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Books that changed your life

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BPMninja:


Suuuuuch a life changer.

Jarne:
Animal Farm - George Orwell.
The Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal - Ayn Rand.

These are the books that made me believe that yes, in fact, humans can screw up everything and that they can also succeed.

Useful Idiot:
without question, the list would be as thus:

'Run With The Hunted' by Charles Bukowski
this book hit me at a time in my life in which I was very wrought up in abstract thought and dedicated a large portion of my time to drugs. It showed me exactly what I needed to see; something absolutely real, and undistortedly pure.

'Requiem for a Dream' by Hubert Selby Jr.

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey
this book simply makes you question your own mind and the minds of those around you; when you read this, every notion of insanity you could have had goes straight out the window.

Kai:

--- Quote from: Nolaw_Nocrime ---I hated of mice and men. I think mostly because we did it in my english class and I abhor the ripping apart of novels we have to do to create a critical evaluation. I mean it's good to find meaning in a book, but not when you get told "This is the meaning, find quotes that show it"

--- End quote ---


That whole process has made me hate every book I've really been forced to read in school. Of Mice and Men, Count of Monty Cristo, Catcher in the Rye, Tom Sawyer, ton of others. Even if I've already read them and enjoyed them, I learned to abhor them.  I mean, why not let US decide what we think the author's message was? Let us think about it and do our own work and back it up, rather than it being almost-but-not-really subtly fed to us. Seriously. There's this whole process called "THINKING FOR YOURSELVES".

Actually, I could go on a big whole thread about the evils of the American English education program.



--- Quote ---I bothers me a little, just really very slightly, that so many people say Of Mice and Men. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, and it was definitely epic, but it seems to me so many people only ever read Of Mice and Men, but don't read The Grapes of Wrath, and especially East of Eden which, I personally at least, found far more moving, more life-changing.
--- End quote ---


In terms of actual book wise, I liked Cannery Row the best out of all of Steinbeck's novels (and hated Of Mice and Men, but I've already covered that). Grapes of Wrath was really more... just woah, in terms of message behind it.

Bastardous Bassist:
My list may seem utterly pretentious (well, parts of it may), but I assure you that it's really the books that have had a profound impact on how I live my life:
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (technically a play, but whatever)
Night by Elie Wiesel
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Beneath the Underdog by Charles Mingus (autobiography)
Jarhead by Anthony Swofford (compared to the book, the movie is complete crap, and the movie is pretty good, I think!)
Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden (I hated the movie, but the book is fantastic)
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (seriously, it's how I live my life)

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