Actually, I see life as a trip from the cradle to the grave… Hefner calls it a train ride. Sometimes long, sometimes short, and sometimes side-tracked, but none-the-less a journey. Something that “changed my life” didn’t really change it… It just rerouted it. I can look back on a major fork in my road-of-life and see how either path would have brought me to the same place.
For dysfunctional types like me [and a majority of American overachievers] John Bradshaw’s book “The Family” is an eye-opener in analysing the dysfunctional family and the road back to some semblance of sanity.
It taught me to live comfortably in my own skin… a highly recommended life style!
When I was a kid in around Grade 3 or 4, I happened upon a book called The Mad Scientist’s Club. It was basically a collection of stories about this club of young teens who have a grand time using science to befuddle adults and get revenge on the kids that pick on them.
As soon as I read that, I figured I wanted to be a scientist or an engineer. It basically shaped the whole direction of my life.
That book also got me interested in science fiction, and shortly thereafter I discovered Heinlein’s Juveniles. Not having a dad, I was basically raised by the father figures in those books. They really shaped a good chunk of my character.
But Henry and his Mad Scientists kicked it all off for me.
When I was in the 4th grade, I read a book called * From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler*. It was all about this brother and sister who run away and use a museum as their lodging every night. It taught me that no matter how bad things got (my dad walked out when i was 2 1/2 weeks old, and we didn’t get one red cent from him), you could always tough it out and learn something in the process.
no need to apologise, but no, i am not bj0rn. hopefully my use of english is better than his. my understanding was that english was not friend bj0rn’s first language.
i am just one of the teeming masses that lurk, mostly, hence the early registration date and the low post count>
Been a savage devourer of books all my life, and with so many under the belt, it may seem hard to pick just one, but its not. I was 16 and out of reading material and poking around in my Father’s library (Ok…everyone, get your minds out of the gutter…Dad’s porn was in the closet, not on the bookshelves), and picked up INSIDE THE 3RD REICH by Albert Speer. Well, what can I say? Do the words “loss of innocence” mean anything to anyone? I’d already read biographies of Hitler and bland historical battle accounts such as A TWO OCEAN WAR, but the personal nature of the account of a man so intricately involved in “evil” just blew my mind. Not sure I’ve recovered, yet, 20 years later.
Hands down, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach was responsible for shaping the lions share of my perspective on life.
The Loser by David Eddings taught me alot about myself and the world around me.
Lonesome Gods by Louis L’Amour held me spellbound and taught me alot about the person I want to be.
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Than Nicht Han?? (I always butcher his name) is a WONDERFUL book that brought me alot closer to finding a spiritual middle ground for myself.
My Sweet Audrina by VC Andrews showed me the power of love and the frailty of mind. Its young adult reading… but I’ve read it over and over and never quite get tired of it.
Another vote for The Illuminatus! Trilogy by the two Bobs (Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson). I read it when I was 20 or so, and it showed me the importance of not believing everything I read (which is ironic for a book to do that, isn’t it?). It gave creedence to my skepticism, which has always been more of the scientific-empiricist sort than the cynical sort. And all packaged amongst a healthy serving of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Definitely the most rebellious book I’ve ever read.
“The Evil That Men Do” by Brian Masters and “Evil: inside human cruelty and violence” by Roy Baumeister. After reading these books I understood for the first time why books have often been regarded as dangerous things by certain people at certain times. I was completely swayed by the author’s viewpoint that evil has necessarily to be seen from a victim’s perspective and that often victims have biases and faults that are hidden. I came to believe that even the Menendez brothers must have had their reasons. People in healthy, normal relationships just don’t kill their “relation”.
I was completely going to say that!! I read this book when I was 11, and I loved every single page. Of course, now I don’t know what specifically it was that I identified with. I should read it again…
1984 succeeded in making me totally paranoid, so I have to say that one had some sort of effect…
and of course, the QUEEN MOTHER OF ALL BOOKS TO EFFECT HUMAN BEINGS…
It’s not a book, it’s a short story and EVERYONE should read it. “The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Leguin (I think). I had to read it for an English class, and I thought about it for days. It’s along the same line as Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” which screwed me up for life after I read it in the 8th grade.
