Book Recommendation for Down Moments Or Inspiration

question: favourive book?

Hi, i need some literature tips for down-moments.
give me a name of a book that really has inspired you and a motivation.

I think you would get more replies in Thought and Awareness.

Let me know if you want me to Move it there.

Catcher In The Rye!!

my favourite book of all time is 'the bridge' by iain banks.

if you want a truly beautiful read, try 'written on the body' by jeanette winterson.

if you are looking for something a little off the wall, read 'only forward' by michael m. smith

i'm currently half way through 'carter beats the devil' and it is simply brilliant.

have you read 'the alchemist' by paulo coelho? it's a short but very inspiring read.

alasdair

This insn't really an uplifting book but Angela's Ashes by Frank McKourt is a kick-ass read and it makes you appreciate the things you have because these guys have nothing. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'dell is probably the best ever, and that;s not just my opinion, I mean it's really the best ever.

alasdairm: ive read the alchemist and was kinda disapointed since lots of people said they like it.. too easy solutions on big questions.
thanx for the rest of them titles.

thanks Aro of the west for Angela´s Ashes. i sure will do a check on that one.

Yup..Alchemist is tops...it just hit so many aspects of myself in such a short read i was flabbergasted. But then again i read it a good five years AFTER it was released with all the bookstore and bookclub hype gone...i time my reading that way so i dont get disapointed

Another staple is the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran...excellent..my mini bible actually. He writes like a God!


Instant Analysis by David Leiberman is an EXCELLENT self help book...im very wary of self help/psychology crop of books out there (most of em are just rehashed/repeated/reworded mediocre versions of each other, bleah) and so i only purchase a selfhelp book after much deliberation. This one hits the spot.

Naked Lunch by William Burroughs is tops in my drug book list...takes effort though to read it and relish it ....i read a chapter at a time when im in the mood.

I don't know if this really fits, but one book that definitely inspired me and changed my life was
"Walden" by Henry David Thoreau
(read all his essays too, like Life Without Principle, Slavery in Massachusetts, Civil Disobedience, etc) really great reading imo

I also like pretty much any essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He wrote about pretty much every subject possible. My favorites though are the Oversoul, Politics, Heroism, Love, Friendship, Henry Thoreau, Solitude, there's so many good ones I could go on.

Another great book I just read a few months ago (about 3 times it was so good), go out and read it now if you haven't, is
"The White Rose" by Inge Scholl (make sure it's the right author, there's like 3 books with the same name by different authors)


I could list a lot more, but I don't really read fiction, so I don't what you're looking for exactly.

Its not particularly profound but I keep going back to "The City, Not Long After" by Pat Murphy. Imagery is wonderful, theres something quite haunting about it.

Naked Lunch is bizarre. A very acidic novel. Cronenberg's film is madness.

I'm sort of looking at The Nag Hammadi Library right now. Gnostic scriptures, very bizarre. Its not a read through book.

I bought Against All Enemies, Richard Clarke's book. Its good. Depending on your politics.

1984 is prob my favorite. One of. Leonard Cohen, My Favorite Game or Beautiful Losers. Atwood, Wilderness Tips, others books of hers...
A Man in Full - Tom Wolfe.

The Wheel of Time series could keep you occupied for a year easily. Its like 10,000 pages so far and its got to be the greatest fiction books I've ever read.

The Power & The Glory: Graham Greene
To The Lighthouse: Virginia Woolf

The first book is about a 'whiskey Priest' in Mexico, who fights for salvation in an imperfect world. The second is a prayer on moments passing, on memory and family.

Ooh, good thread. I'll just mention some of the first that come to mind.

"Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell - The first time I ever felt guilty about crying, was while I was reading this book. This book taught me about compassion and empathy, for all living things. It awakened me to the power of the spirit, and it showed me how selfish some people can be. This is one of those books where the next day after finishing it, the entire world changes before your eyes.

"Robot odyssey I: Escape from Robotropolis" by Fred D'Ignazio - Robotropolis was the first book which introduced me to paradoxes, control of matter by the mind, and basically the concept of a robot world ala the Matrix.

"Ender's Game" (and the entire Ender Wiggins series) by Orson Scott Card - I think this book ends up on a lot of "favourite" lists. It is no suprise, as this book is a real thought provoking work. While this book accomplished many things, it most fundamentally instilled in me a healthy skepticism for war. Ender's Game is also a wonderful analysis of humans as social beings, in that it almost perfectly captures the mental state of the loner, and shows how that type of thinking leads to many conflicts between people. This book deals with intelligence, isolation, gullibility, unique talents, depression, motivation, etc. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

"1984" by George Orwell - Nothing really needs to be said about this. It is Orwell's greatest book and his life's total summation. Some are depressed by it, but I find that it fills me with energy and an intense curiousity.

"Point-Counterpoint" by Aldous Huxley - This is one of Huxley's less known works (I guess all his works are less known than BNW). It is a detailed look into the world of some very elite people in England, along with a bitter satire on said people. It is anti-intellectual, in a good way....showing the reader how pretentiousness and psuedo-intelligence make for a shallow existence.

"Replay" by Ken Grimwood - One of my greatest guilty pleasures. This book will trip you out. One of the most original ideas I've ever seen in fiction. And I've never encountered anyone else who has read it (anyone?). If you read any book on this list, read this one first!


I think these books are the ones that most helped to shape my world view. I actually read most of these when I was a teenager, and though I have read many books since then, these ones are forever stuck in my memory.

^^ I also think it's too bad that Aldous Huxley's other works are overshadowed by Brave New World (which I like, but not as much as other books of his).
"Island" by Huxley is the one I would recommend, definitely an interesting perspective on things. I would have mentioned Huxley as he's one of my favorite authors, but I don't think his books are really 'pick-me-up' books as much as interesting reads. I thought that this person was looking for more uplifting stuff, I personally don't consider Huxley's books to be that way. Just my two cents.

The Art of Happiness by the Dhelia Lama (I think thats how it's spelt)

Thats an awesome book!

shals :D

shal said:

The Art of Happiness by the Dhelia Lama (I think thats how it's spelt)

Thats an awesome book!

shals :D

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Dalai lama dear. I have that EXACT SAME BOOK!! OMg

perhaps that's the point - the solutions are straightforward?

i don't think 'the alchemist' set out to provide solutions to life's big questions - i think it simply encourages people to find the answers themselves.

alasdair

read "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson...omg that book is so fantastic and very encouragable...

Re: question: favourive book?

jaxon said:

Hi, i need some literature tips for down-moments.
give me a name of a book that really has inspired you and a motivation.

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The best thing i could possibly fathom to read in a bad mood.. would be any Tom Robbins books. If you don't have at least a small feeling of a grand "love for life" and not to take the world so seriously after you're done...well.. i don't know what would lift your mood.

RareForm said:

read "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson...omg that book is so fantastic and very encouragable...

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I knew I forgot to mention a good essay of his. That has to be one of the best pieces of literature I've read when I'm in a bad mood.
Rareform has good taste.