Which books made you who you are and helped form your ideas and ideals?
Not so much which books you enjoyed the most.
My reasoning behind the thread was a struggle to understand where some people were coming from and how they arrived at their way of thinking.
I know books aren't the be-all-and-end-all, but they represent an accessible slice of the influences on a person.
For me, especially in my formative years, I read mainly a lot of trash/reading for fun, and, in bulk, it will have definitely have made an impression - Enid Blyton, Terry Pratchett, Alan Garner, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Jack Higgins, Douglas Adams, John Grisham, Len Deighton, Robert Ludlum, Lee Child, Raymond Chandler, John Wyndham, Asimov, Banks, - all must have played a part.
In terms of the individual books that most made me think, and possibly most nudged my thinking, I'd say these might make the top list:-
It feels like a difficult thought exercise. I guess 2 that spring to mind are I, Lucifer, and Good Omens. The Hitman Diaries is another one in a similar vein. Not really negative though, - more subversive, yet still highly moral.
It begs another question - Are there any truly poisonous books? Or books that you feel caused harm?
Not so much which books you enjoyed the most.
My reasoning behind the thread was a struggle to understand where some people were coming from and how they arrived at their way of thinking.
I know books aren't the be-all-and-end-all, but they represent an accessible slice of the influences on a person.
For me, especially in my formative years, I read mainly a lot of trash/reading for fun, and, in bulk, it will have definitely have made an impression - Enid Blyton, Terry Pratchett, Alan Garner, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Jack Higgins, Douglas Adams, John Grisham, Len Deighton, Robert Ludlum, Lee Child, Raymond Chandler, John Wyndham, Asimov, Banks, - all must have played a part.
In terms of the individual books that most made me think, and possibly most nudged my thinking, I'd say these might make the top list:-
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Catcher in the Rye
- Of Mice and Men
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
- Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
It feels like a difficult thought exercise. I guess 2 that spring to mind are I, Lucifer, and Good Omens. The Hitman Diaries is another one in a similar vein. Not really negative though, - more subversive, yet still highly moral.
It begs another question - Are there any truly poisonous books? Or books that you feel caused harm?