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books that changed your life.

Heinlein scares me. Some of his books seem ok, others seem full of propaganda in favour of an authoritarian bordering on fascistic world view. 'Starship troopers' was not originally supposed to be ironic - that was added for the film.

And a surprising number of his books (especially the latter ones) seem to be about older men that are always very similar in character (and similar in character to Heinlein himself) having sex with large numbers of younger women. The younger women usually seem very submissive whilst being presented as the pinnacle of modern feminism by the author.

Personally i would say that Frank Herbert's Dune changed my life. Dune containes themes ranging from ecology, psychology and psychedelic mind altering nootropic drugs.
 
B9 said:
Just read "The Great Gatsby" impressive book I thought
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That's one of my favorite books mate. <3 Great minds think alike!

"He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face-- the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey."
 
^ Yup the entire tale reminds me somewhat of Xanadu (Kubla Khan) Sam Coleridge....if you follow me ?



Good quote BTW :)



I have "Lilla" sitting on my shelf awaiting attention......a tough read by all accounts.
 
Heinlein - "Stranger In A Strange Land": I read this book when I was 20, and it completely changed the way I look at the world, and made me a thorough libertarian.

Ayn Rand - "The Fountainhead" & "Atlas Shrugged": I don't have a lot of use for Randroids, or even staunch objectivists (ie: I disagree with the idea that objectivity excludes the existence of a creator), but these books really changed me, and showed me the value of individualism, of personal accomplishment, personal excellence, and unwavering devotion to oneself. It reminds me to see the greatness in people, and not get too caught up in all of what we get wrong. I even named my dog Howie (for Howard Roark). He has a little bone-shaped name tag on his collar that says: "Howard Roark -- Dog."

George Orwell - "Animal Farm": Like a lot of people I was first exposed to this book in a high school assignment. I don't really think I need to go to any lengths to explain why I'd love this or 1984, since I think the subject material is pretty well known to most people.

Mark Z. Danielewski - "House of Leaves": Like the house in the story, this book is so much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. There are any number of stories and themes to be found inside, and all of them with fascinating things to say about subjects as varied as soldiers coming home from wars, the relationship between a mother and her son, a dysfunctional marriage, etc. It's a story about people who are stalked by something in their past that they can't come to grips with. Or so I think. The book is so obtusely structured with layers upon layers that you could interpret it 10 different ways and never really be wrong. Beyond anything else, this book shattered my expectations for what fiction can be. It's even more moving when you compare it to the pseudo-soundtrack released by his sister Poe in the form of her album "Haunted." I loved the album by itself, but combined with this book, they blew me away.

Hunter S. Thompson - "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas": The death of the American Dream, eminent quotability, journalistic genius, total debauchery, and the fantastic art of Ralph Steadman. This is really the book (and the movie, but the book first) that introduced me to psychedelics.

Just a short sampling of what would probably be a very long list.
 
Yeah, I used to have a couple of collections of HST's writing, but they've been lost in one of my many moves. As an aside, this thread caused me to spend about 60 books at a half-priced bookstore tonight; bastards! I picked up The Celestine Prophecy (and sequels), Ender's Game, a collection of stuff by Castaneda (The Teachings of Don Juan, A Separate Reality, and Tales of Power) along with a few other things I've been meaning to read. I'll have to report back on how it goes.
 
Be Here Now (Ram Dass)
The Art of Happiness (Dali Lama)

These books helped to shift my paradigm into one of love and compassion rather than self-centered addiction and misery...

both well worth the read.
 
The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom.
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Ed Herman
 
The Toa of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff -> lovely, compelling, simple book of understanding the Toaist ways :)

Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse -> one of THE best books i've ever had the pleasure to read. fantastic characters, also incredibly compelling, thought provoking and all out crazy. MUST READ!!!
 
I'd say the Bible changed my life more than any other book. I read a lot of it when I was about 8 years old, and it convinced me that Christianity was a false religion. I did not stop believing in god immediately, but had doubts about his existence. It was a few years after that when I became an atheist. I suppose there could be a god, but it seems unlikely to me. It is certainly not within the realm of science at this time.
 
Questions And Answers by Robert Adams -Short and To the point.
It's all saying the same thing: How to use your brain.
I love enlightenment.
 
B9 said:
Just read "The Great Gatsby" impressive book I thought
Click to expand...

It's funny you say that, cause that was the one book I actually read that was required by my schools. It was a really, really great book :)
 
Chaos23 said:
The Art of Happiness (Dali Lama)
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I'm glad you suggested that one, cause I skimmed through it, and didn't think it was the sort of reading I was looking for. Maybe I'll try borrowing it from the library sometime soon!
 
All anyone needs is headphones and the audio of Power Of Now.
I'm now listening to it everyday, and it's almost like he knows EXACTLY how I work. I'll find myself drifting off while listening to it, and then he'll address (out of linear topic) exactly the thoughts I was having while drifting off.
It's like having buddha on your shoulder instead of the devil, and he's speaking to the angel on the other side who's throwing jelly beans into buddha's laughing mouth while singing I Feel Good.

PM me if you are too lazy to torrent.
I'm going to find a way to give this to everyone I know...
 
^Yeah, I started reading that book a while ago, and it truly is amazing. I wasn't surprised when you sent it to me, cause it seems like a book you'd really enjoy :)
 
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