Books that changed your life?

[Orphan]

Or any book that you believe everyone should read.
Preferably those that affected your philosophies/outlook on life.

I've caught the reading bug in my long summer break, and am hungry fo' deep words!
(alas, when I return to uni I'll likely be doing anything to avoid my reading list :<)

 

[Jas0n]

Into The Wild is one book that made me contemplative for a long time. The movie's pretty good too, but doesn't really make sense unless you've read the book previously.

 

[Keen]

Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars both by John Green.

Looking for Alaska has made me think, and think time and again about how I should be living life. It also makes me cry. A lot. I've read that book at least 20 times and still counting and each time, some new emotion hits me like a tidal wave.

TFiOS is the same way. I loved everything about it and it has good points to ponder as well. One of the big things that stuck with me from this book was 'Everybody dies in the middle of their lives' there is no end. Everybody is still living in the middle of life when they die. For me, this translated to even if you are terminally ill, or you don't feel like going on, or you feel like its the end, its still the middle. You cannot fully prepare for death and you shouldn't live like you are closing your life. If that makes any sense at all.

 

[darkzero]

Flowers for Algernon.

 

[Chris]

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. I like to think that everyone has read this glorious book. If not, do it now. It's an astounding piece of literature. I had to study it twice -- once in school and then again two years later in college -- and the first time around I hated it, but the second time I loved it. It's easy to see how it's influenced modern society and pop culture.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. The film is dreadful but I'm in love with the book. It brings a new definition to the words 'shallow' and 'selfish'.

Edinburgh by Alexander Chee. A beautiful modern story with ugly subject matter. The prose is so poetic that it can feel tiresome to slog through in some places, but there is gold hidden in some of those pages. It's the only book where I can genuinely say I've memorised the exact page number my favourite scene starts on.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Another modern book. What I love about this novel is the narrative: it cleverly weaves two seemingly unrelated stories (one about a teenage runaway; the other about an elderly man who can speak to cats) into one seamless, coherent piece.


The last one had a more personal influence on me, but I'll talk about it anyway. One book that definitely changed my approach to the world was Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. It was the first 'adult' book (as in aimed at an adult audience, not erotica) I read and it completely blew my mind. Until that point I thought everyone in the world were idiots except for myself and the blokes in some angry rock band I really loved back then. I quickly went on to read more of his books after this one, with my personal favourite being Diary, although I wouldn't say it's his best. Apparently his work has also influenced the style in my own stories - I write fiction and write/direct films, and he's the person who people most often compare my work too.

 

[oath2order]

Into The Wild is one book that made me contemplative for a long time. The movie's pretty good too, but doesn't really make sense unless you've read the book previously.

I had to read that for my senior year of English.

I hated the main character. Rich kid doesn't like his life? **** him. He's all "society is too materialistic" yet runs away from the problem instead of trying to help fix society.

He ran off into the wilderness with little knowledge of how to survive out there.

I still have yet to read Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Handmaid's Tale just...I dunno, I always thought that what happened in that is entirely possible and it creeped me out.

 

[Lurrdoc]

Of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon. All books I read through school, but ended up taking a bit of them with me as I graduated.

 

[Midoriya]

The bible. 'Nuff said.

 

[Sleepy]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

[Liv]

Truth Serum: A Memoir by Bernard Cooper*
Black Tickets by Jayne Anne Phillips*
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton


The asterisks denote collections of short stories.

 

[ForestRabbit]

Anne of Green Gables series. They're very tame-- the kind of books the keeps my glass half full instead of half empty.

 

[Link32]

Harry Potter of course! How j.k. Rowling can create a world so vivid and real, filled with intricate details and whimsy. It's what inspired me to take up fictional writing as a hobby!

 

[Mino]

Catch-22. It's kind of a dark, anti-war comedy in a lot of ways, but it has pretty profoundly affected the way I view the world. Basically, that it's full of nearly intractable contradictions that **** people over.

 

[ShinyYoshi]

All of the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. Not only does it teach life lessons, it's sarcastic and funny.

I know it's a huge fad right now, but The Great Gatsby was truly amazing. Don't watch the movie first, read the book!

 

[Riesz]

The Catcher in the Rye, which was assigned reading in grade 9. Great book!

 

[SecondSider]

Not sure how come no one mentioned The Great Gatsby.

 

[Puffy]

Lord of The Flies.

 

[bittermeat]

Lord of the Flies
Of Mice and Men
The Great Gatsby
To Kill a Mockingbird
Into the Wild
The Catcher in the Rye
Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Fault In Our Stars
Mountains Beyond Mountains: A Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer
Unwind

 

[nintendofan61]

The Harry Potter series! These books (and movies) have changed the way I read and watch movies forever! They are truly amazing, and will always have a special place in my heart! I remember sitting in the theater at 5 years old watching the very first one! Ever since then, to this day these books and movies hold my number one spot for favorite books and movies!

J.K. Rowling created a world with so many intricate details and such a fascinating story, that every time I watch the movies or read the books, I always feel like I'm right there with Harry figuring out how to defeat Voldemort.


These are truly amazing books and movies, and you haven't experienced true and adventurous entertainment until you've read and watched them.

 

[Dandie]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Me too. I love Harry Potter. Love love love it.