great books we need to read

[Candy Flipin]

Hey what are some great books looking into the human spirit and persona? Or just some very influential books that would be great reading. i.e. siddhartha, communist manifesto, the wealth of nations

 

[SalineSugar]

Try and get your hands on a copy of Victor Frankels (sp?) "A mans search for meaning" if you want a thought provoking read.

 

[Second Round KOut]

some books that have influenced my life for the better:
Malcolm X's Autobiography
The Long Lonliness by Dorothy Day
Jack Frusciante Has Left the Band (can't remember author)
On the Road by Jack Kerouac.. other books by him were also great, including his Selected Letters

 

[Trancendance]

Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut

 

[1024]

The Celestine Prophecies

 

[Dagny]

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

[Obnicus]

^^^^I second that, Le Petit Prince is a great book to read. They have another book out there that discusses the lessons that adults can learn from that book. I haven't read it but, it could be interesting.

 

[*twinkle*toes]

for the time being by annie dilliard AWESOME book
on the road by jack kerouac
and everyone knocks on me for it but one of my favorite books ever is Catcher in the Rye
wild thorns by sahar khalifeh... its arabic in translation but it paints a very vivid picture of the middle east's current situation if you're interested... arabic writers are very poetic so its beautiful reading

 

[titania]

Definitely the Celestine Prophecies like 1024 said...they changed my life!!
Also anything by Paulo Coelho, all of his books are beautiful and inspiring! The Alchemist, is a good one to start on, it's kind of a fable about following your dreams! The way he writes is stunning too!
xxx

 

[WhyzFool]

Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
Abbie Hoffman - Steal this book
Disinformation - You are being lied to
Bill Maher - When you ride alone, you ride with Bin Laden

 

[Candy Flipin]

thanks guys, i read the little princetoday and it remindem me of things we all need to take a step back and reflect on. It was packed full of symbolic life lessons and definately got my ball rollin.

 

[wendisoul]

My list of life-enriching books:
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
Watership Down - I read it in like 8th grade, but it means more to me now
Diet for a Small Planet
Anything by Kurt Vonnegut gets me thinking
Celestine Prophicies
The Bible
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson - a FUNNY book that made me realize that my thru-hike of the AT was indeed a great feat
The Handmaid's Tale
Coming of Age in Mississippi
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown
Sand County Almanac - Leopold
Boy's Life - what a book about coming of age and Americana
I Kissed Dating Goodbye - Made me question how our society view relationships and why we think that way... I don't agree with the whole book, but it makes some really good points - Josh McDowell is the author
There are sooo many... I am sure I will think of more later...

 

[useless]

the perks of being a wallflower by umm steve chbosky (im not sure if thats right). i read it in a day, and it was so good.. could relate to a lot of things in it.
the lovely bones by alice sebold
the bell jar by sylvia plath
in cold blood by truman capote
Frederick Douglass' autobiography

 

[Dagny]

Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wuertzel
For all the times you have sworn you were going insane, and weren't sure whether to let it happen or try to fight it.

 

[1024]

DUNE by Frank Herbert. It's fantasy but it contains so much to be learnt from.
[ 01 March 2003: Message edited by: 1024 ]

 

[Stark]

Heh.
You can sorta tell people's general outlook on life by what books they tell others are "must-reads".
That being said... this is part of who I am.
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstien
Frederick - Leo Leoni
Generation X - Douglas Coupland
Fight Club - Chuck Pahlaniuk
Trainspotting, Glue - Irvine Welsh
On the Road - Jack Kerouac

 

[voodoosoup]

-- Useless - The perks of being a wallflower is a hell of a book
anyone read Einstein's Dreams, its a good one

 

[Tech Kinetics]

Originally posted by WhyzFool:
Abbie Hoffman - Steal this book

^^^
What is that book all about???
I've seen the "Steal this book" series except its all about Hacking. Is it the same one??

 

[GhetoKng9]

ha...it might not be on the same level as some of the other ones named, but I always loved The Theif of Always by Clive Barker

 

[*transcendence*-badger]

P G Wodehouse
"Code of the Woosters"
"Joy in the Morning"
"Thank you, Jeeves"
Just 3 of the premier books by the 20th Century's greatest English Comic writer, and one of the finest writers ever.
The master of escapism, and of lending humour, farce and a touch of silliness to life.