Books That Influenced You

submitted by Edvin from self.books

What book or books stuck with you after you read them and influenced your life. For me there are quite a few books that really stuck with me and I never stopped thinking about. Ghost Writer by Phillip Roth is one of my all time favorite books. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian also never really left me. I also find myself often thinking about A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, 1984, Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I find these books were so influential on my life and so poignant. They really developed and shaped my love for reading. What is a book, or a list of books like me haha, that never really left you?

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[–]Dandelion 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Things Fall Apart: I found myself deeply connected to the story and the surrounding culture and felt the pain of it all when inevitably things changed. I'm not going to spoil the book and what did change, but it's one book that kind of sits in my mind and heart.

Walden: I know many have found this one to be a bit boring. It was the first time I had ever read a critique on my own culture and consumerism. I found it refreshing to see that it was ok to say no to the "way things are" so to speak. It gave me a sense of freedom that I could disagree with dominant values or narratives. I developed a sense of simplicity from this. Also my copy had his essay "Civil Disobedience" which gave me insight that one could pursue justice beyond what a government said was right or wrong. Again these themes might seem a bit common sense to an adult, but reading as a child it was mindblowing.

[–]Edvin[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I found Portrait of an Artist as a young man difficult to read through, it was slow paced, extremely wordy, but once I finished I couldn't stop thinking about it. It just really stuck with me. I definitely am going to have to add these to my to read list haha. Thanks for commenting :)

[–]Cass 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

There are so many. The little prince, SK's short story book The night shift, I liked Beowulf so much that I am seriously considering learning old english, SK's short story The jaunt, Adam Nevill's Lost girl, King Lear, The Old Testament. Now I am reading The Iliad and even though I am only 4 chapters in, I can already tell it will make the list.

[–]Edvin[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Thanks for the comment! Beowulf has always been super intriguing to me but also very intimidating haha. I know they have editions of other great poems like the Odyssey and Dante's inferno that offer a bit of explanation to the old English as you read, do you know if there is anything like that for Beowulf? I do want to try reading it someday but I think I might need a version like that haha.

[–]Cass 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Someone on reddit commented that Beowulf has a video game plot and I can tell you it's 100% true. I recommend Seamus Heaney's translation, you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaB0trCztM0

I first tried Tolkien's translation and found it unreadable, but listen to his Beowulf inspired song, the Lay of Beowulf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHeOOj3nB6c

[–]Edvin[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for the links, definitely will have to give them a listen when I get some time.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Leiningen Versus the Ants

https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lvta.html I always think of this one when the chaos is overwhelming and I feel like the entire world is against me. Just thinking about the story got me through some bad days in Iraq. It's kind of "you can quit when you're dead," the short story.

The Book of Five Rings

Even if you never pick up a weapon, these concepts can be applied to anything involving conflict. It's not a strategy guide like The Art of War, it's philosophy of the warrior mindset. Timeless advice incoming:

Think of that which is not evil. Train in the way. Take an interest in all the arts. Know the way of all professions. Know how to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of each thing. Learn to judge the quality of each thing. Perceive and understand that which is not visible from the outside. Be attentive even to minimal things. Do not perform useless acts.

Reflections of a Warrior

Written by a Medal of Honor special forces soldier after Vietnam. This passage from near the end hits me every time, really sums up what it's like to try to transition back into civilian life:

Frustration reigned supreme. I felt like I'd been put on a leash. The Army had taken a high performance engine and drastically untuned it. Not only had my activities been >severely curtailed, but the special status I once enjoyed quickly evaporated. I was no longer that unique individual who did the dangerous job >most others were reluctant to do. Since cunning, sharpshooting, and bravery were not required in my new environment, I had nothing to set >me apart from the crowd. I quickly found that the Medal of Honor was more a novelty than anything else to most noncombat soldiers, and >really had no place in a peacetime army. My extensive combat skills and ass-kicking abilities were no longer needed, appreciated, or even >wanted. I ceased being unique. I became just a face in a sea of green, separated from the spotlight. That was perhaps the hardest >adjustment I had to make - adapting to the role of Mr. Average Guy. It was a maddening nightmare for me.

Revolt Against the Modern World

Found it in a book collection I bought from an estate. It was about the same time that I was developing my own magic system, so it blew my mind. I incorporated some its ideas into my own system.

Initiation Into Hermetics

Same as above. Best occult book out there, hands down. Most occult books are theory, this is practical application.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

This damn book will give you PTSD, lol

Martin the Warrior

Kids book from way back. Fairly well describes the tragedies that make 'lone warrior' types of people. In war you never truly win, it will always take something precious from you, and you will never be the person you were before the fighting began. I read it so long ago, but I still empathize with Martin. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, heavier yet is the hand that holds the sword.

[–]Edvin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Alright I'm gonna have to go ahead and add all of these to my must read list haha, your description of these books makes them sound incredible. I think you would really enjoy The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian. It's a very poignant book about the Vietnam war and follows the theme of how war always strips you of something. One of the parts that really stuck with me is a section where a guy is talking about exaggerating a story not to make it dramatic but to capture the feel of the moment. How a few guys firing at your cover can feel like a monsoon of gun fire. Thanks for the recommendations!

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I will look that up, thanks. I was thinking of getting Tribe by Ernst Junger next. I'll add it to the order.

not to make it dramatic but to capture the feel of the moment. How a few guys firing at your cover can feel like a monsoon of gun fire.

Sound's a lot like For Whom the Bell Tolls. That near to the end scene where a unit is getting bombed by aircraft... you can really feel the impending doom, it's like reading with a gun to your head. I love books that can elicit that powerful an emotion.

[–]Edvin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

The power emotions can have on how we perceive reality can be frightening sometimes. When books are able to not only convey what is happening but get across the raw emotion too, that always makes for an incredible book.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I couldn't have said it better.

I'm not a huge fan of his, but you may enjoy The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King. Not a quote from the book, but after I read it I thought "the world has teeth, and it wants to eat you". It's a very gripping story.

[–]Edvin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

King has always been very hit and miss for me but I'll check it out

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, same here. I haven't really read much of his stuff, just that one and Dreamweaver.

[–]horatioherbert 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky. This man can write.

[–]quickbeam 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Still haven't read that, though I've read Crime and Punishment, Notes From The Underground, The Double and for some reason have gotten halfway through The Idiot twice. Always to about the same place too...

[–]horatioherbert 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I tried reading The Idiot and did not finish either. Notes from the Underground is great but Crime and Punishment is beyond remarkable

[–]quickbeam 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

1984, Alice in Wonderland, The Tempest, basically everything by Edith Wharton and Jane Austen, Anais Nin. Non-fiction wise, when I was a kid a lot of books about the Holocaust, esp. Night, then later Animal Liberation, The Ethical Slut, How to Be An Anti-Racist, The Fire Next Time, Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl (the last few are from the last few years when I made it my business to improve my education on black life in America) I read a lot so this list is pretty incomplete. But these books I'd say shaped my worldview.

[–]Eternal_solitude 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

For me, especially as someone who likes to write, animorphs and battle Royale are definitely up there. While I loved animorphs for the sci fi and the animals and the action scenes, I grew to appreciate the darker aspects that I had missed when I first read the series.

The same can be said for battle Royale, although it's how the characters behaved that helped influence how I write my own characters to an extent m also it made me love third person as my preferred POV.

There's more but I'm trying to watch TV too haha

[–]latuspod 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

For me there's Lord of the Rings first and foremost, it's been one of my favourite books since I was a teen and I re read them every couple years, every time is a different experience. The Odyssey as well as the Iliad, I've read both a handful of times. The most influential books currently right now is Epictetus' Discourses, Fragments, and Handbook, it lives on my desk and I open and read a section nearly every day. Jonathan Haidt's Righteous Mind has definitely been the most influential in the way I think about others and politics, it's a book i think everyone should read