kerouac
showed me that there is no shame in being an original voice.

my long vacation - tao teh ching by lau tzu / the fountainhead by ayn rand
let me better understand competition and personal achievement, while being humble.

recently - the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky / the republic by plato
compliments my readings by giving me more insight on how to read, how to allow myself to ask for the things i want, and how to strive for happiness through virtue and justice.
 
Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Walter Rudin. This book completely changed the way I think; not what I think, but how I think.

Here's a good quote from amazon.com's reviews, with which I wholehearted agree:
This book breathes, palpitates, battles, slays its own dragons and puts to rest its own monsters, grabs hold of your mind and doesn't let go until the beautiful poetry of numbers is swiftly embedded in your memory and your soul. To me, it's like "War and Peace," but with Derivatives.
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THE WOOD said:
as corny as it sounds, Aldous Huxleys "The Doors of Perception" as well as "Brave New World". I diddnt understand the concept of either untill much time after the read, but change me they did.

Also THE BIBLE.
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All three of them are great books which I definitely had periods being "in to." When I was in middle school I remember I took it upon myself to read the Bible and then I had all these questions about the various weird things to be found in it that my teachers and parents were woefully unprepared to answer.

As far as Huxley goes, the man was a genius! If you'd like to read about his life, as well as the lives of many other people involved in the intellectual/scientific end of the psychedelic scene in mid-century I strongly recommend Jay Stevens' "Storming Heaven." I read that book a few years ago for personal reading and then ended up getting assigned to read it again in my Mysticism class last year... pretty interesting and informative social history.
 
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
The Bible
The Teachings of Buddha

1984, by George Orwell
F. 451 by Ray Bradbury
Anthem by Ayn Rand

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Villa Incognito by Tom Robins
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robins
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robins
Still life with Woodpecker by Tom Robins
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robins
Choke by Chuck Palahnuik (sp?)
Fight Club by Chuck Palahhnuik (sp?)
Diary by Chuck Palahnuik
Survivors by Chuck Palahnuik
Lullaby by Chuck Palahnuik

Alice in Wonderland by Lewiss Caroll
Peter Pan
The Tao of Pooh

Anti-Christ- Nietzsche
Holographic Universe- Michael Talbot
Imagined Communities- Benedict Anderson
Irrational Man- William Barrett
Philosophy in the Bedroom- Marquis De Sade

And um.. I’ll admit it.. I’ve read 50+ Star Trek novels… and was obsessed with the shit all through school… The political and philosophical views throughout the books and tv show, is probably more of an influence on me than I’d like to publicly admit.
 
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^^good taste.

Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
1984 - George Orwell
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Fear and Loathing in LV - HST
...for novels...

however, also numerous social theory...
 
Hmmm...the list that I would give would probably take up a whole page of this thread...I agree with brothermarcus that different books were monumental at different times...I think that any book has the capacity to change you at least a little...even ones you didn't like...because they can all give you new knowledge or a new idea or a different way of looking at things. We're all a blend of our experiences, thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, etc. and I think every book is its own experience. Because I take so much enjoyment from reading literature, it is a big part of the mix for me. I just feel sorry for people who don't enjoy reading, because they are really missing out on a lot.
 
^^^...and proud of it! It's better than the crap they put on TV! C'mon you know the book's better than the movie! =D
 
One of my favorite books is She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, I wouldn't say that it had a life changing effect but it was a good read
Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch is amazing that has definitely been a life changing book thanks so much to the person who loned it and encouraged me too read;)
 
there have only been two books that i'd say have "changed my life" in any significant meaning (that is, any book i read "changes my life," just because i can then describe myself as having read that book, where before i couldn't; a nominal change)

the first is camus the stranger, which i read in 8th grade ( i have no idea why i read that book when i was that young....looking back, seems a bit heavy)

i returned to that book this past year in college, and, combined with salih's season of migration to the north, my life changed quite a bit i suppose.

sartre's naseua comes close, but it gets no cigar

:)
 
lol@compact. I can't say many books changed my life my themselves, but among them would be:

  • Dummitt & Foote, Abstract Algebra -- I fell in love with mathematics through this book; doing pure math really teaches you how to think clearly and rigorously.
  • Ayn Rand, Fountainhead -- Don't think much of it now, but it got me started thinking about philosophy and ethics in a non-muddled (but still incorrect) way.
  • Richard Feynman, QED -- Part of what got me really interested in physics.

There are a number of books like Hemingway's Farewell to Arms and Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude that changed how I see the world a little, but I don't know how much they really changed my life...
 
The Illuminatus! Trilogy - Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

That book is better than acid.
 
This Perfect Day - forget (! :( )
Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlien
The Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan
The Old Man and the Sea - Hemmingway
The Bhagavad Gita
Siddhartha
An American Childhood - Annie Dillard
The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald
The Colour Out of Space - H.P. Lovecraft
9 Stories - Salinger
 
A couple books that come to mind are:
1984- George Orwell
This is probably the only book that I actually became angry while reading it. This book also disturbed me quite a bit.

Angela's Ashes- Frank McCourt
I went into reading this just hoping that it was entertaining. But it ended up really gaving me some perspective on how "bad I have it".

This Boy's Life- Tobias Wolff
This book gave some valuable insight into the mind of a non-typical youth put in what most people consider a typical situation... and how he changed that around.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
I don't really feel I need to elaborate on this.

I'm also a big fan of short stories.. I guess that can apply to this thread:
The Jewels of Madame Lantin- Guy de Maupassant
The Most Dangerous Game- Richard Connell
The Lottery- Shirley Jackson
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
 
"Augusta Gone"
"Roxanne"
"His Bright Light - The Story of Nick Traina" (by Danielle Steel)

Both Roxanne and His Bright Light true stories. Theres something about true stories that i love. Can anyone recommend me a few true stories with a brief synopis??
 
Law of Success - Napoleon Hill
How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie
The tibetan book of living and dying
Man's search for meaning - Victor Frankl

Helped me to see things in a different light and gain more understanding about myself and others. not so much life changing.
 
YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE....Louise hay..

This book catapulted me onto my spiritual journey, changed radically the way I looked at MY LIFE.....


THE ART OF HAPPINESS......The Dalai Lama...

This book again catapulted me in my continuing spiritual journey, changed drastically the way I look AT LIFE AS A WHOLE....

BOTH AMAZING INNER LIFE CHANGING BOOKS FOR ME....PROFOUND INNER GROWTH!!!


peace to all...
jemelsa..
 
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