Books that have real impact on readers

[jesika]

There are billions of well written books, nice, interesting stories that grab our attention but which ones have had real impact on us. Books that have changed our way of thinking, stories that have made us better people?

I know that a question like this looks pretty vague, so let me give an example.

When I was 15 years old I read "Catch 22". Since than there are countless moments in my life when I refer back to this book and think about the absurdities that I have encountered in it. That book made me accept the crazy world around me easily and with a wide grin on my face.

Tell me your Impact books?

[Dr. Z]

"Germinal" by Zola completely changed me.

 

I love revolutions. For an example when Mubarak was thrown off power in Egypt I nearly cried of joy.

 

In Germinal, not that I won't to sell you the ending, you see the downside of revolution, the misery it could sometimes bring. You can also see that people fighting against the revolution (the enemy, because you take part with the revolutionists) are people too instead of evil foes without a face.

 

In other words, this book opened my eyes on the whole "power to people" thing.

Revolutions aren't cool and it has to take it stand only when it's necessary. Then again, who can say when it's necessary ?

 

Starting this might be changing things for the good or the bad but whatever way it's gonna turn, a human is going to get hurt.

[Talisman]

I have lots of impact books - probably more non fiction than fiction, because knowledge is to me at least, power. Some books by authors such as Neale Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle and of course A Course in Miracles to those who are familiar with them, need no further explanation. The first spiritual book that I read was Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers and that certainly changed a lot of things for me. It led to me to do some evening classes exploring similar concepts and those classes in turn led me to Coran, who became my life partner and best friend. I also of course made many more friends - most importantly with myself.

 

Perhaps the most important impact book of all though would be the one that I wrote myself. I could not though have done it without the myriad of other books that I read and utilised as research material - too numerous to mention here, and all very different in terms of subject matterand the way in which they influenced my own writing.

[Echo]

"Germinal" by Zola completely changed me.

 

I love revolutions. For an example when Mubarak was thrown off power in Egypt I nearly cried of joy.

 

In Germinal, not that I won't to sell you the ending, you see the downside of revolution, the misery it could sometimes bring. You can also see that people fighting against the revolution (the enemy, because you take part with the revolutionists) are people too instead of evil foes without a face.

 

In other words, this book opened my eyes on the whole "power to people" thing.

Revolutions aren't cool and it has to take it stand only when it's necessary. Then again, who can say when it's necessary ?

 

Starting this might be changing things for the good or the bad but whatever way it's gonna turn, a human is going to get hurt.

 

Germinal is one that really impacted me. But I think it was And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts that really changed me as a person. It chronicles the early years of the AIDS epidemic. I first read it when I was 17 or 18, and it woke me up to the hipocrisy and willful inaction of our very uncaring system. After I read it (I've read it a few more times since then, and am currently re-reading it), I became much more aware of how society tends to ignore what it finds unpleasant and embarrassing, even if that ignorance leads to people suffering and even dying. I've since become more politically active and wish to work toward making people more aware of the suffering going on around them.

[paun]

number 1 book of impact all history forever is Bible of course but I also think some books like 1984 and animal farm are impact to me.

[Milo MInderbinder]

There are billions of well written books, nice, interesting stories that grab our attention but which ones have had real impact on us. Books that have changed our way of thinking, stories that have made us better people?

I know that a question like this looks pretty vague, so let me give an example.

When I was 15 years old I read "Catch 22". Since than there are countless moments in my life when I refer back to this book and think about the absurdities that I have encountered in it. That book made me accept the crazy world around me easily and with a wide grin on my face.

Tell me your Impact books?

 

 

Catch 22 had exactly the same effect on me J. Another great one for me is Post Office by Charles Bukowski. Similar slightly to C22 in the way it inspires you to question any person or structure of authority. It also inspired me to not settle for an awful job listening to awful bosses for the rest of my life.