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+1 for Cannery Row... flippin inspirational..
I don't think books have shaped me in any way, but books that i was blown away by would be:
Trainspotting - still the most incredible piece of writing I've ever read.
less than zero
the wasp factory
Another day in Paradise - story about a young robber who befriends an older robber. don't know why I love this book so much, its nothing special, but I read and re-read it again and again
hmmm, people form their values from all sorts of influences.. and I just don't think books have been as big a part of that as other aspects of my life - life experiences, people, places I have been to etc.
I do wonder if I have misunderstood the question:
Perhaps subconsciously all the books I read build up to a drip-drip effect and manage to penetrate my thick skull, but I cannot remember one piece of fiction that has such an effect as to 'blow me away' or significantly reassess my view of the world. - I think that it is incredibly rare to suddenly just change values etc. through one event.
Equally it might just be because I'm very young and haven't had the pleasure of coming across a book (though I have read a number of those already mentioned) that will change my thoughts forever 🙂
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas
Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance
The Electric Koll Aid acid test
On the Road
Junkie
Chariot of the gods
1984
Its not about the bike
The Bridge
Weaveworld
Ringworld
For me, possibly the earlier works of Stephen King. I learned a lot in those pages I reckon.
I can think of many books I have enjoyed reading (and even re-read over and over again - To Kill a Mockingbird, A Clockwork Orange, Bonfire of the Vanities), but I wouldn't say any of them have made me who I am today or even had any influence whatsoever on my personality.
Magazines have probably had more of an impact on my life than books because if I'd never discovered Official BMX, BMX Action Bike, BMX Action or BMX Plus, I would probably never have gotten so into bikes.
If books have had any influence on who I am, it's my voracious diet of science fiction, which has led to my fascination with science, technology and gadget type stuff of all types. Started reading at an early age, encouraged by parents who, while never having much money, never stinted on buying what books they could afford, like children's encyclopaedia, books on natural history, nature and pre-history, feeding an inquiring mind, which lead to reading any stories with a science slant. Magazines like Look and Learn added to it as well. Sadly, my inadequate grasp of maths meant I never got to be involved in any scientific pursuit, but I still have a layman's deep interest in anything with an 'ology' tacked on the end.
ooh weaveworld gonna dig them out again
The Tunnel.
The Fall.
[i]d you ever read a fantasy writer stephen donaldson[/i]
Not yet but I'll give him a try, thanks.
Some remarkably well read posters in their youth here. Really, when I was younger all I wanted to do was burn the world and shag like a rabbit. Reading something that is normally reserved for A level literature exams and then stating that it had a marked effect on my life must have passed me by. It's not a bad thing to have wanted to look at big tits and read about boyhood fantasies you know. It's what young men do.
samuri if you fancy reading it mail me (email in profile) ill stick it in the post to you.
1984, How win friends.., Irrationality The Enemy Within, I Robot / other Asimov, The Naked Ape.
Did an audio version of To Kill a Mocking bird recently, but it just read like a soap to me. What exactly did people get out of it to warrant mentioning it?
On a rather prosaic note, total immersion, the swimming book had a big effect on my life. Taught me to swim well enough that I'm happy to swim miles down white water rivers, and across big alpine lakes. I've got more from that than I'd ever get from 100 anything is possible / do what the hell you want, philosophy fiction novels.
I thought Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a load of cod philosophical platitudes, absolute bollocks. If you want interesting philosophy, read some introduction to philosophy, not some bollocks thing by some boring hippy. There's that kids philosophy story book, can't remember the name, a million times more deep, even if it doesn't have the cool hippy cachet. Oh, or if you want something that is quite simple, and in the same vein as the motorcycle book, but absolutly fascinating, read "flow, the psychology of optimum experience", not fiction, but a really good read, even if you take it with a pinch of salt.
On a similar note, I also didn't think the Matrix was 'deep man', it was the same old rehashed rubbish maybe it is all a dream crap that kids use in school creative writing assignments to get out of writing an ending.
I thought brave new world and 1984 were okay, although I get annoyed when people say 'oooh 1984 has come true' - cos it really hasn't, go back and read the bloody book again.
Oh, lord of the bloody rings - how the hell can that influence anyone's life? Did you have an epiphany and decide to go travelling in warzones with a bunch of midges, whilst taking a diary in the worst, most lumpen writing style ever, interspersed with songs that are wincingly bad even to read, let alone hear some sicko try to sing?
Hmm, that all looked a bit grumpy, am up looking after kid, so have a right to be grumpy, sorry if i insulted anyone.
Joe
[i]PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story[/i] is the main reason I became a chemist. Read it during my second year of Architecture and jacked it in just so I could start all over again.
'The Denial of Death' by Ernst Becker
Meaning of life type book thats actually very good IMO
Three books that shaped my childhood...
[i]The Owl Service[/i] Alan Garner
[i]The Eagle of the Ninth[/i] Rosemary Sutcliff
[i]The Prelude[/i] William Wordsworth (ok, not a book as such, but a massive influence)
In later life...
[i]Walden[/i] Henry David Thoreau
[i]Suttree[/i] Cormac McCarthy
[i]Desert Solitaire[/i] Edward Abbey
"To Kill a Mocking bird recently, but it just read like a soap to me. What exactly did people get out of it to warrant mentioning it?"
A fair question - here's my take. Reading it as a child, I empathised strongly with the children as it is kinda written from their PoV. The paternal Atticus is in a unique position in the community and he uses it to take big risks to do what's right. It has strong themes of courage, weak vs strong, justice and injustice, and of course racism. If I ever had any innate inclination to racism, it was expunged by reading this book.
I was quite affected by zen and lila. The roadtrip is a simple and effective metaphor for life. I think it was the empathy I felt with the transformation of his mind as he struggled to make sense of these feelings and ideas. The sense that he was teetering on madness at all times is one I share quite a bit. The philosophy aspect of the books were also thought provoking - I think lila is stronger in this aspect.
Lord of the rings is the book I have read the most - 16 times as a yoof. It's very easy to be critical of it's technical style and subject. But that really is missing the point. It powerfully activates the imagination. It's a dauntingly large volume yet hugely popular for a reason.
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
A Separate Reality
Journey to Ixtlan
Made me detest Carlos Castaneda's books - didn't even finish the first one I thought it was so dire (even though I bought the boxed set for £1.25 in a charity shop - now I think I know why they were there!). Did I miss anything?
Patrick Leigh Fermor's books make me want to be better educated, brighter, smarter, a better linguist, better travelled, better connected and just better. Too late, I fear.
Books that made me think, rather than escape from reality
The Selfish Gene
The Naked Ape
It's an interesting idea to me that books have not shaped a person, since I suppose literature is a means of exploring what it is to be a person. Science etc has held little to no interest to me throughout my life past 5 years old when I though being an inventor would be cool so the arts, and literature in particular, have been the primary influence on, not making my ideas for me, but rather informing the ideas I began to develop through all the usual channels.
With that load of old guff said I suppose:
Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky - Belief is possible within a intelligent construct
The Grapes of wrath - Steinbeck - for the simply mind blowing presentation of humanity weakness
The Catcher in the Rye - Salinger - I was 17, enough said...
The Heart of Darkness - Conrad - It's unflinching look at what humans are
The Naked Lunch - Burroughs - It frightened me and made me feel very grown up understanding that if I can think it someone's probably doing it...
There's loads more but I can't be bothered listing them. The poetry of William Carlos Williams is special too though.
Richard's Bicycle Book - Richard Ballantine
[i]A joyful piece of propaganda for the bicycle[/i]
In Praise of Idleness - Bertrand Russell
[i]An argument for working less and living more[/i]
'Population, Resources, Environment' (Paul Ehrlich) and 'Silent Spring' (Rachel Carson), both read in my late teens - two seminal books on our ability to affect our environment, and which shaped what I did at university and subsequent working life.
Ehrlich and Carson are up there with James Lovelock as heroes of mine - likewise Douglas Adams, whose humorous [s]but[/s] [b]and[/b] very knowledgeable approach to science showed how to get a message across so that more people could get it. I mean, the Babel Fish as proof of the non-existence of God? Pure class. Not sure my RE teacher appreciated me writing it out in full on the cover of my RE book though... 👿
I'm glad a couple of people have mentioned the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was beginning to think I was too low-brow for this conversation. (-:
I read H2G2 at school under duress of 'you must all read a book out of this box' in English lessons. It clicked with my sense of humour and made me realise that it wasn't just me, there were other people out there with the same oddball take on things.
It was years later before I really worked out what I was, but that was the catalyst I think.