Book concepts that follow you forever?

[namedujour]

I was just thinking about Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. In the book, Vonnegut invents a religion and defines it. Part of the religion involves the "karass," which is a group of two or more people who are assigned to one another for the purpose of performing some sort of life task. Oftentimes these people never meet, and have no idea they belong to the same karass, or that they are unconsciously and unknowingly assisting one another in achieving a unified goal.

A "false karass" is an artificial group whose members believe they are unified and of one mind, when in fact they are not. An example of a false karass is a political party, a religion, a race or nationality, or a club. Vonnegut demonstrated the false karass with a character from Indiana who felt as if everyone from Indiana was part of her "group."

So it's a cute fake religion and a good book, but oddly for the rest of my life I've been watching people and thinking, "false karass." I know one woman who's very fervently proud of her nationality, and thinks everyone of the same nationality is somehow "with" her, whereas people of other nationalities are not. Aha! I thought to myself. False karass! And this is years and years after I read Cat's Cradle.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar? I know all good literature is supposed to permanently change you and the way you think, but I'm curious about other people's specific examples.

 

[StillILearn]

(Makes's me want to read Vonnegut again -- it's been a while...)




Jane Roberts's "Oversoul 7" books do that for me, and on a daily basis.

 

[novella]

Off the bat, I would say Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban demonstrates how language morphs to suit the times. Snatches of the invented language in that book (morphed from British English post-nuclear holocaust) stick with me, as does the overall notion of flexibility, loss of meaning, and how new meanings cathect in older words.

 

[bookclubnazi]

"oryx and crake" has really stuck with me. i read it just before all the kidnappings in iraq (no wmd's, grumble grumble), and the interent-wide video of hostages/threats/beheadings seems lifted right from the novel. there are several other things from the book that, for me, also reasonate really strongly in society right now, like corporate "cities", gmo's, net porn, etc. unfortunately, it happens to be an apocalyptic novel that has stuck with me, although i would generally consider myself an optimistic person! and i definitely will be re-reading the novel soon.

i'm sure i'll think of other books that have remained in my brain the longer i think about the idea.

 

[RitalinKid]

The Third Chimpanzee and Guns, Germs, and Steel, both by Jared Diamond and both nonfiction, have forever changed my view of our species. Both have helped me identify human nature and how it manifests itself in everyday life, and I have also let go of the idea that people aren't comparable to other species. That last one has been kind of rough because only one person I know shares that idea. I just keep my mouth shut a lot of times when I want to interject my ideas into a conversation because I don't feel like fending off an entire room of people.

 

[namedujour]

Off the bat, I would say Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban demonstrates how language morphs to suit the times. Snatches of the invented language in that book (morphed from British English post-nuclear holocaust) stick with me, as does the overall notion of flexibility, loss of meaning, and how new meanings cathect in older words.

Does anyone start to use the word "grok" ("Stranger in a Strange Land") and then catch yourself? It always makes me laugh when someone else slips and says it. It's such a perfect word - a subtlety of meaning that goes beyond "understand."

Though I guess the Brits have it made with "suss" - a word most Americans don't know the meaning of so it's virtually useless in the States. In fact, I only know about it because I used to date an Englishman. I've always envied him that word... (He taught me "bollocks" as well.)

 

[Martin]

Such good books mentioned in this thread - Cat's cradle, Oryx and Crake, Stranger From a Strange Land.

Sorry to go off-topic for a bit, but Novella, could you tell me more about that book you mentioned, it sounds very interesting (PM me, or something, so as to preventmuddling this thread).

I'd be much obliged.

Cheers