Dragonrock
Militant Elvisian Tacoist
Excuse me for posting a "me too", but Animal Farm is the book that taught me that mistrusting government is a good thing
Books that changed your life?
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Batman Jr.
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I'd have to say Animal Farm as well.
America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, the new book that was written by Jon Stewart and the rest of The Daily Show regulars, is a very artfully done satire on the pitiful state that our beloved democratic process is in in the US that also can be very insightful in regard to the horrible, trivia-ridden composition of the average educational text nowadays. I don't think it really caused a paradigm shift for me, because I had already shared most of the political sentiment of the writers of the book, but it's a very fun read rife with quirky jokes idiosyncratic to Comedy Central's one and only "fake-news" show (e.g. Before the country had a "moral compass," it had a "moral sextant"
).
America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, the new book that was written by Jon Stewart and the rest of The Daily Show regulars, is a very artfully done satire on the pitiful state that our beloved democratic process is in in the US that also can be very insightful in regard to the horrible, trivia-ridden composition of the average educational text nowadays. I don't think it really caused a paradigm shift for me, because I had already shared most of the political sentiment of the writers of the book, but it's a very fun read rife with quirky jokes idiosyncratic to Comedy Central's one and only "fake-news" show (e.g. Before the country had a "moral compass," it had a "moral sextant"
).I would say two books changed more than any others. Neither are that memorable but they were the first steps on long journeys. I do not even remember the title of one of them.
It was one of Robert Silverburg's science fiction books for teenagers. I don't remember much about the book but it hooked me on SF. The next few thousand books have changed me immeasurably.
The other one is the Panda's Thumb by Gould. It got me reading science and skeptical books and magazines. I had always been intested in science and moderately skeptical but they became a passion after reading Panda's Thumb.
If I wanted to name one thing individually changed my life I would have to read credit an article in Skeptical Inquirer about a speech by Richard Dawkins. Apparently he had given a speech ridiculing religion in front of CSICOP and was later told that CSICOP (and Skeptical Inquirer) do not practice skepticism on mainstream religions. Later Dawkins apologized and said something to the effect that he treats all superstitutions equally. This hit home and in one moment I went from being an agnostic to being an atheist.
The more I write the more ideas I have. Sorry but there is one more.
Descartes' Error by Atonio Damasio. In this books, he show how emotions are necessary for intelligent reason e.g. intelligent people with the emotional part of their brains destroyed can no longer make logical decisions. This has changed my view of the brain and learning. To greatly simplify, I consider the brain a pattern matching device which uses emotions to guide high level search patterns and logic for the low level searches.
CBL
It was one of Robert Silverburg's science fiction books for teenagers. I don't remember much about the book but it hooked me on SF. The next few thousand books have changed me immeasurably.
The other one is the Panda's Thumb by Gould. It got me reading science and skeptical books and magazines. I had always been intested in science and moderately skeptical but they became a passion after reading Panda's Thumb.
If I wanted to name one thing individually changed my life I would have to read credit an article in Skeptical Inquirer about a speech by Richard Dawkins. Apparently he had given a speech ridiculing religion in front of CSICOP and was later told that CSICOP (and Skeptical Inquirer) do not practice skepticism on mainstream religions. Later Dawkins apologized and said something to the effect that he treats all superstitutions equally. This hit home and in one moment I went from being an agnostic to being an atheist.
The more I write the more ideas I have. Sorry but there is one more.
Descartes' Error by Atonio Damasio. In this books, he show how emotions are necessary for intelligent reason e.g. intelligent people with the emotional part of their brains destroyed can no longer make logical decisions. This has changed my view of the brain and learning. To greatly simplify, I consider the brain a pattern matching device which uses emotions to guide high level search patterns and logic for the low level searches.
CBL
Garvarn
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For me, it was Hugo's The Man Who Laughs. Apart from shaking me up a bit, it sort of set the standard for me as far as fiction literature goes. Having read that, I never again opened a book about the everyday life of someone who could be my next-door neighbour.
Best regards,
Chateaubriand
Best regards,
Chateaubriand
LOTR (Bluegill, I can relate very well to that ;-), The Caves of Steel by Asimov (hooking me on SF) and - being a theologian - The babylonical captivity of the Church by Martin Luther and On Romans by Karl Barth. Hardly known in such a secular place, I gather 
jundar
jundar
Books I like ...
1. Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. By Reader's Digest.
My very first book I bought by saving my own pocket money.
2. Supernature. By Lyall Watson.
http://www.lyallwatson.com/Watson text html /SUPERNA.HTML
etc. etc.
"What the book does accomplish is a redefinition of the frontier. Instead of the old borders, there is a kind of demilitarized zone into which scientists and occultists may go without clubbing each other into insensibility." - LOS ANGELES TIMES
3. Graphology. by Barbara Hill.
4. THE NATURE OF THINGS, The Strange Behaviour of Inanimate Objects (1990). By Lyall Watson.
5. Dark Nature. A Natural History of Evil. By Lyall Watson.
6. The Selfish Gene. by Richard Dawkins.
7. Biomimicry : Innovation Inspired by Nature
by Janine M. Benyus
8. The Design of Everyday Things.
by Donald A. Norman .
9. The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings
By J RR Tolkien
Read the books after seeing the show.
1. Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. By Reader's Digest.
My very first book I bought by saving my own pocket money.
2. Supernature. By Lyall Watson.
http://www.lyallwatson.com/Watson text html /SUPERNA.HTML
etc. etc.
"What the book does accomplish is a redefinition of the frontier. Instead of the old borders, there is a kind of demilitarized zone into which scientists and occultists may go without clubbing each other into insensibility." - LOS ANGELES TIMES
3. Graphology. by Barbara Hill.
4. THE NATURE OF THINGS, The Strange Behaviour of Inanimate Objects (1990). By Lyall Watson.
5. Dark Nature. A Natural History of Evil. By Lyall Watson.
6. The Selfish Gene. by Richard Dawkins.
7. Biomimicry : Innovation Inspired by Nature
by Janine M. Benyus
8. The Design of Everyday Things.
by Donald A. Norman .
9. The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings
By J RR Tolkien
Read the books after seeing the show.
Some great choices here. I loved Catch 22 to the max HGC, but not sure I can rate it as life changing. For me, one, maybe two books rise to that level.
Ducking for cover, the book that impacted me like no other was Carlos Catstaneda's Journey to Ixtlan, last 2 chapters in particular. Some profound stuff in there.
When I was a tyke there was my illustrated Story of Roland, which depicted, for me, a large mysterious world begging for exploration.
Ducking for cover, the book that impacted me like no other was Carlos Catstaneda's Journey to Ixtlan, last 2 chapters in particular. Some profound stuff in there.
When I was a tyke there was my illustrated Story of Roland, which depicted, for me, a large mysterious world begging for exploration.
Hmmm tough question.
I see a lot of my favorite books listed in this thread (including virtually anything by Vonnegut -- my favorite would have to be the short story collection "Welcome to the Monkey House").
But life changing?
I'd have to list a couple things I ran into in elementary school: A book called "Clear Thinking" which introduced me to the whole idea of critical thinking, and the books that made me lifelong SF fan: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engel, several juveniles by Heinlein ("Space Cadet", "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Orphans of the Sky") and "The City and the Stars" by Arthur Clarke, which made me a lifelong Clarke fan.
I discovered Asimov shortly after that, probably starting with "I, Robot", and of course the Foundation series, but my favorites have to be the books with R. Daneel Olivaw. The scene ("Caves of Steel") where the human detective is mortified when R. Daneel tries to talk to him in the men's room gave me a lifelong fascination for these kind of little cultural quirks. I think it started me realizing, for the first time, that I lived in a "culture" myself that might need some explaining to foreigners. Up to that point, I thought of "a culture" as something that only foreigners had.
I see a lot of my favorite books listed in this thread (including virtually anything by Vonnegut -- my favorite would have to be the short story collection "Welcome to the Monkey House").
But life changing?
I'd have to list a couple things I ran into in elementary school: A book called "Clear Thinking" which introduced me to the whole idea of critical thinking, and the books that made me lifelong SF fan: "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engel, several juveniles by Heinlein ("Space Cadet", "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Orphans of the Sky") and "The City and the Stars" by Arthur Clarke, which made me a lifelong Clarke fan.
I discovered Asimov shortly after that, probably starting with "I, Robot", and of course the Foundation series, but my favorites have to be the books with R. Daneel Olivaw. The scene ("Caves of Steel") where the human detective is mortified when R. Daneel tries to talk to him in the men's room gave me a lifelong fascination for these kind of little cultural quirks. I think it started me realizing, for the first time, that I lived in a "culture" myself that might need some explaining to foreigners. Up to that point, I thought of "a culture" as something that only foreigners had.
Chaos
Penultimate Amazing
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rppa
In "Caves of Steel" I found the scene where Bailey´s wife finds out (or is told - I read it long ago) that Daneel is a robot much more important. She finds out that guy is a robot - and then she is revolted by being (or having been?) near him. Not because he is different, but because she knows he is different.
In retrospect, that was what made clear to me that we don´t fear (or hate) different people, but those we know are different - and, that was the next step for me, also people that aren´t different at all, or at least not that different, but who we believe are different.
In "Caves of Steel" I found the scene where Bailey´s wife finds out (or is told - I read it long ago) that Daneel is a robot much more important. She finds out that guy is a robot - and then she is revolted by being (or having been?) near him. Not because he is different, but because she knows he is different.
In retrospect, that was what made clear to me that we don´t fear (or hate) different people, but those we know are different - and, that was the next step for me, also people that aren´t different at all, or at least not that different, but who we believe are different.
Sorry for being unoriginal but I also consider "Animal Farm" as one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. The Foundation and Robot series were also very good. At the risk of being considered not quite as intellectual as some of you I'm also a big Steven King fan and would consider his short stories as some of my favorites (especially the one about the 2nd grade teacher that goes psycho). I'm a pretty big fan of anything that doesn't have a happy ending.
How could I forget "Winning Low Limit Hold'Em"? First decent poker book I read. A must for all you guys/gals going to the Stardust for TAM3. They have a very good Low Limit Poker room BTW.
How could I forget "Winning Low Limit Hold'Em"? First decent poker book I read. A must for all you guys/gals going to the Stardust for TAM3. They have a very good Low Limit Poker room BTW.
John Bentley
Critical Thinker
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Sagan and Druyan's "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors". I almost wish I had never read it. Ever since then, I cannot enjoy a lot of activities without somewhere in my mind seeing the parallels in primate behavior. It really threw a wet blanket on a lot of stuff I used to consider fun.
CptColumbo
Just One More Question
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. One of the greatest books I've ever read, but hated to actually read.
CptColumbo
Just One More Question
aargh57 said:
Dude, I'm reading Salem's Lot for the fifth time, and plan to read Dead Zone again when I'm done.