Who said anything about heterosexual? Just kidding, but yes, that was indeed the conversation that sparked this.Goldbling said:
Strange books that have influenced you
- Thread starter lostclause
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Its much more serious since it surrounds a murder but it's still very funny and well worth a read, if you can find it that is.StevieWonderMk2 said:
"This Book Will Change Your Life" by...some random dude.
But it's a quirky little thing that runs my life now.
But it's a quirky little thing that runs my life now.
OK, here's the list with reasons;lostclause said:
Catch-22: obvious, new perspective on war
1984: obvious
Brave New World: fairly obvious, read it around the same time I read 1984
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series: helped shape my humour and my geekiness
Discworld series: refinements in my worldview
Lord of the Rings trilogy: fairly obvious
Wheel of Time series (reading now): new perspective on the traditional "good" and "evil" dichotomy
Various textbooks for my studies (Een geschiedenis van Rusland. Van Rurik tot Poetin, Classical Mythology, A Short History of the Middle Ages): got me fascinated with certain subjects I didn't know were fascinating/deepened my knowledge of subjects I felt a connection with
1491: new perspective on the colonisation of the Americas
John Brunner's novels (incl. The Sheep Look Up, Stand on Zanzibar): if you don't know, you haven't read them. Go read them. Seriously.
Ender's Game - Speaker for the Dead: hard to put into words, shed new light on good vs. evil
Guns, Germs and Steel: entirely new perspective on the state of the world as it is right now
The Last Question (short story by Asimov, now there's perspective for you): perspective
This is absolutely true. When I was given it as a jokey birthday present, all my friends were surprised when I told them I'd been planning how to get / make weapons just in case.Cpt_Oblivious said:
I also looked round my college and realised we are totally unprepared for the undead! Sheer panic set in - what if they arrived during the day??? Etc etc...
I'm going to have to say Speaker for the Dead, and Brave New World. I saw myself in a number of different characters in Brave New World, a lot of traits and mannerisms which seemed oddly specific to find in a book. One of these characters was Bernard Marx, and the parallels I drew... Well, I tried to change how I behaved and thought. Another one was a particular line about John the Savage which really hit me:
"He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of."
And uh, Speaker for the Dead gave me a new appreciation of the people I 'know' and love, or 'know' and hate. And one line from Speaker for the Dead was quite touching:
"Sometime or other everybody wishes everybody would go away. Sometimes I'll wish you would go away. What I'm telling you now is that even at those times, even if I tell you to go away, you don't have to go away."
Aah, I'm a sap.
"He was obscurely terrified lest she should cease to be something he could feel himself unworthy of."
And uh, Speaker for the Dead gave me a new appreciation of the people I 'know' and love, or 'know' and hate. And one line from Speaker for the Dead was quite touching:
"Sometime or other everybody wishes everybody would go away. Sometimes I'll wish you would go away. What I'm telling you now is that even at those times, even if I tell you to go away, you don't have to go away."
Aah, I'm a sap.
Gates of fire
Lone survivor
Crime and punishment
Confronting fear..A history of terrorism
All great books.
Lone survivor
Crime and punishment
Confronting fear..A history of terrorism
All great books.