Books that have changed your life.

https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/92idw/books_that_have_changed_your_life/

created by [deleted] on 19/07/2009 at 05:49 UTC

69 upvotes, 53 top-level comments (showing 25)

Every so often you read a book that has an effect on you, for some reason or another. I would like to know these reasons and why you think such books are so profound.

1984 - George Orwell: In my experiences, most people have read this book (Likely in school), and people either love it or hate it. I first read this book in 8th grade as it was required by probably the raddest English teacher ever. Up until then my biggest literary achievement was having read all 4 Harry Potter books. Earlier that year I almost did a book report on novelization of a Malcom in the Middle episode - so as far as what I had read by then was rather limited. Being only 13 I am convinced that this book was too big for me the first time I read it, having returned to it every couple of years since, and every time I take away some subtle nuance that I had missed before. Still, having been exposed to it at such a young age changed the way I viewed literature - if not the world as a hole. It was probably the first time the idea of societal control ever entered my brain, and was the first time I fully understood the desperateness of the human condition.

Comments

Comment by Slzr at 19/07/2009 at 14:41 UTC

15 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Shakespeare - you understand how people in society works

Comment by raubry at 19/07/2009 at 13:32 UTC*

12 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
R is for Rocket - Bradbury
Steps to an Ecology of Mind - Gregory Bateson
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones - Reps, et al.
The White Deer - James Thurber
The Occult - Colin Wilson
Doing Simple Math In Your Head - W.J. Howard
I Ching (Bollingen edition)
Tao Te Ching (Gia-Fu Feng, Jane English edition)
Be Here Now -Ram Dass

Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2009 at 08:12 UTC

10 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Sophie's World - A novel about the history of philosophy. At my high school philosophy was not taught so I read this on my own as a supplement. Recommended for anyone who wants to get into philosophy but needs a starting point.

Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2009 at 06:55 UTC*

21 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by BioSemantics at 19/07/2009 at 07:27 UTC

15 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse.

My favorite book through middle school and on to high school. One of the few books I've ever bothered to read more than once (too many I haven't already read in the world). It's a wonderful book for any young mind, and really encapsulated a lot of wisdom I was trying to find and express as a kid

Comment by apmihal at 19/07/2009 at 07:39 UTC

8 upvotes, 1 direct replies

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski The book was terrifying on whole new levels to me. It gave me even more things to be terrified about that weren't normal scary things like monsters, plane crashes, terrorism etc.

Comment by [deleted] at 03/08/2009 at 02:53 UTC*

8 upvotes, 0 direct replies

7th grade - Where the Winds Sleep: Man’s Future on the Moon - a Projected History”

High School: Foundation Trilogy & Earth Abides

University - les Miserables - Victor Hugo, unabridged version & Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse.

20's - Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance[1] & the River Why[2]

1: http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0553277472

2: http://www.amazon.com/River-Why-David-James-Duncan/dp/0553344862

30's - The boat who wouldn't float - Farley Mowat, [3], and all his other books.

3: http://www.amazon.com/Boat-Who-Wouldnt-Float/dp/055327788X

40's - Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman

Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2009 at 06:23 UTC*

33 upvotes, 2 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by numlok at 19/07/2009 at 08:06 UTC

13 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies
Fahrenheit 451
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Comment by jailbreak at 19/07/2009 at 08:56 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Stumbling on Happiness[1] by Daniel Gilbert. Understanding the psychology of happiness is at once fascinating and useful. Also, check out his videos at ted.com[2].

1: http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/1400042666

2: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

Comment by HyperSpaz at 19/07/2009 at 11:06 UTC*

7 upvotes, 0 direct replies

In chronological order:

*7* Some handbook about wild mushrooms: I doubt I would have survived my primary school years without this, so maybe it changed my life like no other book ever did.

*9* Physics that matters by Walter Mächtle: Discovered physics.

*11*The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek: Convinced me that war is stupid and that I would never join the military.

*12* The 13½ lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers: I discovered fantastic worlds and the drive of my imagination. I read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings around the same time and it had a similar influence, but was special as it was my first English language book to read.

*15* Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein: Made me comfortable with being a nerd.

*17* Demian by Herrmann Hesse: Helped me settle some troubles with growing up and the relationship to my mother.

*18* The New World of Mr. Tompkins by George Gamov: This serum counteracted the urges to study compsci and become a software developer instilled into me by "Just for Fun" many years earlier, and finally made me choose physics as a major after much inner quarreling.

Comment by bluespapa at 19/07/2009 at 12:14 UTC*

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Walden (the second time through)

Turtle Island, Gary Snyder poetry that feels both dated and just as urgent

Go, Dog, Go

Gulliver's Travels

Moby Dick

A Walker in the City, Alfred Kazin

Hop on Pop

The Dance of Anger

Lady Oracle, Margaret Atwood

The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin

Crito

The Concept of Law

Reading, Andre Kertesz

Great Expectations

Go Down, Moses

Absalom, Absalom

The Color Purple

The Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, Alexander Berkman

The Canterbury Tales (or at least some of them)

The Joy Luck Club

77 Dream Songs (as a unit, but probably about 20 of them)

I hate to leave out a whole bunch of underground comics, erotica, chapbooks, journalism (contemporary and historical, like Reston, Menken, early yellow journalism), the first chapter of the The Scarlet Letter. I'm trying to limit this to books (and other pieces) that have truly changed my life.

There are a number of works that felt like they were changing my life at the time, but the enchantment wore off for some reason. Maybe bears re-examination, like the poetry of Charles Olson and of H.D, a number of works by Hawthorne, some of Freud's later works, some mysticism.

Comment by antico at 19/07/2009 at 11:34 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Another Orwell for me: Down and Out in Paris and London[1], which completely changed my view of the homeless.

1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London

Comment by nicodaemos at 19/07/2009 at 13:33 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The Selfish Gene[1]
The Demon-Haunted World[2]

Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2009 at 13:59 UTC

5 upvotes, 1 direct replies

[deleted]

Comment by FireDemon at 19/07/2009 at 21:59 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque. When I was in my early teens my dad picked this book out for me from the local library. It changed my image of war for ever.

Comment by Anderson82 at 19/07/2009 at 08:57 UTC

8 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The Brothers Karamazov to Hell's Angels to American Psycho to Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Understanding the darkness of the male psyche allows one (assuming you are also male, which let's face it, you are on reddit, so you probably are) to understand morality outside of a religious rubric and sphere. To me these books encapsulated the "sins" of their generations making the rest of us question why we should worry about our effects on the emotional lives of others.

Comment by heyiquit at 19/07/2009 at 10:01 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - I was heavily influenced by this book when my history teacher suggested it to me in middle school. It deals with the struggles of the working class, the inequity of American society, the horrors of the meat industry, and socialism.

Robot Dreams by Isaac Asimov - Thought provoking science fiction. It turned me away from the mediocre pulp sci-fi of Star Wars, and turned me in to a scientist at heart.

A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway - The only book to ever make me cry. It's inspired by Hemingway's actual experiences as an ambulance driver in the Italian army during world war I.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan - After reading this book, I couldn't help but stare at the night sky in awe of the sheer beauty, magnificence, and unfathomable magnitude of the universe.

Comment by emosorines at 19/07/2009 at 17:29 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

World War Z, Fight Club

Comment by Morass at 19/07/2009 at 13:25 UTC

14 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Everybody Poops!

Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2009 at 07:06 UTC

9 upvotes, 4 direct replies

Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollen: A serious evaluation of what we eat and where it comes from. If you eat, then you should read this book.

Ishmael - Daniel Quinn: A really good look on how the majority of the population is living and how it isnt sustainable. All-in-all fantastic read.

Comment by wza at 19/07/2009 at 16:35 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

plato's socrates dialogues- taught me not to believe anything
the bhagavad gita- people are the only gods and demons
the good soldier svejk- even the powerless have the power to resist
ada- true love exists and is eternal
tristram shandy- there are no rules in life

Comment by seibutsusen at 19/07/2009 at 21:09 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Neuromancer* by Gibson. It just broadened my interest of sci-fi, which (up until 12th grade) had been paltry.

Comment by [deleted] at 20/07/2009 at 00:59 UTC*

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The Ghost in the machine* - Arthur Koestler : got me interested in philosophy in general and thinking about the human condition.

Manufacturing consent* : Noam chomsky - got me interested in politics. Read it when I was 16. Not so sold on him these days - but his precision and sheer intellect still awes me.

Voltaires Bastards* - John Raulston Saul: Made me think more than perhaps any other book has to date

Dune* - Frank Herbert : An amazing story with some serious subtext on politics and lessons for the real world . Probably my favourite fiction novel ever.

Also not any particular books - but *anything* by Bertrand Russell , David Hume , Mark Twain (*The Mysterious Stranger* is a favourite) or Voltaire (*Candide*) . First two are my favourite philosophers- second two are the sharpest tounged satirists ever to walk the planet.