Which books most shaped how you see things?

Which books most shaped how you see things? (Full Version)

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amoryblane -> Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:24:42 PM)
I know that many will immediately answer something like "None, only experience shapes how you see the world." That's one view. But for some of us nerdy nerd nerds, there are books (or maybe movies or even records) that really have changed or shaped how we see things. For me, I think the short list is: Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams This Side of Paradise by Fitzgerald Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche Coldness and Cruelty by Deleuze. I guess I'd probably throw in the one volume version of The Golden Bough and/or Burroughs's Naked Lunch, both of which sort of drove home a similar point in my head, though only one of which (the latter) also got me insanely aroused with some of its grotesque, violent, surrealist imagery.

littlewonder -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:35:52 PM)
To be honest..the bible, Baghavad Gita, Upanishads, all the writings of Shakespeare, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

amoryblane -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:41:25 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: littlewonder To be honest..the bible, Baghavad Gita, Upanishads, all the writings of Shakespeare, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Thoreau's Civil Disobedience I've heard very bright people argue pretty persuasively that the Bible and Shakespeare probably had more to do with the way everybody thinks, what it even means to consider oneself "conscious" in the modern sense of the world, than any other nameable influences. Richard III and Timon of Athens always really did it for me. Re: The Gita, there are a couple of aphorisms that I always try to keep in mind. Especially from the section early on when Krishna in disguise is explaining to Arjuna the differences between his actions and the fruits derived from those actions. He said something like "To your actions alone you're entitled but not to the fruits." I'm butchering it a bit, but it's a very helpful section for me to keep in mind to counteract my monstrous sense of entitlement.

xBullx -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:44:12 PM)
Most all publications by Marvel...

DemonKia -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:45:47 PM)
FR I'm a book-fetishist; they are sacred objects of which I own too many. Some of the big life-changers have been: non-fiction Post-Porn Modernist, by Annie Sprinkle; Emotional Life Of Nations, by Lloyd DeMause; Killing Hope, by William Blum; Anal Pleasure & Health, by Jack Morin; How The Mind Works, by Steven Pinker; Hubble, by Robin Kerrod; Exhibitionism For The Shy, by Carol Queen; fiction Titan (trilogy), by John Varley; The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester; Voyage From Yesteryear, James P. Hogan; Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein I love books, can never have enough . . .

Owner59 -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:45:55 PM)
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin 1st book I read through and got.

amoryblane -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:50:44 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: xBullx Most all publications by Marvel... lol. Spiderman was always kind of a personal hero. I liked how he was a sassy slacker.

xBullx -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 6:51:40 PM)
-winks-

marie2 -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:07:07 PM)
Giant Steps---Anthony Robbins. Monsters and Magical Sticks---Stephen Heller Influence: The Psychology of Pursuasion---Michael Cialdini The Secret--Rhonda Byrne.

Crush -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:16:23 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: xBullx Most all publications by Marvel... Amen on those! Playboy too... And the Boy Scout Handbook DOH!

kittinSol -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:25:16 PM)
The first couple of titles that come to mind are The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould and The Second Sex ("On ne naît pas femme: on le devient.") by Simone de Beauvoir. They were very much part of my formative years. There are many more, but these two titles sprang from my memory like a 'Jack in a box'.

TheHeretic -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:29:35 PM)
1984 Animal Farm The Gulag Archipeligo Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Principia Discordia Dune

kittinSol -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:42:24 PM)
Surprisingly orthodox reading list there, Heretic.

TheHeretic -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 7:50:49 PM)
I was one of the lucky 25. No specific title in particular, but anything and everything by Hunter S. Thompson needs to be on the list.

pissthirstysub -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 8:04:56 PM)
Sassy magazine VALIS by PK Dick Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Ain't I A Women by bell hooks and my mom's 73' version of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

slaveluci -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 8:08:50 PM)
So many but the ones that popped immediately to mind are: "Self Reliance" - Ralph Waldo Emerson "The Prophet" - Kahlil Gibran "Catcher In The Rye" - JD Salinger "Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck + scores more.................luci

SteelofUtah -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 8:18:25 PM)
The Art of War Ferenheit 451 The Mouse that Roared The Second Civil War To Reign In Hell

slvemike4u -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 8:34:02 PM)
To Kill a Mockingbird. There were others of course but this was the first and the most important.

SylvereApLeanan -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 9:14:37 PM)
The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe Shakespeare's plays The Sandman graphic novels (Vertigo comics) Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But were afraid to ask) ~ Dr. David Reuben Exile's Gate ~ C.J. Cherryh

OrionTheWolf -> RE: Which books most shaped how you see things? (4/29/2009 9:38:34 PM)
The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test

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