Question What book changed your life?

[AmorRoark]

Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff's non-fiction work. Especially Rand's book on epistemology (can't remember the name of it right now).

introspective Johnny is by FAR my favorite bluelighter. Whenever I find someone else that has read Rand I almost piss my pants.

 

[psilocybe]

i realized i never put any literature in this thread..

I don't have a book that changed my life (yet) but i am reading some INCREDIBLE literature in my college lit class. i'm eating it up.

heres my 2 favorite short stories.. give them a read if you have the time. Trust me, its definitely worth it

Jack london. To build a fire


doris lessing ... through the tunnel

 

[KidChameleon]

i just finished up B]"The Five Chinese Brothers"[/B] by Claire Huchet Bishop & Kurt Wiese

i recomend you all check this one out.
the underlying point in the story is that if somehow
you can continually cheat death, it means that you are
innocent.
the book also discusses the ideas of man swallowing the sea,
having an iron neck, and other interesting ideas.

if i were to rank this book on a one to ten, i'd definetly give it an
eight or nine.

 

[o0psy Daisy]

-Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo... fucking gutwrenching and powerful about war and its physical and psychological tolls.

-Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan---- hellllooooooo where is my mind?? Certainly not in this world!

--The Giver ... a must read for everyone

DaiZ

 

[o0psy Daisy]

And a long time ago:

Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Spinoza completely changed my life.

I love books.

by the way, does Calvin and Hobbes count? I definately learned lots of vocab and much much more by reading everything Bill Watterson put out

 

[vegtable]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: This book illustrated to me end result of the consumerism and escapism that is so prevalent in society today

Invisible Man by Ralph Waldo Emerson: This novel illustrates how we are all only viewed in the context of our stereotypes.

 

[*Venus*]

The Giving Tree

 

[DJmikaMC]

"Finding Flow - The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life"

I have been searching for meaning and purpose in my life this book explained some of the concepts that I am struggling with very well using logic that makes sense. I am not sure how accurate the findings were, but using the methods outlined in the book I was able to make things that I found completely miserable actually almost enjoyable and actually discover 'why' i disliked things instead of focusing on the negative.

Thanks

 

[evilorphan]

Herman Hesse

I'd have to say Herman Hesses `Steppenwolf' - I read when I was finally coming out of an incredibly long post adolescent depression and it described my awakening perfectly. I can remember finishing it the same week I took ecstacy for the first time........

 

[LinZ-E]

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut, yea and theCelestine prophecy

 

[drexil_spivy]

You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe.

There's so much truth in that book it hurts.

 

[hoptis]

Walden - Henry David Thoreau

Probably because you have to study it, you Americans take this book for granted but it's a really insightful book. It convinced me to become a vegetarian at the time I read it.

The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

A short little book with an awful amount of insight into life, love and just about everything. A masterpiece with so many answers.

 

[Introspective_Johnny]

introspective Johnny is by FAR my favorite bluelighter. Whenever I find someone else that has read Rand I almost piss my pants.

lol, I just remembered a time in my high school advanced composition class when everyone gave me a blank stare when I'd just finished reading my paper on the subject. And my teacher always argued with me about it.

Have you ever watched any documentaries about Ayn? I saw one on t.v. not too long ago. It talked about her husband Frank, her love affair with Nathaniel Branden, her experiences in Hollywood, etc. Pretty interesting.

 

[leaderof themind]

Candidie

 

[Larr_E]

THE STRANGER

 

[fizzygirl]

You rand fans should look up dagny...she doesn't post so much anymore, but she was one of the bl'er originally pushing for everyone to read ayn's work (as far as my memory goes)...she's why i read the fountainhead (which i love)

i've also loved:
another roadside attraction -- tom robbins

the prophet --Kahlil Gibran (as mentioned before)...i quoted his chapter on marriage in a card to one of my friends for her wedding, and she said it was what she received the most from in her entire wedding

the third chimpanzee -- jared diamond

Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution, and Other Dispatches From The Wrongly Convicted -- Barry Scheck, Peter Neufield, & Jim Dwyer (cause it has to do with why i do my research!)

also...there was this random high school biology book that my mom got at a yard sale when i was like 12....that had everything about sexual reproduction in it...including explanations of masters and johnsons studies and definitions of various pedophilias and beastiality, etc.....my friends had NO idea about these things at this time...it was cool...

 

[nargsawandering]

Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

It sealed for ever my love of reading and literature.
I read it when I was 8/9 (around there) and it was the first time I was truly immersed in a book.
I finished it in one go, closed the last page, put the book down, shook my head, looked around me, and slowly and regretfully came back to the real world.

It remains my all time favourite book.

 

[MindBodyStregnth]

Butterfly and Hellflower by Eluki Bes Shahar.

Because I suffer from megalomaniacism and wanna be Almayne

 

[schmangle]

Robert Pirsig

I can't say any book has changed my life, though lots have been extremely thought-provoking, and others have been extremely comforting.

Top of my list would be:
Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance, and Lila - the first comforting, the second thought-provoking.
The Bone People, by Keri Hulme, for its impact on your emotions, and also for its ability to affect the way you view people previously portrayed in a stereotypical fashion (i know that made just about zero sense, but I can't really explain better without revealing the main thrust of the book). Also for her amazing manipulation of words and what they can convey.
Conversations with God (for giving me hope)
Anything by Tom Robbins (the hope factor again, as well as his love of life, humor, way with words)
Any fantastic-realist books (eg. Isabel Alllende, most South American authors, and many Indian authors, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison) for reminding me that the world does contain many mysteries - a lot of them small and overlooked)
Just about any book by anyone living in a country and culture not my own - for opening my eyes to how varied and interesting the world is.
Ayn Rand - for helping me understand that its okay to be strong, and to believe in yourself
Lord of the Rings and Thomas Covenant the Non-Believer - for escaping this world

Apologies - have just realized that this belongs in favourite books thread (but then Books that changed your life is probably going to = Favourite books thread)

 

[skywise]

Walden - Henry David Thoreau

Probably because you have to study it, you Americans take this book for granted but it's a really insightful book. It convinced me to become a vegetarian at the time I read it.

Props on Walden! I'm a big Thoreau and Walden fan and i'm also a vegetarian. We should have a Thoreau only book party and eat vegetables together sometime :D