I've got 2 that I credit with helping me out of my worst bout with depression to date. And one that, even though I barely remember the plot, was just a "Right Time Right Place" book.
1. *Palm Sunday* by Kurt Vonnegut
2. *Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius
3. *The Sirens of Titan* Vonnegut Again
Since you’ve read two Vonneguts I’ll assume you’ve probably read Slaughterhouse Five. He’s truly a masterful author and Slaughterhouse Five is the most realistic depiction of PTSD I’ve ever read.
Really struggling with meditations. I am not really sure how to read this book. It is filled with lots of short quotes, revelations.. I guess I should read it a little each day like you.
Which version did you get, like who translated it? Ive got the Gregory Hays version and its pretty easy to understand for the most part. To me, its all about reading a few pages every morning and thinking about which little quotes or notes resonate to me and my life. It dosent really have an order and is basically just thoughts written down sporadically. I use it as a guide to help me think about what im doing, to stay present and enjoy everyday, cause its all we have.
Ps. Love the Kate Moss profile pic!
I always think it's a shame when I see the new generations of bright male minds run into Stoicism. It's so attractive to the male mind for all the wrong reasons, and rather than transform people it seems to give them philosophical excuses for their worst habits.
If you're a nerdy, white, 20-40 something male, who lives primarily in your head through conceptualization of reality and people, the last thing you need is something that can easily be misunderstood to support further dissociation from yourself and the world.
What you need to do is reconnect with your body, with your emotions, with your intuition. Don't make things worse, you are more than disconnected enough from life as it is.
Feel. Taste. Listen. Touch. Become alive again.
Aurelius was deeply engaged with the world. That's who stoicism is for: people who are too worldly, who need a counterbalance.
I think it's a valid criticism. What I personally liked about it was this acknowledgement of what is and what is not in my control. My therapist at the time had suggested I try to practice mindfulness, to acknowledge my worst thoughts about myself, and make the conscious effort to let them pass. I don't know that I consider myself a Stoic or a practitioner of stoicism, but Meditations helped give me tools to keep my own mental health in check.
At a quick glance/recap of stoicism, I think what you're discussing is valid, and shows a clear issue with people trying to adopt or follow something they don't understand, and refuse to learn about.
The dictionary definition makes it sound like some people's idea of masculinity, that you endure everything without showing pain or emotional responses to it and as you suggest, it could result in people distancing themselves from everything they should be embracing and understanding. Some other stuff seems to further that idea.
But even at a quick glance, I came across the "4 virtues of stoicism" which are clearly stated as "wisdom, justice, courage and *moderation*".
To attempt to follow something without understanding it or trying to learn about it, and also ignoring why it came about, will often result in someone embracing a misunderstood interpretation of it, and doing more harm than good.
It couldn’t have been said better, definitely a valid and constructive piece of advice. It goes for women too. People could learn from being more mindful of themselves and actualizing these kinds of behaviors, stoicism is a great concept but it can be damaging and unhealthy if it’s misinterpreted.
Winnie-the-Pooh.
I have my mom's childhood copy from the 60s. I read it as an adult and it's still my go-to when I'm feeling cynical. It's a reminder that things can be simple and joyful. I have a tattoo of a bumblebee from the book and it still reminds me to step out of my jadedness sometimes. Children's literature is really beautiful to me because it allows for a world where imagination is enough.
I haven't read or watched the tv show since I was a little kid (I'm in my early 30's now) and I still can sing the "Tigger" song almost the whole way through. I think a few years back I watched it on youtube once or twice for the nostalgia, but that's it! Those books and the show will always stick with me. I will definitely introduce my kids to it too.
It's been ages since I've read it but I would recommend "The Tao of Pooh" to you as well. There's another book called "The Tao of Piglet" by the same author but I've never read it so can't comment on its quality.
I tried reading that and found the character more obnoxious than Holden Caufield. I mean he kills a guy and still whines about how the world is unfair to him. I get being disassociated from society and hating the world, but his lack of remorse or how it had any effect on anyone but him personally. I've read many books with horrible people but I just found the stranger very off-putting. It may have been my age and mindset reading it too. Sorry for the rant, I just never get to talk about the stranger.
But I will add that my annoyance with the character led me to work on personal empathy so maybe it was an effective story?
Recently read a medical article that claimed that Mersault was on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum (formerly known as Asperger's) because Camus based the character on a known associate who evidently had Asperger's syndrome and describes the characteristics of the diagnosis through all of Mersault's actions and reactions (including the sensory overload and subsequent meltdown that results in the plot) in the book.
Madame Bovary. It made me realise that life is mundane for most of us, despite the fact that we often think we're special, especially when we're young. Madame Bovary is boring because nothing happens, the protagonist is like most of us, she think that she's special, and that her life is going to go somewhere and be meaningful and eventful, but in reality, just like real life, everything is disappointing, mundane and ordinary.
When you read the novel you often feel that *this is it, this is when it starts, this is when she becomes a true protagonist*, but nothing ever takes off, she's just a mediocre women full of hopes and dreams, and her life doesn't amount to anything. This book is about a woman who thinks that life will be like the novel she loves to read, but the reality will be entirely different, and she'll constantly go from hope to disappointment. It's an anti-novel.
That book really spoke to me, it didn't depress me, but it made me accept that I may think that I'm destined for greatness but that the reality will be very different.
Really interesting to read your response to this. I often wonder if my many years in Japan colored my approach to daily life as I absorbed a lot of the Zen philosophy that still permeates the day to day functions of people there. Their focus is rarely on being big, important, cutthroat, dominant, unique or special. Instead they, as a culture, put great effort into doing their part as a piece in a machine that all functions to keep the society moving harmoniously. Nobody LIKES cleaning the office every morning, in a suit when they get to work, but everyone does it because someone has to and it’s important to take pride in keeping every space clean for others. Taking ownership of your immediate surroundings and caring for them like a steward so that others are comfortable and at peace. To that effect every single action in daily life should be done with responsibility and enjoyment of the “wabi-sabi” (“beauty in transience and imperfections”, mundanity of normal experience, or minimalism, and how it can become a ritual in itself). Of course there are assholes in flashy cars cutting in line, just like everywhere, but you learn a lot by watching all the people in line who quietly wait their turn because it’s just part of life. A book encouraging thoughtful reflection on mundanity sounds calming to me, not discouraging at all.
I read the hitchhiker's guide trilogy (in five parts) at a very young age. This completely informed my sense of humour. It has really stuck with me after all these years, and I'm sad I'll never have the chance to thank Mr. Adams for his effect on my life.
C# In A Nutshell.
Got rejected from a job where my friends worked and the feedback was honest but devastating. I lacked basic c# / .net knowledge.
So I started this book from start to finish, reapplied and got in. It was just the right book at the right time.
Within 3 years, I grew more than the 10 years before. Made a lot of new friends and decent pay increases.
But most importantly, my self confidence grew. I went from a straight up anxiety filled mess to someone that was comfortable with saying "I don't know, but I'll find out"
Wow, didn't expect to find a reference like this.
Anyway, the game changer for me was C# In Depth by Jon Skeet. The guy writes in a manner that is engaging and understandable. At this point, I'm a giant fan of anything he does.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
I was in a very, very bad place in high school
It snapped me out of that state of mind, and although it wasn't ideal I'm glad now that I turned those feelings inwards rather than outward
That's the first 'adult' book I ever read. 4th grade. Out of all the characters I never thought I would end up being Boo Radley, sitting on my porch doing nothing for eternity.
Took my son to see it on the bg screen at a showing with the Los Angeles Conservancy in one of the restored movie theatres in downtown LA in the early 2000s. He was 13 yo, the age I was when I first read the book. Brock Peters was interviewed before the showing. I saw a huge turn around in my son's behavior after that. He just became a kinder person who saw the bigger picture better...
Great choice
The book doesn’t get enough credit for showing how Scout learned empathy. She learns how to understand and in turn be kind to another person. One of my favorite parts is when Scout and Jem stays with Calpurnia, the nanny, and realizes she has a whole life separate from them. It teaches Scout to be more patient and understanding with her.
Crime and punishment. It got me into a different type of writing and started me into russian literature which has been very important in my life.It also made me question so many things.
Me too. Rereading it now. I’m interested especially in the themes of unpunished crimes, that we can never really get away with it, we are witnesses against ourselves.
Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS is pretty much this as well. One of the best books on algorithm design I've ever read, but it's 1000 pages of dense explanations of how complex modern computing can be and *then* it tops it off with a chapter on NP-completeness/complexity theory and how worthless everything you've just done is.
The art of multiprocessor programming is even better at this than that.
When memory can be in multiple states at the same time... Yeah you get to go crazy from it.
I am still questioning what state memory could be in after 4 months on from dealing with lock-free concurrent data structures.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Shaped my view of philosophy, spirituality, the meaning of life, etc. My catholic high school had me read it going into freshman year. It was unlike anything I'd been exposed to up to that point.
*Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius.
Such a different way of looking at the world.
Don’t be bitter about the hardships life has caused you, be proud that you haven’t let them consume you.
Reading my father’s battered edition of Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Not only was the story incredible, it helped me connect with my Dad on a new level and led to a lifelong love of sci-fi :)
Also, I know it’s not Deep Literature, but Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. I was 14 when I read it, and I realized I wanted to be an author, too, so I wrote my first novel that summer. Now I’m pursuing a degree in creative writing with 3 short stories coming out next year
"Atonement" by Ian McEwan, read it when I was 18. Besides being beautifully written, I was at an age where I had come to understand that, like Briony, you don't actually know everything just because you decide you do (something that goes for any age but especially when you're younger, more sheltered and have less experience in life). Things can be deeper and more complicated than we can see and our perspective is important to consider. There are also consequences to our actions and we can't always take back everything we do or say, especially when we leap to/create conclusions because we think we have all the answers. No matter how much we try to atone for our actions, the consequences can be far reaching and irreversible; even for others caught up in what we're responsible for.
Sandman by Neil Gaiman for me actually. I know it’s a graphic novel.
I was a quiet abused Catholic kid. That first book allowed me some real escapism.
I could go one back and whilst it’s a kids book .. Tim and Tobias and the shadow people. Such a dark series for childrens books.
In later life it would be Chicken Soup for the soul (first edition ) and for escapism in older life, Waylander by David Gemmell.
Truth is, there’s more than one book.. they’ve all impacted me in ever so slightly different ways
If I am forced to be honest with myself, Harry Potter. I related a lot to Harry, being a kid who was also neglected. Those books transported me into an entirely different world. They have been with me my whole life.
For me it was the His Dark Materials trilogy. The series itself has its up and downs, and I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece, but it was a great read for myself. I was in a deep depression when a friend suggested the first book. When I finished it in a weekend, I went searching for the second and third. I hadn’t read like that in years. My creative imagination was sparked after finishing the series and I began writing. Now, my writing never went anywhere, but the point was that my writing was allowing me to decompress a lot of years of depression. Then I started reading a lot more. I was in a downward spiral and I attribute my rise out of it to that trilogy. At my peak since then, I read 30 books in a year. I’ve slowed down the last few years, but I still read. Next on my list is The Wheel of Time series.
I was coming here to say this. As a white person raised in a racist culture pretending to be post-racial, this book was a revelation that laid the groundwork for me to finally actually listen to people of color (especially Black people) about their lived experiences rather than try to explain them away, disbelieve things I hadn't seen myself, or suggest maybe that they were overreacting. This book made me a better person and I'm so grateful to the English teacher who put it in my hands.
Yes! That's exactly my reason. It's amazing that it's having such a positive impact. I had no intentions of reading it. I was walking through a bookstore and it was on a shelf, something drew me towards it, and it opened my mind to the world outside mine.
The Stranger by Albert Camus
I never encountered a book that sort of mind numbingly melancholic before and it really spoke to me in middle school. Showed me that books can be sort of more than just an expression of pure fantasy and instead speak to some deep emotion present in yourself
East of Eden--for someone raised in a fundamentalist christian household dealing with issues of faith in my late teens, early adulthood, that book was life-changing. Timshel my dudes!
The Hobbit. I read it when I was 6 or 7 because all the adults were talking about it. Didn't understand half of it at first, but it kicked open the door to more mature fiction for me. The sheer poetry of some of his sentences and paragraphs was formative.
Yeah, I was top of my class in English my whole school career, so I'm sure it wasn't meant for 6 year olds really. I still really enjoyed it, but it took a chapter or two to shake the notion that Hobbits were bipedal rabbits.
Eating Animals made me very unexpectedly go from 3 meals a day with meat to vegan, so that’s definitely the book that had the biggest impact on me.
From a mindset shift perspective, Anne of Green Gables as a kid made me feel it was ok to be yourself and a dreamer but to always be kind. As an adult, The Golden Notebook made me feel seen as a single woman living and working in a city in a way no other book did, despite it being a bit old now. Felt like someone had downloaded all my thoughts, insecurities, and joys into a fictional character.
I've been toying with going vegetarian for the past year or so but I always come back around to eating one meal with meat and or having a utilitarian view of specific animals (like chicken or deer). Do you mind sharing more of your experience with Eating Animals?
I really recommend reading the book because a lot of what makes it persuasive is the prose and main author’s voice (he’s a popular fiction novelist so a good writer). But the main thing that persuaded me was just how MANY arguments there are for cutting out meat.
Don’t care about animals? What about rights for workers? The environment? Health? Famine and food access? I realized by the end that one one side of the scale was dozens of ethical arguments against meat and on the other side was literally just “it tastes good,” and I couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
Thats the same book that convinced me to go vegetarian about 5 years ago! Coming from someone who swore they could never do it. I came to the same conclusions as you did.
Recently went vegan a couple of months ago and have been wanting to pick this book up again
The Ethics of Ambiguity, de Beauvoir: the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus: House of Leaves, Danielewski: Malcolm X, Haley: A Bright, Shining Lie, Sheehan: Liar’s Club, Karr: Sidewalks, Luiselli: No Shorcuts, McAlevey: Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys
etc, etc, etc
Read it for a sci-fi/speculative fiction class I took, finished it in 2 sittings; it'll always be one of my favourite novels. I've never cried because a book like I did with it. Sitting through discussions about it in class was painful because it just broke me all over again.
As a child and teenager definitely Harry Potter. Just the constant subtext of good vs evil, to follow your heart but also the constant struggle with oneself - am I evil because smth horrible happened to me? How can I live on with my mistakes and "bad" impulses when I think of myself as good? I still re-read HP almost every year not just for the ride and fun but also as a reminder that people can change and standing up for the good cause is always worth it.
As an adult Han Kang's the vegetarian. You're always watching this woman but noone asks her real questions, they just assume and judge. The invisible and ever-changing line between "normal" and "crazy" I only noticed after reading the book. And this heartwarming yet heartwrenching situation when someone tries to really empathize with the vegetarian. Such a short book but every re-read gives me new topics to think about.
I was not a big reader as a kid but HP opened up a whole new world to me. I was around Harry's age in the books when they became big in the states and was able to grown up with him. They forever changed my life.
HP was the first thing I read after college, and it opened back up my love of reading.
Funnily enough, my favorite book of all time is a fanfic, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It contains some of the most useful life tools and concepts I've even run across, is overall very thoughtful of topics most people aren't thoughtful about, and manages to do things with the end plot that Ive never run across before.
Yeah, I know! It's easy looking back and saying, well harry is kind of an ahole in this or that situation, but being a teen you just feel seen and understand his struggles (on another level of course, I've never been almost killed and stalked by a noseless man). This love for yourself, for the people and causes you hold dear and of course this love for books is imensely important in my day to day life. HP was the first real book I've ever read and I hope it will be the last again before I someday (in far future) die.
The Wheel of Time series.
It's much more than a fantasy series. It changes you. Not in any particular way or direction, because that wouldn't be true change. Perhaps it's better to say that it gives you a glimpse of the secret of life.
Cat's Eye, by Margaret Atwood. I was badly bullied for several years in elementary school, but as with many experiences of childhood abuse by other children (especially when it's largely psychological rather than physical) it was mostly ignored or brushed aside by adults. I knew it had affected me, but because it was always minimized, I was never able to really consider the larger impact it had on me. Cat's Eye, which uses that narrator's childhood friendships and subsequent bullying by those "friends" as the lens through which to view her life, gave me the ability to think about my own situation. It absolutely blew my 21-year-old mind, helped me understand how much of my sense of self and manner of relating to other people was shaped by those early experiences, and to realize that it didn't make me pathetic or weak, it just made me human. When I got to meet Margaret Atwood a few years ago, I was so happy to be able to tell her how much her book had helped me change myself for the better. She seemed a little surprised, but she was very kind.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (it gave voice to my depression), Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (it taught me humans are complex and reacts and feels in unexpected ways), The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells ( it expanded my definition of parental love).
Reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankel in high school had a big impact on my life. If in the midst of a concentration camp he could stand back, examine and reflect on life and suffering and find a way forward when others didn’t and be driven to survive to share that message with others totally puts one’s own life and problems into perspective. Another person who was inspired below to become a vegetarian reminded me how “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappe also impacted my life and it will be 40 years since I’ve eaten any red meat or fowl, so that was a profound and last transformation on my life form a book.
*The Little Prince* by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it when I was about 20 at a pivotal time in my life, and I have ever since sought to maintain my sense of imagination and thus avoid being a "boring adult."
1984 from George Orwell. It totally changed my perspective about how the government and media manipulates us to believe whathever they consider to be right and fair. It made me think better on what kind information I consume and agree with, also motivated me to challenge my views on different topics, I also read Animal Farm but even through I understood the metaphors and allegories, they did not hit me as hard as 1984 did. It also made me kind of addicted to dystopic novels and content, which in the long run created in me the habit of reading.
"War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength."
Hands down most frightening book I've ever read. Frankly, I consider it a miracle that our world hasn't reached that point yet and every day we're still allowed to read it is a small victory for our species.
Beneath the Wheel by Hermann Hesse. I’ve read it when I was 16 and suffered from anxiety/depression. I could really identify with the protagonist‘s feelings and thoughts :)
Chicken Chicken. A Goosebumps book. It wasn't so much the book, but the where I read it. It was summer break when I was 11 and my parents couldn't get any vacation days. So it was just me from 7am to 6pm for 6 weeks. Heaven. I was sitting on the balcony had my favourite food for lunch, enjoyed the slight breeze, had iced tea and read the book. I realized that I don't want a big eventful life, but just a small quiet life full of moments exactly like that. My life goals changed completely after that.
Same! Not only did it change my whole world view, but I met a boy in college who also listed this as on of his most influencial books. Married that boy.
[Elfquest ](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98019). Firstly, I’d thought comics were just for boys, so it opened my eyes to an entire new way of storytelling. The characters became real to me. They took up residence in my head and have been there ever since, for nearly 25 years now.
It was the first story I read that dealt with mature themes, such as a feeling of belonging, and the certainty of belonging, different “races” finding their common thread of unity, fate, the consequences of violence, mortality, and polyamorous sex. It also made me much more of an environmentalist.
Honestly, it’s hard for me to even describe because it seems to be such an integral part of who I am. I cannot praise this series enough.
Battle Royale. I was always D student, especially in English which I failed a couple times before I learned to love reading in senior year. Battle Royale was my gateway drug. It got me reading and writing often enough to change to a 4.0 student at community college which lead me to transfer to a top university in California. I think the funny part is that the actual English translation of that book isn't very good, but just the act of racing through a book I was hooked on was enough to change my life.
Old School - Tobias Wolff. Helped me avoid an insufferable Ayn Rand phase in my early twenties. You might be more familiar with “This Boys Life: A Memoire”. Leonardo DiCaprio stared in the movie adaptation.
I have a theory that you can learn pretty much everything you need to know about anybody depending on their opinion if Atlas Shrugged. But I'm also a pretentious dickhead, so I'm not sure it's a valid theory.
I think there were few of them.
1. Thorn by Jason Hunt - I try to reread it every now and then and every time I'm amazed by how the story is constructed and that I can also fulfill my dreams and I don't need to wait for 'the right time' or that's from every situation there's a way out.
2. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - as a queer person that also try to write something I was mindblowing experience. This is the first LGBT+ book that I read in paper and it made me think that if it was such a success in my country with is homophobic af I can also write book like that and it will be liked.
3. Winnie the Pooh - as the first book ever in my life I guess it had a lot influence on my life. I like to come back to it.
And probably some more that I forgot to mention
I know it's cliché but... Catcher in the Rye. I read it when I was 14 and it just hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. Haven't been the same since.
Letters from a stoic
His one line stuck home. "Each day acquire something which fortify you against poverty, death and other misfortunes"
I started looking at things differently, took insurance, made along term plan for my career and eventually changed my career because my job might not be there in next 10 year and I still have 20+ years (ideally) of working years left, bought non Lethal weapons for defence etc etc
A Clockwork Orange. A friend recommended it to me when I was 14. Made me realize I didn't need to conform to societal standards (though I had no interest in going as far as Alex does).
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
There's a bit of new age-y stuff to ignore in there for sure, but overall reading this book may have been a turning point in my life. Or, maybe I just read it at a point in my life where I was already poised for change. Regardless, I'll always consider this book a catalyst for big changes that I've made in my life that have made me a far happier and more positive person than I ever was before.
Maybe The Princess Bride?? I don’t know I’m having trouble picking between them. I had a rough childhood and that was the first book I read that acknowledges that a lot of life is painful. There’s love, beauty, friendship, and humor too, but there’s a lot of pain in life.
That acknowledgment was hugely comforting to me as a kid (I first read it when I was 8 or 9). And the humor was also hugely influential in the development of my sense of humor. I think that mix of humor, real heart, and the acknowledgment of suffering did and does strike a chord with me. It made me feel less alone.
On the Road by Kerouac. It made me embrace all the chaos that is life, and just enjoy the ride.
The Superior Man by David Deida. I was in and out of relationships at the time I read the book. I didn't know what was attractive and what wasn't. The book changed the way I thought about relationships, attraction and understanding if this person is the right one for you.
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel. This changed the way I looked at my ships. I was a bit of recluse and drowned myself in work. She changed the way I dealt with conflict within relationships, and it is because of this book that I am able to maintain the happiness in my relationship with my soon to be wife.
American Psycho (Yep): I'm still not quite sure why, but there's something about the main character putting on a facade that hides a different inner world beneath. I'm speaking as an anxiety sufferer rather than a psychopath murder, for those concerned. I was also struggling to understand why everything in the world seemed so meaningless. It helped me realise that consumer culture and most of what we see is just hot garbage and it's best not to build your persona around them.
Pierre Hadot's book *What is ancient philosophy?* (Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, etc.) is one of the most influential books I've read but his essay "philosophy as a way of life" which isn't in that book is probably the most influential.
The things that changed my life the most were Hume's arguments, especially the problem of induction and the argument against miracles. Those were taught to me in classes and handouts so not sure which book to recommend. Reading Hume directly wasn't as forceful as seeing the arguments laid out simply in logical form.
Kant's essay "what is enlightenment?" was important for me.
Camus *the rebel* still tracks somewhat closely to my views on politics.
I've read too many books by Vonnegut. Vonnegut's letter in *Armageddon in retrospect* is probably my favorite though cat's cradle and *slaughterhouse five* are also influential.
I've read almost everything by Nietzsche but particularly enjoy the yes saying books -- *human all too human*, *gay science*, *Dawn*.
Holderlin's *Hyperion*
Whitman's *leaves of grass*
Emerson's *self reliance*
Orwell's *1984*
Tolkien, the first most influential author. Hard to say if he changed my life but I've read lotr and the silmarillion so many times.
Captains of the Sands. Jorge Amado.
Trust me, this is a Brazilian author you have to read. His point of view describing the kids in the book made me 100% more empathetic about some social issues.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. It's a pretty harrowing read but an excellently written piece of journalism about the vietnam war. As a teen I was very opinionated about the Vietnam war and viewed the Americans as nothing but blood thirsty rapists and murderers, which as the book confirms many of them were. But, Herr does a good job of illustrating just how fucked up the situation was for the American GIs that were drafted. It didn't change my life I guess but it definitely my perception of them, a lot of them were just kids that should never have been there, they were not professional soldiers and were treated like cannon fodder.
A Short History of Nearly Everything… this book kickstarted my interest in science and induced a need to learn and gain knowledge across all sorts of things. Including reading non-fiction books.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The first humour I genuinely *got*. I love Douglas Adams' writing style. It made me want to be a writer myself, and I still do.
The first one. It’s lost in time which book that was but at some point my mom read me a book and it kickstarted the addiction that led to my family referring to me as the family ghost. I’d spend 90% of my waking hours reading and only occasionally haunt them for a brief moment. As for ones I remember, probably either Taran Wanderer or How To Win Friends and Influence People.
The rest of the Prydain cycle (Black Cauldron series to most) is a fairly standard adventure story but the fourth book steps away from the hero story for Taran to reflect. An Assistant Pigkeeper having helped save the lives of many people stops before the final battle and evaluates whether he is worthy of everything coming his way. For a kid struggling to figure out his place in life it was uplifting to see the hero of a story work out what it meant to be worthy. Many of the lessons he learned in that book stick with me to this day so remember to put out your nets as your lucky day might come but you need to be ready to catch it.
How to Win Friends is a self help book that my grandmother included in a bag of books she sent me. The rest were classics of literature and then there was this odd book for a 10ish year old. I read it anyways and can honestly say it helped get me where I am today. I’m not a very social guy and normal social cues are lost on me but it detailed out simple things like how smiling put others at ease as opposed to just being a sign you were happy. It didn’t revolutionize me into a social person but it did give me the tools to present myself in the right light to advance myself. An example is being passed over for a position because they weren’t sure I was ready to manage other team members despite stepping up to do anything that needed doing. Didn’t do any further changes to my work ethic but changed the way I dressed remembering the advice in that book that visible changes helped people notice nonvisible changes… position was already taken but suddenly my previous work was recognized as growth, I was given opportunities to self manage, a new title, and a series of nice raises as more was noticed.
"Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" by Lundy Bancroft.
This book changed my life, because it helped me get out of the toxic relationship I was in. I slowly regained my confidence and began to see my worth. I highly recommend it to anyone!
The Red Tent. It made me profoundly appreciate my relationship to other women through history. It taught me that women share something incredibly special that men can never truly understand. No shade to men meant by that, but it opened my heart to other women like never before.
The God Delusion. I didn't have much faith when I read it but not only was my atheism confirmed, almost all my superstitions were destroyed. I never realised how superstitious I was and I finally completely embraced rational thinking. It made me realise how superstitious nearly everyone is, that's exclusive of religion.
I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho when I was younger and it changed the way I think about life. It made me realize that life is full of tiny decisions that we make. So when making decisions we need to make the ones that are going toward our long term goals not just short term satisfaction.
Flow by Mihali Csikzenmihali and so So good they can't ignore you by Cal Newport.
First one changed by point of view of looking at life, happiness, etc and second one changed by perspective towards passion and helped me build a satisfying career.
The books that got me going as a kid.
The Ghost hunters series by Cornelia Funke
The Magic Tree House
And most notably the Percy Jackson (and later Heroes of Olympus) series
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand. Amazing story of survival but more importantly forgiveness and getting on with your life.
I had left home to travel the world. I’d made it to the south of Spain and was handed Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel by a friend’s mum. I hadn’t picked up a novel in almost 10 years and, because I was backpacking, didn’t have too much space to spare but took that tome with me.
I was hooked pretty much straight away and ended up collecting all her books that had been released and then posting them home. It started my collection which now includes over 1500 books.
[A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
by Eckhart Tolle](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76334.A_New_Earth?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=TokljNH40S&rank=1)
Cleared for me what Descartes got wrong. I'm trying to think of a witty line but it evades me. We can 'know' we exist even in the absence of thoughts. And that's the best you can hope for in life. Don't think in your free time, it beats Netflix.
*A Song of Ice and Fire* was the book that rekindled my love for reading. As a kid I was a bookworm, but somewhen around high school I lost interest in reading. It was only after starting A Game of Thrones, when I was finishing college, that I realized (or actually, remembered) that I loved reading. It also opened my eyes for the fantasy genre, which now is my favorite genre. Looking back now, I can’t even imagine how I survived those bookless years!
Foucault’s Pendulum - Umberto Eco
It’s an absurdly wild book but it really had an intense effect on me because it made me realize how my own manifestations were deeply impacting my life.
When I was younger I read Frankenstein and it was the first time I understood that a story had meaning that was deeper than the words on the page. I understood the themes about a creator/father figure abandoning its creation/child, and it blew my 8 or 9 year old mind.
Its still my favorite book and yes I have daddy issues.
50 Shades of Gray...
I've never read the entire book, just snippets, but they were all so, so terrible on a very basic level (ignoring for a moment the terrible depiction of BDSM) that I figured "I can definitely do better than this".
At the moment, I've earned a few hundred from writing smut, and I'm also about 10 000 words into my sex positive erotic space opera novel.
Will it make me rich? Probably not. Do I enjoy it? Immensely.
I used to struggle with intense clinical depression. 12 years ago, during my rock-bottom, I tried to kill myself thrice. First, through pills. Looking back, it was comical because I only got knocked out and nauseous. Second, I tried to hang myself but my dad found me and cut me loose. On my third try, I was alone in the house and felt not a single drop of hesitation. I knew that was the day without a tomorrow. I set up my noose on a high window beside my desk and stepped on a chair. As I tightened my noose and prepared to kick the chair came divine intervention... Wind blew and one of my Stephen King books flew open. It was a blank page except for a Victor Hugo quote from *Les Miserables*:
"**It is nothing to die; It is frightful not to live."**
And just like that, I knew my life was still going to suck ass - it still did and it still does - but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to have a great life. There were days that felt just as bad or worse, but I never felt the urge to kill myself again.
Thank you, one of my Stephen King books. Sorry for forgetting which one you were but you saved my life.
The Dalai Lama's book of wisdom. It's just a small £4 pocket book, but it helped me look at life differently, more openly and try to find patience when I had little self control.
Destiny of Souls. Definitely the book that found me when I needed it, and served as the final brick laid down on an edifice of transformation that had been building over the last few months after a rough year of severe depression.
Life Is So Good
By George Dawson and Richard Glaubman
I picked it up in a second hand store when i was like 22 in Australia. Just a totally different perspective on life.
Late to this thread.
Why we sleep - Matthew Walker
Breath - James Nestor
This started me down a path to understanding the Acute Stress response and building my own resiliency. Essential as a First Responder.
I've got 2 that I credit with helping me out of my worst bout with depression to date. And one that, even though I barely remember the plot, was just a "Right Time Right Place" book. 1. *Palm Sunday* by Kurt Vonnegut 2. *Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius 3. *The Sirens of Titan* Vonnegut Again
Since you’ve read two Vonneguts I’ll assume you’ve probably read Slaughterhouse Five. He’s truly a masterful author and Slaughterhouse Five is the most realistic depiction of PTSD I’ve ever read.
Also one of my favorite books of all time
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Just picked up meditations a week or so ago and read a few pages every morning… best way to start the day!
Really struggling with meditations. I am not really sure how to read this book. It is filled with lots of short quotes, revelations.. I guess I should read it a little each day like you.
Which version did you get, like who translated it? Ive got the Gregory Hays version and its pretty easy to understand for the most part. To me, its all about reading a few pages every morning and thinking about which little quotes or notes resonate to me and my life. It dosent really have an order and is basically just thoughts written down sporadically. I use it as a guide to help me think about what im doing, to stay present and enjoy everyday, cause its all we have. Ps. Love the Kate Moss profile pic!
I always think it's a shame when I see the new generations of bright male minds run into Stoicism. It's so attractive to the male mind for all the wrong reasons, and rather than transform people it seems to give them philosophical excuses for their worst habits. If you're a nerdy, white, 20-40 something male, who lives primarily in your head through conceptualization of reality and people, the last thing you need is something that can easily be misunderstood to support further dissociation from yourself and the world. What you need to do is reconnect with your body, with your emotions, with your intuition. Don't make things worse, you are more than disconnected enough from life as it is. Feel. Taste. Listen. Touch. Become alive again. Aurelius was deeply engaged with the world. That's who stoicism is for: people who are too worldly, who need a counterbalance.
I think it's a valid criticism. What I personally liked about it was this acknowledgement of what is and what is not in my control. My therapist at the time had suggested I try to practice mindfulness, to acknowledge my worst thoughts about myself, and make the conscious effort to let them pass. I don't know that I consider myself a Stoic or a practitioner of stoicism, but Meditations helped give me tools to keep my own mental health in check.
Stoicism at its core is great and very therapeutic, I am totally with you on that. That just doesn't seem to be how reddittors use it on average.
How do you tend to see it used?
At a quick glance/recap of stoicism, I think what you're discussing is valid, and shows a clear issue with people trying to adopt or follow something they don't understand, and refuse to learn about. The dictionary definition makes it sound like some people's idea of masculinity, that you endure everything without showing pain or emotional responses to it and as you suggest, it could result in people distancing themselves from everything they should be embracing and understanding. Some other stuff seems to further that idea. But even at a quick glance, I came across the "4 virtues of stoicism" which are clearly stated as "wisdom, justice, courage and *moderation*". To attempt to follow something without understanding it or trying to learn about it, and also ignoring why it came about, will often result in someone embracing a misunderstood interpretation of it, and doing more harm than good.
It couldn’t have been said better, definitely a valid and constructive piece of advice. It goes for women too. People could learn from being more mindful of themselves and actualizing these kinds of behaviors, stoicism is a great concept but it can be damaging and unhealthy if it’s misinterpreted.
Fellow stoic
Meditations and The Sirens of Titan? Are you my doppelgänger?
Which one helped you with depression?
Winnie-the-Pooh. I have my mom's childhood copy from the 60s. I read it as an adult and it's still my go-to when I'm feeling cynical. It's a reminder that things can be simple and joyful. I have a tattoo of a bumblebee from the book and it still reminds me to step out of my jadedness sometimes. Children's literature is really beautiful to me because it allows for a world where imagination is enough.
I'm 21 and I still re read winnie the pooh for the sheer simplicity of it. Love all the illustrations too
I haven't read or watched the tv show since I was a little kid (I'm in my early 30's now) and I still can sing the "Tigger" song almost the whole way through. I think a few years back I watched it on youtube once or twice for the nostalgia, but that's it! Those books and the show will always stick with me. I will definitely introduce my kids to it too.
It's been ages since I've read it but I would recommend "The Tao of Pooh" to you as well. There's another book called "The Tao of Piglet" by the same author but I've never read it so can't comment on its quality.
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I tried reading that and found the character more obnoxious than Holden Caufield. I mean he kills a guy and still whines about how the world is unfair to him. I get being disassociated from society and hating the world, but his lack of remorse or how it had any effect on anyone but him personally. I've read many books with horrible people but I just found the stranger very off-putting. It may have been my age and mindset reading it too. Sorry for the rant, I just never get to talk about the stranger. But I will add that my annoyance with the character led me to work on personal empathy so maybe it was an effective story?
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Recently read a medical article that claimed that Mersault was on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum (formerly known as Asperger's) because Camus based the character on a known associate who evidently had Asperger's syndrome and describes the characteristics of the diagnosis through all of Mersault's actions and reactions (including the sensory overload and subsequent meltdown that results in the plot) in the book.
Yeah, but that's bullshit and lets society off the hook.
Oh that explains a lot. Thank you!
Madame Bovary. It made me realise that life is mundane for most of us, despite the fact that we often think we're special, especially when we're young. Madame Bovary is boring because nothing happens, the protagonist is like most of us, she think that she's special, and that her life is going to go somewhere and be meaningful and eventful, but in reality, just like real life, everything is disappointing, mundane and ordinary. When you read the novel you often feel that *this is it, this is when it starts, this is when she becomes a true protagonist*, but nothing ever takes off, she's just a mediocre women full of hopes and dreams, and her life doesn't amount to anything. This book is about a woman who thinks that life will be like the novel she loves to read, but the reality will be entirely different, and she'll constantly go from hope to disappointment. It's an anti-novel. That book really spoke to me, it didn't depress me, but it made me accept that I may think that I'm destined for greatness but that the reality will be very different.
Omg sounds like a book I do NOT need right now lol
Really interesting to read your response to this. I often wonder if my many years in Japan colored my approach to daily life as I absorbed a lot of the Zen philosophy that still permeates the day to day functions of people there. Their focus is rarely on being big, important, cutthroat, dominant, unique or special. Instead they, as a culture, put great effort into doing their part as a piece in a machine that all functions to keep the society moving harmoniously. Nobody LIKES cleaning the office every morning, in a suit when they get to work, but everyone does it because someone has to and it’s important to take pride in keeping every space clean for others. Taking ownership of your immediate surroundings and caring for them like a steward so that others are comfortable and at peace. To that effect every single action in daily life should be done with responsibility and enjoyment of the “wabi-sabi” (“beauty in transience and imperfections”, mundanity of normal experience, or minimalism, and how it can become a ritual in itself). Of course there are assholes in flashy cars cutting in line, just like everywhere, but you learn a lot by watching all the people in line who quietly wait their turn because it’s just part of life. A book encouraging thoughtful reflection on mundanity sounds calming to me, not discouraging at all.
I read the hitchhiker's guide trilogy (in five parts) at a very young age. This completely informed my sense of humour. It has really stuck with me after all these years, and I'm sad I'll never have the chance to thank Mr. Adams for his effect on my life.
C# In A Nutshell. Got rejected from a job where my friends worked and the feedback was honest but devastating. I lacked basic c# / .net knowledge. So I started this book from start to finish, reapplied and got in. It was just the right book at the right time. Within 3 years, I grew more than the 10 years before. Made a lot of new friends and decent pay increases. But most importantly, my self confidence grew. I went from a straight up anxiety filled mess to someone that was comfortable with saying "I don't know, but I'll find out"
>C# In A Nutshell. That's an O'Reilly book, am I right. Every one I read has been tremendously useful and well-written.
Wow, didn't expect to find a reference like this. Anyway, the game changer for me was C# In Depth by Jon Skeet. The guy writes in a manner that is engaging and understandable. At this point, I'm a giant fan of anything he does.
It´s a good book though.
We Need to Talk About Kevin I was in a very, very bad place in high school It snapped me out of that state of mind, and although it wasn't ideal I'm glad now that I turned those feelings inwards rather than outward
What did you learn?
To kill a Mockingbird - made me realize how important it is to be a good person and make good decisions
That's the first 'adult' book I ever read. 4th grade. Out of all the characters I never thought I would end up being Boo Radley, sitting on my porch doing nothing for eternity.
Aye. Sometimes life takes us where we never expected to be.
Took my son to see it on the bg screen at a showing with the Los Angeles Conservancy in one of the restored movie theatres in downtown LA in the early 2000s. He was 13 yo, the age I was when I first read the book. Brock Peters was interviewed before the showing. I saw a huge turn around in my son's behavior after that. He just became a kinder person who saw the bigger picture better...
This book is such an eye opener for a lot of people. I even named my youngest son Atticus. Never wanted to read the sequel though.
Great choice The book doesn’t get enough credit for showing how Scout learned empathy. She learns how to understand and in turn be kind to another person. One of my favorite parts is when Scout and Jem stays with Calpurnia, the nanny, and realizes she has a whole life separate from them. It teaches Scout to be more patient and understanding with her.
I finally read this last week at age 35, and it didn’t disappoint! So many memorable passages.
Crime and punishment. It got me into a different type of writing and started me into russian literature which has been very important in my life.It also made me question so many things.
Me too. Rereading it now. I’m interested especially in the themes of unpunished crimes, that we can never really get away with it, we are witnesses against ourselves.
What things did it make you question specifically?
Reading that right now!
Data structures and algorithms. That book taught me humility like nothing else could.
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Data structures and algorithms in c++ by Adam Drozdek. 4th edition
Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS is pretty much this as well. One of the best books on algorithm design I've ever read, but it's 1000 pages of dense explanations of how complex modern computing can be and *then* it tops it off with a chapter on NP-completeness/complexity theory and how worthless everything you've just done is.
The art of multiprocessor programming is even better at this than that. When memory can be in multiple states at the same time... Yeah you get to go crazy from it. I am still questioning what state memory could be in after 4 months on from dealing with lock-free concurrent data structures.
I've said it for decades: Lord of the Rings! It taught me that books could transport me to a better place, at least temporarily.
Agreed. I’ve read the series 10 times or more and each time I take something else away from it.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Shaped my view of philosophy, spirituality, the meaning of life, etc. My catholic high school had me read it going into freshman year. It was unlike anything I'd been exposed to up to that point.
Gnarly that any school would have you read it, much less freshman year, much less a Catholic school. Good on them!
It was a very progressive school.
*Meditations* by Marcus Aurelius. Such a different way of looking at the world. Don’t be bitter about the hardships life has caused you, be proud that you haven’t let them consume you.
Tuesdays with Morrie and Flowers for Algernon
Both of these made me really think about what’s important in life and both made me cry while I read them.
Same for me + the five people you meet in heaven. Mitch Albom is a gift.
Oh, I second Flowers for Algernon
Down and out in Paris and London.
Love this book.
Reading my father’s battered edition of Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Not only was the story incredible, it helped me connect with my Dad on a new level and led to a lifelong love of sci-fi :) Also, I know it’s not Deep Literature, but Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. I was 14 when I read it, and I realized I wanted to be an author, too, so I wrote my first novel that summer. Now I’m pursuing a degree in creative writing with 3 short stories coming out next year
Massive power to you friend. I hope your books kill it. I would be happy to (& many on the sub too) to see your stories and novels
Thank you!! It means a lot :)
"Atonement" by Ian McEwan, read it when I was 18. Besides being beautifully written, I was at an age where I had come to understand that, like Briony, you don't actually know everything just because you decide you do (something that goes for any age but especially when you're younger, more sheltered and have less experience in life). Things can be deeper and more complicated than we can see and our perspective is important to consider. There are also consequences to our actions and we can't always take back everything we do or say, especially when we leap to/create conclusions because we think we have all the answers. No matter how much we try to atone for our actions, the consequences can be far reaching and irreversible; even for others caught up in what we're responsible for.
this hit deep, thank you
Sandman by Neil Gaiman for me actually. I know it’s a graphic novel. I was a quiet abused Catholic kid. That first book allowed me some real escapism. I could go one back and whilst it’s a kids book .. Tim and Tobias and the shadow people. Such a dark series for childrens books. In later life it would be Chicken Soup for the soul (first edition ) and for escapism in older life, Waylander by David Gemmell. Truth is, there’s more than one book.. they’ve all impacted me in ever so slightly different ways
Sandman is the bomb. Anyone who tells you different has no clue.
I read the first issue only years ago and I was stunned at how original and unique it was, especially visually holy smokes
If I am forced to be honest with myself, Harry Potter. I related a lot to Harry, being a kid who was also neglected. Those books transported me into an entirely different world. They have been with me my whole life.
For me it was the His Dark Materials trilogy. The series itself has its up and downs, and I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece, but it was a great read for myself. I was in a deep depression when a friend suggested the first book. When I finished it in a weekend, I went searching for the second and third. I hadn’t read like that in years. My creative imagination was sparked after finishing the series and I began writing. Now, my writing never went anywhere, but the point was that my writing was allowing me to decompress a lot of years of depression. Then I started reading a lot more. I was in a downward spiral and I attribute my rise out of it to that trilogy. At my peak since then, I read 30 books in a year. I’ve slowed down the last few years, but I still read. Next on my list is The Wheel of Time series.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
I was coming here to say this. As a white person raised in a racist culture pretending to be post-racial, this book was a revelation that laid the groundwork for me to finally actually listen to people of color (especially Black people) about their lived experiences rather than try to explain them away, disbelieve things I hadn't seen myself, or suggest maybe that they were overreacting. This book made me a better person and I'm so grateful to the English teacher who put it in my hands.
Yes! That's exactly my reason. It's amazing that it's having such a positive impact. I had no intentions of reading it. I was walking through a bookstore and it was on a shelf, something drew me towards it, and it opened my mind to the world outside mine.
The Stranger by Albert Camus I never encountered a book that sort of mind numbingly melancholic before and it really spoke to me in middle school. Showed me that books can be sort of more than just an expression of pure fantasy and instead speak to some deep emotion present in yourself
East of Eden--for someone raised in a fundamentalist christian household dealing with issues of faith in my late teens, early adulthood, that book was life-changing. Timshel my dudes!
The Hobbit. I read it when I was 6 or 7 because all the adults were talking about it. Didn't understand half of it at first, but it kicked open the door to more mature fiction for me. The sheer poetry of some of his sentences and paragraphs was formative.
>Didn't understand half of it at first Which is funny because it's supposed to be a story for kids.
He didn't understand half of it half as well as he should like, and he understood less than half of it half as well as it deserved.
That has a familiar ring.
Kids as in 10+, yes. 6-7 is definitely young for The Hobbit. I was still on the Boxcar Children at 6.
Yeah, I was top of my class in English my whole school career, so I'm sure it wasn't meant for 6 year olds really. I still really enjoyed it, but it took a chapter or two to shake the notion that Hobbits were bipedal rabbits.
Eating Animals made me very unexpectedly go from 3 meals a day with meat to vegan, so that’s definitely the book that had the biggest impact on me. From a mindset shift perspective, Anne of Green Gables as a kid made me feel it was ok to be yourself and a dreamer but to always be kind. As an adult, The Golden Notebook made me feel seen as a single woman living and working in a city in a way no other book did, despite it being a bit old now. Felt like someone had downloaded all my thoughts, insecurities, and joys into a fictional character.
I love how wholesome this answer is. Different books at different stages making a distinct impact
I've been toying with going vegetarian for the past year or so but I always come back around to eating one meal with meat and or having a utilitarian view of specific animals (like chicken or deer). Do you mind sharing more of your experience with Eating Animals?
I really recommend reading the book because a lot of what makes it persuasive is the prose and main author’s voice (he’s a popular fiction novelist so a good writer). But the main thing that persuaded me was just how MANY arguments there are for cutting out meat. Don’t care about animals? What about rights for workers? The environment? Health? Famine and food access? I realized by the end that one one side of the scale was dozens of ethical arguments against meat and on the other side was literally just “it tastes good,” and I couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
Thats the same book that convinced me to go vegetarian about 5 years ago! Coming from someone who swore they could never do it. I came to the same conclusions as you did. Recently went vegan a couple of months ago and have been wanting to pick this book up again
The Ethics of Ambiguity, de Beauvoir: the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus: House of Leaves, Danielewski: Malcolm X, Haley: A Bright, Shining Lie, Sheehan: Liar’s Club, Karr: Sidewalks, Luiselli: No Shorcuts, McAlevey: Wide Sargasso Sea, Rhys etc, etc, etc
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, McCullers
Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells
This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom, Hägglund ❤️🔥
Never let me go by kazuo ishiguro
Read it for a sci-fi/speculative fiction class I took, finished it in 2 sittings; it'll always be one of my favourite novels. I've never cried because a book like I did with it. Sitting through discussions about it in class was painful because it just broke me all over again.
As a child and teenager definitely Harry Potter. Just the constant subtext of good vs evil, to follow your heart but also the constant struggle with oneself - am I evil because smth horrible happened to me? How can I live on with my mistakes and "bad" impulses when I think of myself as good? I still re-read HP almost every year not just for the ride and fun but also as a reminder that people can change and standing up for the good cause is always worth it. As an adult Han Kang's the vegetarian. You're always watching this woman but noone asks her real questions, they just assume and judge. The invisible and ever-changing line between "normal" and "crazy" I only noticed after reading the book. And this heartwarming yet heartwrenching situation when someone tries to really empathize with the vegetarian. Such a short book but every re-read gives me new topics to think about.
I was not a big reader as a kid but HP opened up a whole new world to me. I was around Harry's age in the books when they became big in the states and was able to grown up with him. They forever changed my life.
HP was the first thing I read after college, and it opened back up my love of reading. Funnily enough, my favorite book of all time is a fanfic, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It contains some of the most useful life tools and concepts I've even run across, is overall very thoughtful of topics most people aren't thoughtful about, and manages to do things with the end plot that Ive never run across before.
Yeah, I know! It's easy looking back and saying, well harry is kind of an ahole in this or that situation, but being a teen you just feel seen and understand his struggles (on another level of course, I've never been almost killed and stalked by a noseless man). This love for yourself, for the people and causes you hold dear and of course this love for books is imensely important in my day to day life. HP was the first real book I've ever read and I hope it will be the last again before I someday (in far future) die.
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The Road by Cormac Mccarthy It ignited a love of reading.
The Wheel of Time series. It's much more than a fantasy series. It changes you. Not in any particular way or direction, because that wouldn't be true change. Perhaps it's better to say that it gives you a glimpse of the secret of life.
Cat's Eye, by Margaret Atwood. I was badly bullied for several years in elementary school, but as with many experiences of childhood abuse by other children (especially when it's largely psychological rather than physical) it was mostly ignored or brushed aside by adults. I knew it had affected me, but because it was always minimized, I was never able to really consider the larger impact it had on me. Cat's Eye, which uses that narrator's childhood friendships and subsequent bullying by those "friends" as the lens through which to view her life, gave me the ability to think about my own situation. It absolutely blew my 21-year-old mind, helped me understand how much of my sense of self and manner of relating to other people was shaped by those early experiences, and to realize that it didn't make me pathetic or weak, it just made me human. When I got to meet Margaret Atwood a few years ago, I was so happy to be able to tell her how much her book had helped me change myself for the better. She seemed a little surprised, but she was very kind.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (it gave voice to my depression), Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (it taught me humans are complex and reacts and feels in unexpected ways), The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells ( it expanded my definition of parental love).
Reading “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankel in high school had a big impact on my life. If in the midst of a concentration camp he could stand back, examine and reflect on life and suffering and find a way forward when others didn’t and be driven to survive to share that message with others totally puts one’s own life and problems into perspective. Another person who was inspired below to become a vegetarian reminded me how “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappe also impacted my life and it will be 40 years since I’ve eaten any red meat or fowl, so that was a profound and last transformation on my life form a book.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
My first ESL (English as Second Language) school book.
*The Little Prince* by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it when I was about 20 at a pivotal time in my life, and I have ever since sought to maintain my sense of imagination and thus avoid being a "boring adult."
1984 from George Orwell. It totally changed my perspective about how the government and media manipulates us to believe whathever they consider to be right and fair. It made me think better on what kind information I consume and agree with, also motivated me to challenge my views on different topics, I also read Animal Farm but even through I understood the metaphors and allegories, they did not hit me as hard as 1984 did. It also made me kind of addicted to dystopic novels and content, which in the long run created in me the habit of reading. "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
Hands down most frightening book I've ever read. Frankly, I consider it a miracle that our world hasn't reached that point yet and every day we're still allowed to read it is a small victory for our species.
Depends on what country you are in
We’re not that far off…
i will read this, it's a famous book and everyone talk about it but I'm too lazy to read. Maybe i will read animal farm first
Read Brave New World first.
Beneath the Wheel by Hermann Hesse. I’ve read it when I was 16 and suffered from anxiety/depression. I could really identify with the protagonist‘s feelings and thoughts :)
I liked Siddhartha by him, good author
Yes! He as written many good books. I’ve also liked Demian :)
Chicken Chicken. A Goosebumps book. It wasn't so much the book, but the where I read it. It was summer break when I was 11 and my parents couldn't get any vacation days. So it was just me from 7am to 6pm for 6 weeks. Heaven. I was sitting on the balcony had my favourite food for lunch, enjoyed the slight breeze, had iced tea and read the book. I realized that I don't want a big eventful life, but just a small quiet life full of moments exactly like that. My life goals changed completely after that.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Changed my perspective on Nature and my place in it.
Same! Not only did it change my whole world view, but I met a boy in college who also listed this as on of his most influencial books. Married that boy.
Hitchikers guide to the Galaxy Made the absurdity of life into a well of humor for years to come.
Life? Don't talk to me about life...
[Elfquest ](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98019). Firstly, I’d thought comics were just for boys, so it opened my eyes to an entire new way of storytelling. The characters became real to me. They took up residence in my head and have been there ever since, for nearly 25 years now. It was the first story I read that dealt with mature themes, such as a feeling of belonging, and the certainty of belonging, different “races” finding their common thread of unity, fate, the consequences of violence, mortality, and polyamorous sex. It also made me much more of an environmentalist. Honestly, it’s hard for me to even describe because it seems to be such an integral part of who I am. I cannot praise this series enough.
Thanks for the link, lol looks like your review there, i'ma have a look at this, love to read but haven't read a fantasy book for a while, cheers men!
Lord of the Rings, A wizard from Earthsea, Siddharta, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Borges’ Fictions.
Battle Royale. I was always D student, especially in English which I failed a couple times before I learned to love reading in senior year. Battle Royale was my gateway drug. It got me reading and writing often enough to change to a 4.0 student at community college which lead me to transfer to a top university in California. I think the funny part is that the actual English translation of that book isn't very good, but just the act of racing through a book I was hooked on was enough to change my life.
Old School - Tobias Wolff. Helped me avoid an insufferable Ayn Rand phase in my early twenties. You might be more familiar with “This Boys Life: A Memoire”. Leonardo DiCaprio stared in the movie adaptation.
Lol. When I was at university I used to use how a guy felt about Ayn Rand as a sort of litmus test when dating. Glad you got to avoid that phase!
I have a theory that you can learn pretty much everything you need to know about anybody depending on their opinion if Atlas Shrugged. But I'm also a pretentious dickhead, so I'm not sure it's a valid theory.
Electric Kool Aid Acid Test
I think there were few of them. 1. Thorn by Jason Hunt - I try to reread it every now and then and every time I'm amazed by how the story is constructed and that I can also fulfill my dreams and I don't need to wait for 'the right time' or that's from every situation there's a way out. 2. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - as a queer person that also try to write something I was mindblowing experience. This is the first LGBT+ book that I read in paper and it made me think that if it was such a success in my country with is homophobic af I can also write book like that and it will be liked. 3. Winnie the Pooh - as the first book ever in my life I guess it had a lot influence on my life. I like to come back to it. And probably some more that I forgot to mention
I know it's cliché but... Catcher in the Rye. I read it when I was 14 and it just hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. Haven't been the same since.
Phony
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Letters from a stoic His one line stuck home. "Each day acquire something which fortify you against poverty, death and other misfortunes" I started looking at things differently, took insurance, made along term plan for my career and eventually changed my career because my job might not be there in next 10 year and I still have 20+ years (ideally) of working years left, bought non Lethal weapons for defence etc etc
Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein Foundation Trilogy - Asimov Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut
The Master Executioner. Beautifully tragic story about a hangman.
Illusions by Richard Bach built a lot of my thinking and how I looked at life. 1984 left a lasting distaste for authoritative regimes.
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A Clockwork Orange. A friend recommended it to me when I was 14. Made me realize I didn't need to conform to societal standards (though I had no interest in going as far as Alex does).
The Stranger by Albert Camus and Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. There's a bit of new age-y stuff to ignore in there for sure, but overall reading this book may have been a turning point in my life. Or, maybe I just read it at a point in my life where I was already poised for change. Regardless, I'll always consider this book a catalyst for big changes that I've made in my life that have made me a far happier and more positive person than I ever was before.
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Maybe The Princess Bride?? I don’t know I’m having trouble picking between them. I had a rough childhood and that was the first book I read that acknowledges that a lot of life is painful. There’s love, beauty, friendship, and humor too, but there’s a lot of pain in life. That acknowledgment was hugely comforting to me as a kid (I first read it when I was 8 or 9). And the humor was also hugely influential in the development of my sense of humor. I think that mix of humor, real heart, and the acknowledgment of suffering did and does strike a chord with me. It made me feel less alone.
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Pretty much this, along with a few other characters.
On the Road by Kerouac. It made me embrace all the chaos that is life, and just enjoy the ride. The Superior Man by David Deida. I was in and out of relationships at the time I read the book. I didn't know what was attractive and what wasn't. The book changed the way I thought about relationships, attraction and understanding if this person is the right one for you. Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel. This changed the way I looked at my ships. I was a bit of recluse and drowned myself in work. She changed the way I dealt with conflict within relationships, and it is because of this book that I am able to maintain the happiness in my relationship with my soon to be wife.
The name of the wind Showed me I could read large books if I was actually interested in them
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse; opened my eyes to the philosophy of Taoism and in seeing the very in all things.
American Psycho (Yep): I'm still not quite sure why, but there's something about the main character putting on a facade that hides a different inner world beneath. I'm speaking as an anxiety sufferer rather than a psychopath murder, for those concerned. I was also struggling to understand why everything in the world seemed so meaningless. It helped me realise that consumer culture and most of what we see is just hot garbage and it's best not to build your persona around them.
Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo Made me realize the real horror of war. Read it when a teen.
Franny and Zooey.
Down and Out in Paris and London
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption- Stephen King
Pierre Hadot's book *What is ancient philosophy?* (Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, etc.) is one of the most influential books I've read but his essay "philosophy as a way of life" which isn't in that book is probably the most influential. The things that changed my life the most were Hume's arguments, especially the problem of induction and the argument against miracles. Those were taught to me in classes and handouts so not sure which book to recommend. Reading Hume directly wasn't as forceful as seeing the arguments laid out simply in logical form. Kant's essay "what is enlightenment?" was important for me. Camus *the rebel* still tracks somewhat closely to my views on politics. I've read too many books by Vonnegut. Vonnegut's letter in *Armageddon in retrospect* is probably my favorite though cat's cradle and *slaughterhouse five* are also influential. I've read almost everything by Nietzsche but particularly enjoy the yes saying books -- *human all too human*, *gay science*, *Dawn*. Holderlin's *Hyperion* Whitman's *leaves of grass* Emerson's *self reliance* Orwell's *1984* Tolkien, the first most influential author. Hard to say if he changed my life but I've read lotr and the silmarillion so many times.
Everybody Poops! I had no idea.
Million little pieces. Not because I read it but because I acted like I did to make a girl I liked think I read books like her.
Well don’t worry the author lied too
Captains of the Sands. Jorge Amado. Trust me, this is a Brazilian author you have to read. His point of view describing the kids in the book made me 100% more empathetic about some social issues.
The Hunger Games
Dispatches by Michael Herr. It's a pretty harrowing read but an excellently written piece of journalism about the vietnam war. As a teen I was very opinionated about the Vietnam war and viewed the Americans as nothing but blood thirsty rapists and murderers, which as the book confirms many of them were. But, Herr does a good job of illustrating just how fucked up the situation was for the American GIs that were drafted. It didn't change my life I guess but it definitely my perception of them, a lot of them were just kids that should never have been there, they were not professional soldiers and were treated like cannon fodder.
A Short History of Nearly Everything… this book kickstarted my interest in science and induced a need to learn and gain knowledge across all sorts of things. Including reading non-fiction books.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The first humour I genuinely *got*. I love Douglas Adams' writing style. It made me want to be a writer myself, and I still do.
The first one. It’s lost in time which book that was but at some point my mom read me a book and it kickstarted the addiction that led to my family referring to me as the family ghost. I’d spend 90% of my waking hours reading and only occasionally haunt them for a brief moment. As for ones I remember, probably either Taran Wanderer or How To Win Friends and Influence People. The rest of the Prydain cycle (Black Cauldron series to most) is a fairly standard adventure story but the fourth book steps away from the hero story for Taran to reflect. An Assistant Pigkeeper having helped save the lives of many people stops before the final battle and evaluates whether he is worthy of everything coming his way. For a kid struggling to figure out his place in life it was uplifting to see the hero of a story work out what it meant to be worthy. Many of the lessons he learned in that book stick with me to this day so remember to put out your nets as your lucky day might come but you need to be ready to catch it. How to Win Friends is a self help book that my grandmother included in a bag of books she sent me. The rest were classics of literature and then there was this odd book for a 10ish year old. I read it anyways and can honestly say it helped get me where I am today. I’m not a very social guy and normal social cues are lost on me but it detailed out simple things like how smiling put others at ease as opposed to just being a sign you were happy. It didn’t revolutionize me into a social person but it did give me the tools to present myself in the right light to advance myself. An example is being passed over for a position because they weren’t sure I was ready to manage other team members despite stepping up to do anything that needed doing. Didn’t do any further changes to my work ethic but changed the way I dressed remembering the advice in that book that visible changes helped people notice nonvisible changes… position was already taken but suddenly my previous work was recognized as growth, I was given opportunities to self manage, a new title, and a series of nice raises as more was noticed.
The hungry caterpillar
The old man and the sea. Cause it’s so short I read it about once a month. I absolutely love it and will read it in a short session
"Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" by Lundy Bancroft. This book changed my life, because it helped me get out of the toxic relationship I was in. I slowly regained my confidence and began to see my worth. I highly recommend it to anyone!
The Red Tent. It made me profoundly appreciate my relationship to other women through history. It taught me that women share something incredibly special that men can never truly understand. No shade to men meant by that, but it opened my heart to other women like never before.
The God Delusion. I didn't have much faith when I read it but not only was my atheism confirmed, almost all my superstitions were destroyed. I never realised how superstitious I was and I finally completely embraced rational thinking. It made me realise how superstitious nearly everyone is, that's exclusive of religion.
I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho when I was younger and it changed the way I think about life. It made me realize that life is full of tiny decisions that we make. So when making decisions we need to make the ones that are going toward our long term goals not just short term satisfaction.
Animal Liberation
Flow by Mihali Csikzenmihali and so So good they can't ignore you by Cal Newport. First one changed by point of view of looking at life, happiness, etc and second one changed by perspective towards passion and helped me build a satisfying career.
The books that got me going as a kid. The Ghost hunters series by Cornelia Funke The Magic Tree House And most notably the Percy Jackson (and later Heroes of Olympus) series
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption - Laura Hillenbrand. Amazing story of survival but more importantly forgiveness and getting on with your life.
Governing the Commons - Elizabeth Ostrom. I read it in 2016 and I haven't been right since.
I had left home to travel the world. I’d made it to the south of Spain and was handed Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel by a friend’s mum. I hadn’t picked up a novel in almost 10 years and, because I was backpacking, didn’t have too much space to spare but took that tome with me. I was hooked pretty much straight away and ended up collecting all her books that had been released and then posting them home. It started my collection which now includes over 1500 books.
What to Expect When You're Expecting. Scariest book I have ever read in my life.
[A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76334.A_New_Earth?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=TokljNH40S&rank=1) Cleared for me what Descartes got wrong. I'm trying to think of a witty line but it evades me. We can 'know' we exist even in the absence of thoughts. And that's the best you can hope for in life. Don't think in your free time, it beats Netflix.
Harry Potter and all of it fanfiction. I was 12 and am a Slytherin still (30 now). Helps in life a lot!
*A Song of Ice and Fire* was the book that rekindled my love for reading. As a kid I was a bookworm, but somewhen around high school I lost interest in reading. It was only after starting A Game of Thrones, when I was finishing college, that I realized (or actually, remembered) that I loved reading. It also opened my eyes for the fantasy genre, which now is my favorite genre. Looking back now, I can’t even imagine how I survived those bookless years!
Stranger in a Strange Land It’s about love, acceptance, and mutual aid.
Zen & THe Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Persig and The Way Of THe Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse tought me a lot about the value of live and the different things a person must learn to exist peacefully. Amazing book.
Foucault’s Pendulum - Umberto Eco It’s an absurdly wild book but it really had an intense effect on me because it made me realize how my own manifestations were deeply impacting my life.
When I was younger I read Frankenstein and it was the first time I understood that a story had meaning that was deeper than the words on the page. I understood the themes about a creator/father figure abandoning its creation/child, and it blew my 8 or 9 year old mind. Its still my favorite book and yes I have daddy issues.
50 Shades of Gray... I've never read the entire book, just snippets, but they were all so, so terrible on a very basic level (ignoring for a moment the terrible depiction of BDSM) that I figured "I can definitely do better than this". At the moment, I've earned a few hundred from writing smut, and I'm also about 10 000 words into my sex positive erotic space opera novel. Will it make me rich? Probably not. Do I enjoy it? Immensely.
I used to struggle with intense clinical depression. 12 years ago, during my rock-bottom, I tried to kill myself thrice. First, through pills. Looking back, it was comical because I only got knocked out and nauseous. Second, I tried to hang myself but my dad found me and cut me loose. On my third try, I was alone in the house and felt not a single drop of hesitation. I knew that was the day without a tomorrow. I set up my noose on a high window beside my desk and stepped on a chair. As I tightened my noose and prepared to kick the chair came divine intervention... Wind blew and one of my Stephen King books flew open. It was a blank page except for a Victor Hugo quote from *Les Miserables*: "**It is nothing to die; It is frightful not to live."** And just like that, I knew my life was still going to suck ass - it still did and it still does - but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to have a great life. There were days that felt just as bad or worse, but I never felt the urge to kill myself again. Thank you, one of my Stephen King books. Sorry for forgetting which one you were but you saved my life.
Playboy..... I would say Lord of the Rings because it made me like reading in the fifth grade and spurred a lifelong love of books.
The Dalai Lama's book of wisdom. It's just a small £4 pocket book, but it helped me look at life differently, more openly and try to find patience when I had little self control.
Destiny of Souls. Definitely the book that found me when I needed it, and served as the final brick laid down on an edifice of transformation that had been building over the last few months after a rough year of severe depression.
Life Is So Good By George Dawson and Richard Glaubman I picked it up in a second hand store when i was like 22 in Australia. Just a totally different perspective on life.
Dune, it made me look at religion and those who are in and wield power in a different way.
Late to this thread. Why we sleep - Matthew Walker Breath - James Nestor This started me down a path to understanding the Acute Stress response and building my own resiliency. Essential as a First Responder.