# What is the single most influential book you have read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759 "2016-09-24T20:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snorri\_Thorfinnsson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@Snorri\_Thorfinnsson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snorri_Thorfinnsson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/21 "2016-09-25T18:54:36Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > _Foucault’s Pendulum_, by Umberto Eco. Not the easiest thing to read, just from the sheer density of allusions and references; but his explanation of the human origin of archetypes, the psychology of conspiracy theorists, and the importance of skeptical thinking very much shaped my world view. > > My mom got that book for me when I was thirteen! It very much influenced my politics, in later years - made me distrusts conservatism and worship of the "good old days’. The strongest message (for me anyway) that I got was that despite temporary setbacks (which can be really severe) the human condition continually improves - however slowly. On a somewhat related note since it was also very influential for me - did you ever see the video series “The Ascent of Man” by Jacon Bronowski? Is was a really powerful series tracing the history of science, technology, art, philosophy and other associated things over the centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/22 "2016-09-25T21:52:13Z")
For many reasons, Toffler’s _Future Shock_. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/23 "2016-09-25T22:09:06Z")
Tale of Genji It may be the first novel. Certainly the plotting and pacing will be familiar to the modern reader, although the characterizations and culture will be unfamiliar. For the first time reader, I recommend the Waley translation. Almost all the characters are in some way ‘stuck’ in their life due to their status of birth, appearance, gender, or political position. Only a handful of people have the opportunity to change their life. Everyone else wait saround for something to happen. I can’t tell you how fascinating it all is. And it’s 1000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/24 "2016-09-25T22:41:59Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Tale of Genji > > It may be the first novel. Certainly the plotting and pacing will be familiar to the modern reader, although the characterizations and culture will be unfamiliar. For the first time reader, I recommend the Waley translation. > > Almost all the characters are in some way ‘stuck’ in their life due to their status of birth, appearance, gender, or political position. Only a handful of people have the opportunity to change their life. Everyone else wait saround for something to happen. I can’t tell you how fascinating it all is. And it’s 1000 years old. That does sound interesting, I’ll have a look to see if I can find it online, thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/25 "2016-09-26T03:00:25Z")
Oliver Sack’s book “[The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat)”. This book blew my mind when I read it years ago. It revealed how much of our ideas about how our brains actually work is an illusion. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/26 "2016-09-26T04:16:37Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Oliver Sack’s book “[The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat)”. This book blew my mind when I read it years ago. It revealed how much of our ideas about how our brains actually work is an illusion. This was also a huge influence on me, and the way I thought about brain function. It lead me to read all of his other works, as well as Luria, Ramachandran and others. It affected not only the way I thought about neuroscience, but also the way I taught my math students. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/27 "2016-09-26T06:44:15Z")
_How to Win Friends and Influence People_. As an Asperger’s sufferer a lot of human interaction was a complete mystery to me. This book changed my life for the better. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/28 "2016-09-26T07:09:00Z")
metrophage by Richard khardey (last name might be spelled wrong) 20 years ago he predicted everything that’s going on today and and the good days bou they were terrible…it shows that things are better now but a lot stays the same ---
**Author:** ![Bibs\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f0a364/32.png) [@Bibs\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibs_McGee)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/29 "2016-09-26T08:55:00Z")
_Lord of the Rings_ has always been a favorite of mine (the book more so than the movies, the latter of which were too violent and dark while the former was all poetic and noble as well as a damn good read). I read LotR every ten years or so. Runners-up include Stephen R. Donaldson’s great 10-book series, _The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_ and Stephen King’s _The Stand_. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/30 "2016-09-26T09:05:46Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > metrophage by Richard khardey (last name might be spelled wrong) 20 years ago he predicted everything that’s going on today and and the good days bou they were terrible…it shows that things are better now but a lot stays the same Richard Kadrey, probably best known for his terrific _Sandman Slim_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/31 "2016-09-26T09:52:11Z")
_The Fellowship of the Ring_ I would have said _The Hobbit_, but I didn’t read it, it was read to me and the rest of the sixth grade class I was in. Reading that book got me to reading other fantasy, and especially science fiction books. And this was the year ST-TOS debuted. I’ve been shaped by all the reading I did in the next couple of years, and ever since. And I met people, and went to cons, and have had a tremendous amount of fun. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/32 "2016-09-26T10:32:54Z")
“Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond. The ideas in that trickle down. On it’s surface, it’s about how civilizations rise and fall, but the underlying thesis is that all of mankind is the same; they are just adapting to their environment. It ended up coloring my thoughts about everything including illegal immigration, refugees, modern geo-politics, and even the Black Lives Matter movement. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/33 "2016-09-26T13:11:16Z")
The Bible, and on a related note, C.S. Lewis’ _Mere Christianity_. Also a fairly obscure sci-fi novel called _The Sun Destroyers_ by Ross Rocklynne, which taught me the nature of faith, although it’s not a Christian work specifically. Also, Ursula Le Guin’s _The Dispossessed_. Because of a passage in particular. The hero, Shevek, is describing one of his experiences where he saw someone terribly burned and dying in an airplane crash. Shevek cannot even touch the dying man to comfort him, because the skin flakes off and makes him scream. All Shevek can do is be with him as he dies. And one of the people hearing Shevek says, (quoted from memory) - > [@](#): > > “But Shevek, you are denying brotherhood!” > > “No, no I’m not. I am saying where brotherhood begins. It begins in shared pain.” > > “And where does it end?” > > “I don’t know. I don’t know yet.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/34 "2016-09-26T14:03:22Z")
_A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction_ by Alexander, Ishikawa & Silverstein Not just essential for how I look at the built environment & urbanism, but also how I look at life. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/35 "2016-09-26T14:12:50Z")
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. It definitely helped me understood how the divide arose between the baby worshippers like my mother and the strong, adult women of my grandmother and great aunts generation and what women need to do to fight for our rights as human beings not just mothers. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/36 "2016-09-26T14:22:56Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. It definitely helped me understood how the divide arose between the baby worshippers like my mother and the strong, adult women of my grandmother and great aunts generation and what women need to do to fight for our rights as human beings not just mothers. Because, of course, your grandmother etc. had far more rights, better regard from spouses and society, and unlimited access to birth control. Or maybe they were “strong” because they were going to stay home and pop out babies whether they liked it or not, and the “weak” all died in the process, and your mother had the _choice_ to be a “baby worshipper,” just as you have the _choice_ to opt out of Earth’s gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/37 "2016-09-26T14:34:51Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction_ by Alexander, Ishikawa & Silverstein > > Not just essential for how I look at the built environment & urbanism, but also how I look at life. I’d just like to point out that I am no longer the only person in this thread who cited Christopher Alexander. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/38 "2016-09-26T14:52:51Z")
Hmm, I wouldn’t have thought of Tolkien, but “The Fellowship of the Ring” is probably the most influential book I’ve read, too. My father read “The Hobbit” to me, and took me to a play of it. So I picked up “The Fellowship of the Ring”, and spent the next several months reading it. I was in second grade, and went from painfully sounding out words to reading fluently over the course of reading that book. I learned how sentences work, and how paragraphs are constructed. (Because I realized I didn’t want to put it down in the middle of a paragraph, an entity no one had explained to me prior to that.) I suppose I would eventually have learned how to read without that book, but it gets the credit. And few things have affected my life as much as knowing how to read. I read the “Lord of the Rings” cover to cover every year from then through graduating high school, so I’m sure it influenced me in other ways, too. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/39 "2016-09-26T15:00:18Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Because, of course, your grandmother etc. had far more rights, better regard from spouses and society, and unlimited access to birth control. > > Or maybe they were “strong” because they were going to stay home and pop out babies whether they liked it or not, and the “weak” all died in the process, and your mother had the _choice_ to be a “baby worshipper,” just as you have the _choice_ to opt out of Earth’s gene pool. The women of my grandmother’s generation were the ones that fought for those rights, better regard from spouses and society, and access to birth control (there is now nor has there even been unlimited access). Too many women in my mother’s generation were the ones that turned their back on all those gains to worship babies. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759/40 "2016-09-26T15:14:39Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > The women of my grandmother’s generation were the ones that fought for those rights, better regard from spouses and society, and access to birth control (there is now nor has there even been unlimited access). None of whom were in any majority. > [@](#): > > Too many women in my mother’s generation were the ones that turned their back on all those gains to worship babies. Yours may be the most fascinating and twisted form of self-loathing I’ve ever encountered. Seriously. You also seem to have completely misunderstood 1929-1950 as a time of cultural shift. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-you-have-read/766759.md?page=3)