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Most influential book you ever read?

I would have to say that the books which have most influenced and produced a lasting effect in my life, would be the following:

1. The Bible--absolutely life changing for me. Gives me faith, hope and Love.

2. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Stories, by E.A. Poe.--This book made me realise my ignorance of the world, when I was a younger lad, as I didn't understand the references Poe used concerning various things, or his vocabulary. It, therefore, inspired in me a voracious appetite to learn as much about history, culture and literature as I could. I can trace my desire to learn as much as I can to my reading of that book.

3. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis--this book created in me a deep desire to express my thoughts in an intelligent and well thought-out manner. I love Lewis' writing style, and the "voice" he uses in this work. Almost everything I write emulates his style some small bit. (If anyone has noticed, I usually tend to avoid contractions.):D

4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie---yeah, I know its fiction, but the incomparably brilliant ending caused me to begin to think outside the box! No one is un-suspectable (is that a word?:p ), and I must always pay attention to details.
 
David Mitchell's use of separate naratives to tell one giant story
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I'd have to say that I enjoyed "the journey" of Ghostwritten more than the "destination". I felt that the ending fell a little flat.
 
Killer: A Journal of Murder... the autobiography of serial killer Carl Panzram. I think I can trace my interest in criminal profiling to this book because it wasn't long after I read it that I started pouring over FBI cases with leading profilers. I found it rather a fascinating read and many observations still seem to hold true in our modern society. It was such a lucky break to get my hands on a copy all those years ago... I wish I could read it again.
 
Try the library. I've found that the library will have a lot more out-of-print books more easily available than any book store.
 
lenny nero said:
[The Story of O by Pauline Reage. Introduced me to a whole other world of books besides Stephen King and Robert E. Howard, which was pretty much all I was reading in my early teen years, when I discovered this book.
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I've just come across a really interesting thread
comparing the book of Story of O with the film.

Jim
 
trainspotting made a big impression on me, i had a couple of friends who were on heroin still are, i was fasinated and shocked by their lifestyles and trainspotting just summed it up
 
lenny nero said:
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Scared the hell outta me as a teen and changed the way I look at a lot of things.
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Yeah, totally. I was working at a library and I had never heard of this book. It came through because someone requested it from another library on loan. The customer never picked it up, so I decided to borrow it. It looked cool. Cool? I wish. It was horrible and sickening, and so true. Bush should read it, and all his armchair soldiers, too.

For me, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was great. I read it several times so far, and each time it gets better. The most influential reading of it came during a particularly blurred brain time during university. It changed me from introspective to very introspective to say the least.
 
Morty said:
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevskiy. That book is such a masterpiece, and the three brothers each brilliantly represent different moral, philosophical and religious standpoints. It's touching, exciting, psychologically intriguing and philosophically unrivalled.

The speech in the end is something to keep in your mind as you walk through life.
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An excellent work, no doubt about it. Dostoyevesky hit a lot of differentstrains of thought as you pointed out. Great pick.
 
best book i ever read

Green angel-Alice Hoffman
(i wouldn't be who i am if i had never read that book)
Lolita-Vladimir Nabokov
Lady L-Romain Gary
White Oleander-Janet Fitch
Paint it Black-Janet Fitch
The Secret Garden-Frances Hodgson Burnett
Abarat-Clive Barker
I saved the Best for last if you haven't read this book i strongly suggest you do it is absolutely wonderful my all time favorite
Madeleine is sleeping-Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum

always,Clementine
 
The book that saved my sanity and helped me through some very hard times. Return to love by Marianne Williamson

smile
opalescent
 
The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield. I can't really explain why it's influenced me, it's just one of those books that gets you thinking. I HIGHTLY reccommend it to everyone.
 
HOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY















Bible.
 
Black Order by James Rollins really made me think of Creation vs Evolution and how the two theories may very well coincide. It also got me entranced with quantum physics.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire made me see that those who may appear evil may not necessarily have evil intentions and that they have feelings also. It made me respect those around me that may be perceived as odd or disfunctional because they are different from the societal norm.
 
Summer of '75 sitting bored at a friends house found a paperback under her bed.
Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes
I"ve haven't been the same since.
This book opened the doors to worlds I did not know existed.
 
Most influential book I ever read had to be The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It really made me think about destiny and fate, and about how I can percieve my dreams.
If you haven't read it, I suggest that you do, it is a wonderful peice of literature.
 
Out of the many books that I have read the one that is most influential to me would be Living Green by Greg Horn. I'm not sure that I can really count that, it wasn't really a novel. I learned many useful things from it and it convinced me to eat as organic as possible.

My most influential novels that I've read change all the time. Currently, for me, it is 'Simple As Snow.' I just finished reading it and it was an amazing read. The only thing is it is directed more towards young adults, which is what I am so I really liked it a lot. :)
 
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