What books have made an impact in your life?

IvaBigWun · 23-01-2014 08:26PM #1

I'll start with what was, I think, the first novel I read: Roald Dahl's "The BFG"

He was such an amazing storyteller that his books should be made compulsory reading for primary school pupils from 4th year on. The BFG would make me seek out more of Dahl's work and onto the road of similar imaginative fiction.

“We is in Dream Country,' the BFG said. 'This is where all dreams is beginning!”

What books have made an impact in your life, childhood or otherwise?

Wibbs · 23-01-2014 08:27PM

The dictionary.

Duff · 23-01-2014 08:28PM

Ispini agus Subh.

NegativeCreep · 23-01-2014 08:28PM

How to lose friends and alienate people.

wp_rathead · 23-01-2014 08:29PM

Loved "Matilda" - Roald Dahl really was a genius..

Also the Harry Potter books!!
..but like only for Emma Watson...

Phill Ewinn · 23-01-2014 08:30PM

"Soundings" got a good few wallops with that

Hootanany · 23-01-2014 08:30PM

World War Z I'm ready for them.

Wibbs · 23-01-2014 08:30PM

TBH I'm a right oddball in that I have read very very few fiction books in my life. 5 tops. As a kid I read encyclopedias and factual stuff. Fiction never revved my engine. So encyclopedias, specifically the kids Encyclopedia Britannica that I read from A to Z. ten books IIRC? So that one made the most impact, cos it was a launchpad to other areas of interest.

Ruu · 23-01-2014 08:31PM

'Where's Spot' gives me great enjoyment, I have even memorised the animals hiding behind the flaps.

Scuid Mhór · 23-01-2014 08:33PM

The Catcher In The Rye & Fahrenheit 451 both spoke to me very recently.

thee glitz · 23-01-2014 08:34PM

Wibbs wrote: »

TBH I'm a right oddball in that I have read very very few fiction books in my life. 5 tops.

Same as. George Orwell's great though.

Aidric · 23-01-2014 08:35PM

'Impact in your life' is a big statement. I have been a big reader from an early age and have read many great books since then, both fiction and non fiction.

I will always turn to Charles Bukowski when I need cheering up but no other author has come close to speaking to me than Haruki Murakami. 'Kafka on The Shore' was the first of his books that I read and instantly I was hooked in to his world. His brilliantly descriptive prose brings the reader right on to the page. I have swallowed up most of his books at this stage and next turn to the imposing 1Q84.

I will always recommend him to people when to ask for a recommendation.

crazygeryy · 23-01-2014 08:37PM

Dicktionary

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0762439335

Maximus Alexander · 23-01-2014 08:37PM

Not one mention of the holy bible so far. It's a disgrace Joe.

Elessar · 23-01-2014 08:38PM

I don't have time to be reading books. Must be over 10 years since I read one.

Knex* · 23-01-2014 08:39PM

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Not one mention of the holy bible so far. It's a disgrace Joe.

The bible has had a big enough impact on some of my friends and family.

Actually preventing rights, such as marriage, is going to be pretty hard for the likes of JK Rowling and Harry Potter to beat.

Mint Aero · 23-01-2014 08:39PM

Wibbs wrote: »

TBH I'm a right oddball in that I have read very very few fiction books in my life. 5 tops. As a kid I read encyclopedias and factual stuff. Fiction never revved my engine. So encyclopedias, specifically the kids Encyclopedia Britannica that I read from A to Z. ten books IIRC? So that one made the most impact, cos it was a launchpad to other areas of interest.

Did you have the art bate out of ya as a young lad?

stefan idiot jones · 23-01-2014 08:40PM

Allen Carr - Easy Way To Control Alcohol. Lifesaver.

Wilbur Smith - Warlock. Just emphasised my love for ancient Egypt.

Antony Beevor - Stalingrad. Put a lot of things into perspective when you realise what the innocent people of Europe had to endure because if the pesky Germans.

beano345 · 23-01-2014 08:40PM

"The alchemist"
"The manipulated man"
"1984"

Teyla Emmagan · 23-01-2014 08:41PM

'Lord of the flies' and '1984'. Both prepared me for my current working environment.

IvaBigWun · 23-01-2014 08:43PM

beano345 wrote: »

"The alchemist"

Ive seen this on a good few "Books You Must Read" lists and yet the Wikipedia description doesnt really do anything for me:

The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.

Artful_Badger · 23-01-2014 08:43PM

The Hobbit. There was a snippet in one of my primary school English books and I was enthralled by it. In secondary school while being forced to pick a novel to read and report on I found it in the pile and from start to finish I was glued to it.

Up to that point books were just more school work and something I avoided but it all changed after reading The Hobbit and I've loved reading ever since. Had I not been captured by that masterful tale back then I doubt I'd have developed such an interest in literature.

Wibbs · 23-01-2014 08:44PM

Mint Aero wrote: »

Did you have the art bate out of ya as a young lad?

Heart or art?

Nah, just never gelled with literary fiction(loved the visual arts from a very early age). From "once upon a time" fairy tales onwards. Much rather the film of the book. Don't dig theatre either. Again give me the flic. However on films based on real events give me the history/biography book every time.

Knasher · 23-01-2014 08:44PM

1984 probably. It's a bit of a hipster answer, but I honestly can't think of a single other book that I dwell on more.

I can also say what the most influential page in a book is; the conversation between Death and Susan towards the end of Hogfather.

Andy-Pandy · 23-01-2014 08:46PM

Dune by Frank Herbert.

It was the first book that really blew my mind and has developed a lifetime love of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. It was the book that made me a reader. It was the first time I got totally lost in a universe and could read while not trying to take in the information, it almost flowed into my brain in picture form.

23-01-2014 08:46PM

When I was little it was The Velveteen Rabbit.

A gentle story of a toy rabbit who becomes real after a fairy saves him from being burned. I was consumed by the notion of my toys becoming real for a long time, it was a fuel for my imagination that I've never forgotten.

Overall it was an old Readers Digest Atlas that has had the most influence over me. I used to spend hours poring over it, and would look up (or try to, since many place and country names had changed since it was printed) any place I was curious about, and often led to more reading. I still have that Atlas, I just wish I hadn't scribbled on it quite so much.

IvaBigWun · 23-01-2014 08:47PM

Elessar wrote: »

I don't have time to be reading books. Must be over 10 years since I read one.

Do you have time for TV? If so just drop an hour of that a week. Your imagination will thank you

beano345 · 23-01-2014 08:48PM

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Ive seen this on a good few "Books You Must Read" lists and yet the Wikipedia description doesnt really do anything for me:

Its fairly short,I suppose everyone takes their own meaning away from it.

23-01-2014 08:48PM

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Ive seen this on a good few "Books You Must Read" lists and yet the Wikipedia description doesnt really do anything for me:

I know a lot of people love that book, but it was one of those things that made me want a refund on the hours of my life I'd spent ploughing through it.

Amazingfun · 23-01-2014 08:48PM

This book impacted me greatly, truly shocking stuff:

Hellstorm: The Death Of Nazi Germany, 1944-194

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellstorm-Death-Nazi-Germany-1944-1947/dp/097138522X

biko · 23-01-2014 08:50PM

Is this another "recommend me a book" thread that didn't find its way to the Literature forum?

But on topic, Mythago Wood.

What books have made an impact in your life?

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