Thread: life altering books...

Originally Posted by SteMcGrath

You should read some Herman Hesse. He writes very deeply about spirituality in an indirect way. Steppenwolf - Must read!

Seriously, Steppenwolf is the only book by Hesse I couldn't stand at all. I'd rather recommend The Glass Bead Game (probably the only novel he wrote for adults) and Narzissus and Goldmund. I like Hesse, although I can understand why he is so often considered adolescent literature.

By Peter Lemesurier.

The most amazing book I ever read, non-fiction. Mathematics is a common language understood by all languages, if complex mathematical know-how was incorporated into the architecture of a building thousands of years later people of different languages would be dumb-struck by the messages being passed from one era to this later one.
Did you know the Great Pyramid of Gizah has a side base length of 365.242? The precise amount of days found in the solar year. Representations of Pi are also found all over the internal architecture of this mathematical marvel of a building, but Pi wasn't supposed to have been discovered till thousands of years later. It is also lined up perfectly with the true magnetic north. The hardest stone known to man cut perfectly, which by today's stone cutting hand tools could not be done.
The Great Pyramid of Gizah is a mathematical message for humanity, the oldest pyramid in Africa so all the rest were copies of it, and the only pyramid that appears not to have been completed. No mummified remains were ever found in this pyramid, and with its two sister pyramids the three line up perfectly with a particular set of 3 stars.
It is a mathematical marvel and the architect was a mathematical genius, surpassed only by the men who built it to perfection down to thousands of a millimetre, which could not be done in outside atmosphere with the heat of the day and cold of the night expanding and contracting the stones used. By today's technologies humanity would struggle to build an identical copy of it.
NASA have studied this pyramid! And Peter Lemesurier studied languages and linguistics at Cambridge, so he knows what he is talking about.
The future and the past can be read from the architecture of this marvel of a building.

I recently read John Krakauer's 'Into the Wild', and can safely say that was a life changing story. It really made me think about what's important in life and what I want from it.

Malazan: Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson

First large series I've read in a long time and I find myself applying a lot of the culture and ideas to my life, mainly altered ideas of the books perspective on gods and the Deck of Dragons.

All Quiet on the Western Front was the first book the really struck me deeply and gave me an appreciation for literature.

Heart of Darkess because of its depth and it taught me to read between the lines and find what the author is really saying.

Horesman Pass By by Larry McMurtry for anyone living in Texas. It captures the dilemma of living in modern Texas.

The Women's Room by Marilyn French.
I avoided so many of life's traps by being pre-warned by this book.

The Privilege of Youth by Dave Pelzer. I don't particularly gravitate towards publications of this kind, yet this was the first autobiography that I had ever ready, and I enjoyed it from cover to cover. The story is told of Dave as a young boy, abused by his mother and being tossed through a revolving door of foster families. Dave dropped out of school to become a car salesmen, trying to save enough money to make it on his own in the world, a choice he would later regret. The book is one that tells a tale of abuse, sadness, rejection, wonder and misery, but also of hope, of determination and of acceptance. It is a sad book, but also positive and happy in a way. Personally, I highly recommend it. It is a great read for anyone that can relate, or not.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Not exactly an easy read for compassionate people, but one look at the state of third world countries receiving foreign aid, and you have to admit that he's on to something here.

For me it has to be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was the first book I ever read just because I wanted to. I'd seen the first 2 HP movies so I decided to read book 3, when I noticed reading can be even more fun that watching a movie it changed my life.

Cut by Patricia McCormick. The book itself isn't amazing, but it made me aware of a world I didn't know existed while being part of it.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This one isn't so much a life changer, but an eye opener. I didn't know the English language could be as exquisite as Nabokov's prose. He said Lolita was the product of "his love affair with the English language". I believe him.

Originally Posted by Lorlie

I know I have said this one before,. BUT
The lovely Bones,. By Alice Sebold.
It made me less afraid of death, and made me think of those I have lost in a different way,.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom made me feel the same way. It gave me a completely new perspective.

Can't tell you why exactly, but I felt something change right after finishing Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Escape from Davao-John D. Lukacs might also qualify as life-changing.

This is probably already on here somewhere, but I loved "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. It's a YA novel that takes place in the dystopian city of Chicago and even though I'm twenty years older than the characters themselves, I couldn't put it down! It was very different from the typical YA fantasy novels I'd read before. Interesting story idea, characters and plot. Good read!

I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves.
A lame fool may not be as foolish as you think.

Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

I was going through a really difficult time in college, and when I got to Ivan's big speech rejecting the theodicy that somehow good and evil balance in the end, like light and dark in a work of art, I felt like someone was explaining better than I ever could what seemed so wrong with life and yet the world was not shattered. The story continued, and even though it was fiction, Alyosha's faith and perseverance in the face of human treachery and unnecessary cruelty helped me to start sleeping at night. I've been okay ever since...so thanks, Dostoevsky.

Volume III of The Encyclopedia Brittanica, it fell on my great aunt's head and killed her...