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Books That Changed Your Life

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George Orwell's 1984 was HUGE for me. Winston's story is an incredible one, and only the genius of Orwell could put something so mindblowing together in a single comprehensive novel. The biggest thing that book taught me was that you should never be afraid to question. We live in a scary world, there's not doubt about it, and the only way to make sense of it is to be inquisitive, and not swallow up what's thrown out at you. I read Animal Farm in 6th grade. Unfortunately, I was FAR too young to grasp any of the underlying concepts. Maybe I should pick it up again...hehe

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caveman... nice to see someone so like-minded in this forum! where do I start.. I have no idea where to start. There are way too many books that have changed my life before I even knew they were changing my life- that sounds silly but I'm referring to days like 5th-6th grade, and the like... so many books are amazing that it's an obsession of mine as a writer, and for anyone who even rarely reads (you would think I spend all my time reading loving it so much and yet how sometimes I don't even get to it except for school) but loves reading... books can definately change your life. look at me- looking at schools for creative writing majors when I would of never even of thought myself good at writing save essays and the like freshman year... but books? Well, over the summer I read House of Leaves, as did actually a bunch of incredibly talented book-literate theatre kids I know... It can be one amazingly confusing book at times, but never in a frustrating way- only confusing in the ideas swirling in your head... no one has any idea what I'm talking about, just because when you try and summarize the magnitude of House of Leaves it's almost.... you really are lost in where even to start to even give a halfway accurate picture of the book. It is one amazing book- I could name other books that I keep by my side as picturesque momentos of thoughts of members of the real world as abstract as it is, but it could take me forever- even a partial list... spans hundreds of authors. but I do have my favorites, like anyone. you see, it's not so much House of Leaves changes your train of thinking- or possibly it does- theatre kids like myself live in a world sometimes so amazingly... upfront? (not even the world for it, though, unfortunately to truly generalize it) to simply keep from being pretensious that possibly we can't be completely changed by something when you are always changing but... it's like seeing the span of your life spread out so evenly and chaoticly, extremely researched and footnoted and yet in reality, utterly made up, and yet how in reality it is a novel by a guy with no relation to you, and the story has absolutely no relation to you, and yet... House of Leaves swallows you up, and eats you alive... now that, that is what gives me inspiration and a will to live in life... and the want to be a writer and to be around other writers, theatre kids and like minded... anyone...

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'lord of the rings' changed my life, and made me really appreciate tolkien and all his works. even though the fellowship of the ring was a *little* slow to start off, the pace gradually began to pick up.

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Actually... Inuyasha really changed me cause that's when I saw great manga was and I changed from a normal person to some anime freak that now has nothing better to do than own an Inuyasha guild on neopets...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lol :rolleyes: never seen someone's live turn around after watching a tv show. but, it's a good show. i like animi, who dosen't. i watch animi snice i was born bcuz i was born at asia S. Korea. get back to the point, ur the 1st person i heard of that have life changing turn around from TV in 30min. To bad it isn't the same way for everyone. it will b kind of funny

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Well, I would have to say the Bible. It not only has changed my life but it continues to offer good wisdom about how to be a better Christian. And lately I've been reading books about Jesus and his personality...how he handled events, relationships, his role, etc. I just finished a book titled The Traveler's Gift, Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews. Andrews has the main character go back in time and talks to famous figures like Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, and so on who impart one of the seven principles of success. If you think that you can't change the world this book will convince you otherwise. Anyway, I really enjoyed it.

 

...on to my next book,

 

Ciao,

 

A librarian's worst nightmare :rolleyes:

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Harry Potter. It hasn't changed my way of thinking, but my life would be vastly different if I had never read them. It led to certain choices and discoveries that have changed my life for better and worse. (Chaos theory) It's only directly influenced one big choice in real life, and joining parts of the fandom online. But both of those have branched out with far-reaching consequences. I don't know whether or not I believe in fate/destiny. But major parts of the last three years, and the rest, of my life might not have been.

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the catcher in the rye. I read it when I was 17 and a bit angsty. As with everyone, I was drawn to the character of Holden Caulfield and found myself to be relating with him. It was exactly what i needed at that time since I was feeling confused about some things then. In deference to what Holden always says, it kills me!

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It's been a while since the last post here, but I'm going to post anyway, this is question after my heart...

 

Someone (I think it was Caveman) mentioned Orwell earlier, and I thoroughly agree. 1984 was probably one of the most powerful political satires (or black-humor-book as they call it) I've ever read. I recently re-read Animal Farm for the third time, and it's also a book I like very much, especially the way the pigs keep modifying the commandments (e.g. 'No animall will kill another' --> 'No animall will kill another without a reason'!!).

 

I'm not sure about life-changing, but a book that did influence me rather deeply was Sophie's World. Then there's Kafka's Metamorphosis and Sartre'sNo Exit; The Stranger by Camus, all of them were... to put it briefly - influential.

 

Looking forward to more on this -- I'd be curious :P

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The Bible ...it inspired me all my life, made me laugh cry, given me inspiration a sense of justice and morality. Showed me how we are all human and flawed.

 

To Kill A Mockingbird I fell in love with the character Scout , daughter of a lawyer defending a black man who was being tried for the raped of a young women in the American South.

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff , taught me not to let little things bother me. Stop worrying and start enjoying life.

Runaway Diary Of A Street Kid. It was very sad. A story about an Asian girl who was pressured so much that she ran away from home and became a prostitute and drug addict . It was very dark, and gritty.

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Books that changed my life...I've read many books in my life (my mother calculates I must have read about 1000) and all of them have meant something to me. However, if you asked me to choose, I'd have to say Harry Potter. I first read the Harry Potter books when I was 14 years old. I had read about them in a book guide before but I had felt it was no big deal - just because it was popular, that didn't mean I'd like it. I finally borrowed it from a friend, who said it was really good. I borrowed it but I was reading other stuff at the time, so I just let the book sit on my desk for days. When I finally finished all the books I had, I picked up the book, started to read, and was hooked instantly. So many things about Harry's life paralleled my own - even the way Harry thought. The books were funny, entertaining, magical, intriguing, mysterious and had so many lessons and parallels with real life.Reading the Harry Potter books helped me get through my miserable school days in my awful secondary school days. While Harry escaped to Hogwarts, I escaped with him. I got to experience a bit of the England that I was missing (since I'm now living in Asia). And when the movie and the toys came out, I liked them, so I thought I'd collect them. It soon progressed into a full-blown obsession, and now I have a HUGE collection of all things Harry Potter, worth probably about $1500 :P So yay Harry Potter! 36 days till Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is released! :D

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