Camus – The Outsider
Life has no meaning so why not just be content? Being pissy just makes you miserable.

I dunno if any book has changed my life, as such.

A few have influenced me though:

Rosemary Sutcliff The Eagle of the Ninth – perhaps my favourite ‘childhood’ book. Probably responsible for me eventually becoming an archaeologist.

William Wordsworth The Two-Part Prelude – ok, it’s not a book. I spent most of my childhood running around the woods with my dog, and this pretty much described how I felt.

Henry Thoreau Walden – pretty dry in places, but a tonic all the same. He would have loved mountain biking – had Repack happened a bit earlier, The Maine Woods could have been written about lush singletrack…

Cormac McCarthy Suttree – an immensely consoling read about living at rock-bottom. It always cheers me up.

+1 Russell Hoban Riddley Walker – knocked me for six… “Stil I wunt have no other track.”

The way books have evolved from story telling and relating information by example and vocally into writing down words is inspiring in itself and that so many people are still inspired to regularly read books is really quite refreshing. In these days of electronic communication and perceived lack of time, long may people pick up books and assimilate them.

The whole ‘Roger the Red’ series of books.

I learnt to read with them. My life would’ve taken a very different path if that had never happened.

Susan Boyle – Exploited, moI? My life lessons made simple.
Katie Price – The Trilogy Part IV
Mario Balotelii – All for One

Plus

As a kid: Maurice Herzog (Annapurna), Gaston Rebuffat (100 finest climbs), Chris Bonnington (I chose to climb onwards),Timothy Gallway (The inner game of….)

As a student: Keynes (General Theory), Friedman (Free to choose), Nozick (Anarchy, State and Utopia), Marx (Das Kapital), Hayek (Road to Serfdom) – for making me think about Economics – Shefferin (Rational Expectations) for making me realise that lots of it is bllx originally in the 1980s and Keen (Debunking Economics) more recently!

Later: Naht Han – are there more similarities than differences in the world’s religions? Sandal (Justice) and Tyler (Secret Race) the whole sport is dirty?

Tony Buzan – Mind Maps, this helped me through my degree years and finally I figured out that I see stuff in pictures rather than typo.. A revelation to me that.

Tony Robbins – Unlimited Power, this came along in my early career and helped formulate a few tools I needed to take me forward. Some say his books and philosophies are just rehashes of techniques already available, well I didn’t know they were available at the time and this helped me now end, still does. I have seen him twice on tour seminars and he certainly commands an audience.

Bandler & Grindler – NLP, this followed on from Unlimited Power, well it was the 90’s and we were all doing it. Now all the techniques have been dissolved into normal working life, but at the time the techniques and philosophies were ground breaking. Show me a successful business man that hasn’t read either of these two.

Homers’ Odyssey.

Carl Sagan: The Demon-haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark

Far more subtle than dawkins god delusion, but the same effect (for me :).

edit : also John Diamond: C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too

I’ve never re-read Zen or the Grapes of Wrath because I don’t believe they could ever have the same effect second time around. I was 18 or 19 when I read them and nearly 30 years later I feel I don’t want to risk disappointment. Having read a lot more of Steinbeck since I know it’s a ridiculous thought but it’s there anyway.

I think people might be conflating two things here: favourite books are not generally the life changers – The Hobbit is one of my favourite books and I’ve read it many times since I was 13 or so
Still have it as a ‘comfort book’ for when times are depressing or I’m stressed

But did it or has it changed me? No – not sure how it can. Same with Gormenghast – a descriptive tour de force and a wonderful creative narrative means for many its one of the best books they have ever read….but how does it change your life?

“Bandler & Grindler – NLP, this followed on from Unlimited Power, well it was the 90’s and we were all doing it. Now all the techniques have been dissolved into normal working life, but at the time the techniques and philosophies were ground breaking. Show me a successful business man that hasn’t read either of these two.”

You are kidding right? NLP is hilarious at best and a nasty piece of work at worst

I think I’ll nominate The Starship and the Canoe as a book that fundementally changed my perception of life – you can read it at any age but its good if you do it early!

avdave2 – Zen and the Art stands up to repeated readings with just the same, if not more Impact. Have you read Lila too?

Each to their own winston 🙄

In these days of electronic communication and perceived lack of time, long may people pick up books and assimilate them.

yeah, I mostly use my Kindle these days 🙂

Nice try. Serviceable rod, wrong bait.

huh? Was a serious question. You post The God Delusion in a thread about books that changed your life… why would I have been baiting you??
Still, you don’t have to answer, I really couldn’t care less either way.

Hmm good thread this…

I don’t think any of these books particularly changed my life but they certainly made me think about the world in a different way

In no particular order:

1984 – George Orwell, I’ve read it a few times now and its frightening how close we are to the world described in the book. Its easy to imagine it coming true, that’s its power.

Catch 22 – Its just brilliant on so many levels, a parody of war, of capitalism, the pomposity of position and power. Its funny and at times shocking and sad – I need to read it again soon.

Moby Dick – “And he piled upon the whales white hump the sum of his whole races hatred and general rage from Adam down. If his chest had been a mortar he would have fired his heart’s hot shell upon it” Enough said. The fact I can remember passages of it – almost – verbatim says it all.

HHGTTG – On the surface its just really daft, ridiculous in fact, but also very funny. But underneath its really clever – the futility of Arthur Dent lying in front of a council bulldozer to stop his house getting demolished when the Earth is about to receive the same treatment. Its quintessential Britishness is an absolute joy as well.

Have you read Lila too?

Yes binners, also a long time ago now, I think the real reason I haven’t re read Zen is that I might look back at the younger me and think what a **** but you have persuaded me that I should re read it, so once I finish Cannery Row I’ll download it.

he he, funny thread. There’s a lot of people here who are either joking or very easily influenced. To Kill a mockingbird? A clockwork Orange? I mean they’re good books and I enjoyed them myself but they’re hardly life changing.

Why not? Some books have the ability to change how you see the world.

Surprised to see God Delusion though, I thought it was poorly considered and poorly written.

and a William Blake’s poetry

+ However many for The Secret (although written in an American erksome style)

+ However many Zinn and the art of (still my reference guide when I **** up my bike maintenance

The Dice Man – Luke Rheinhartt. Been times when I have been close to reverting to Dice Therapy 🙂

Roald Dahl – Boy.

Now I’m a father I can still recall the direct and honest way he explained the importance of love and reassurance above everything else. Particularly relevant as I went to boarding school and didn’t have a father at home

Loads of other amazing books but I can’t say they’ve changed my life, Hugh Fearnleys Meat book aside….

Almost every book has some effect, mostly its minor or insignificant but the following stand out to me as the most formative with GEB by far the most significant.

Goedel, Esher, Bach an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstatter.
Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Surely you’re joking, Mr Feynman by Richard Feynman
No Logo by Naomi Klein
Chaos by James Gleick