There are many wonderful books out there that have had a vastly profound effect on those who read them. I was just curious what book has fundamentally shaped your life, changed your outlook or affected you deeply, and why?
For me, I would have to say that book would probably be Lord of the Flies (which I'm currently re-reading)
Aside from the fact it was one of the first novels I ever read in my life, it is also that rare blend of mixing together a wonderful story with wonderful writing in a way that seems almost symbiotic. Nothing seems out of place or jarring to the reader, there is no sense of remembering you are reading a book and detached from the story. I felt as though I was right there on the island with Ralph and Piggy and Jack when I first read it at the age of 8...and 19 years later the feeling is still there. This book is the cornerstone on which I hope to base my own writing some day.
It was also the first book I read that dealt with some very heavy issues: the breakdown of society, held together by the thinnest of veneers, mental health, murder, symbolic beasts...the book has it all. It is one of my favorite novels and was responsible in part for how I view modern society.
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If They Come In The Morning by Angela Davis
It changed me forever. It woke me up.
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Honestly? The Satanic Bible written by Anton LaVey.
There was pretty much nothing evil in. There were some things I considered a little harsh, but not evil and I could see the reason behind them and felt they were pretty logical. The first page of the book said it would change my life. I rolled my eyes and thought, "Yeah right." It ended up changing my life. When I saw something that EVERYONE considers to be evil filled with torture, murder,all that stuff didn't have it.
I did what everyone else did and accepted something as fact since that's what society told me to do and then once I actually decided to learn about it instead of just taking everyone else's word for it I learned something that most people don't know because they are not open to learning about it.
It's amazing the things you learn by actually seeking out the knowledge instead of accepting what everyone else has told you. It actually makes me feel like I"m living in a totally different world than everyone else.
PS I really enjoyed reading Lord of the Flies although I was expecting it to be a bit more epic than it was, I guess I have high standards. A wonderful book nonetheless.
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I like to think a lot of books have affected my life in different ways.
As a teenager, Great Expectations influenced my priorities in life, On Liberty helped to shape my political views, and Marianne Moore's poetry changed my perception of what great poetry is about.
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I'm really not sure. If I thought about it, I guess I'd have to say the books that inspired my creativity. Like Pip above, certain poets that really resonated with me helped my own creative endeavors; Sylvia Plath and Tennyson immediately spring to mind.
A nod to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis too for spiriting me away in their books at an early age, to the point where I was creating my very own mythical worlds and writing my own histories for them. (A great advantage for me when I discovered Dungeons & Dragons) :biggrin:
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I know this is going to sound really weird coming form me since I'm pagan but, The Bible.
Not because of what it actually says but because of how erroneous interpretations of what it says caused others to react to me and treat me. That book was the source of the reasoning my parents used to justify disowning me and, more than anything, that taught me that, in the end, I have only myself to both rely one and to blame or thank for wherever my life goes.
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When I was a little girl I LOVED books about Pippi Longstocking and Dorrie the Little Witch. Both girls were very independent and got themselves out of trouble, and I think that shaped my thinking about myself. I suspect my automatically being comfortable with some radical anarchists and libertarians as I got older might have its roots in Pippi (after all, she used gold instead of paper money, lived on her own and bodily threw out the cops that came to take her to social services, had no fear of guns, rejected dogma, and even lived the permanant tourist lifestyle when not at Villa Villekulla).
That was not only helpful when I needed to depend on myself but I also think it made me receptive another book and then movie: The Little Girl That Lived Down the Lane. I caught this movie when I was 16 (and was so perfect for the dreary and rainy afternoon that it played on) while I was still living with a drunken mother that used me only for child support and I LOVED how a 13-year-old managed to thwart all the adults in her life to live independently (like Pippi) and also live smart that made me want to live like her. I was so in love with this movie that I went to the library as soon as I could and luckily found the novel which was even better. The character Rynn became my role model and I even took to reading classical poetry and listening to classical music because of her. More importantly, I adopted her tactics. For example, when a teacher threatened me with a law Bush had just signed I verified such a law existed (unfortunately it did) instead of just assuming she was telling the truth. And when I ran away from home for a 2nd time and assumed an alias I made Rynn my new middle name in honor of this character and hope that I could also be as clever and strong-willed (and, if necessary, as ruthless) as her in resisting the world of adults trying to crush my spirit. And in doing so it would help shape the person I'd become.
That said, many other books (including nonfiction like Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson) have also made a difference in my life, though I was 17 before finding many of these other books.
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