Agreed whole-heartedly. American Gods is one of my favourite books - probably my favourite, most days - and still leaves me wide-eyed in awe by the last page. Every time, without fail. The Lord of the Rings is a work of...well, if nothing else, absolutely insane dedication. Even if I didn't love the story so much and didn't care so much about some of the characters (okay, two) and think the whole thing a sheer masterpiece of epic fantasy story-telling...the amount of love and effort Mr. Tolkien stuffed into that beast and its siblings is unbelievable. One book to have an enormous effect on my thinking (and provide lots of semi-obscure allusions, especially concerning the company my mum's chain of beauty schools merged with...hahaha) was 1984 by George Orwell. Very powerful stuff. I read it in 10th grade (I was bored with what my own English class was doing so I peeked into the 12th grade honours cirriculum and did all their stuff instead ) and I was absolutely floored. The concept of "NewSpeak" especially got me for some reason. I still find the idea of the degression of language disturbing. Oh my, I'm certain there are more...I'll think of them, fear not.
One Hundred Years of Solitude; Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A lot of my friends complain that it is slow and too confusing to track with, but everything (everything!) makes sense in the end, and it comes together beautifully. Les Miserables; Victor Hugo. Don't get me started. Written on the Body and The Passion; Jeanette Winterson. In both books she writes raw truth about love and is not at all cliche. The Passionis also an interesting example of magical realism. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; James Joyce. For one thing, it's very accessible for all of us noble folk who don't want to read Ulysses; also a beautiful, relate-able book about struggling against religion. Henry and June;Anais Nin. The best "sexual awakening" book I've ever read. Her style is visceral and graceful at the same time.
'House of Leaves' - Mark Z. Danielewski. Out of all the books I've read this one changed my view of things the most. 'Baltimore, Or the Steadfast Tin soldier and the Vampire' - Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous, and the story is one of the best I have ever read. 'The Book Thief' - Markus Zusak. One of the first books to actually make me weep. And last but not least, 'Falling Up' by Shel Silverstein. If you've read it than you know why it's on my list
Personally, Catch-22 by Josef Heller. I laughed out loud at several instances during the book, something which I have never found in a WWII novel. He found a way of putting a darkly humourous twist on such a serious topic.
1984 seems to have been mentioned by everyone, so I don't need to go into reasons why as it would bore everyone silly. Dune was a book that, once I'd read it a few times, went from being OK to being one of the greatest things I've ever read. The sentence structure is hardly accessible, but the depth of it really does blow my mind. The Farseer Trilogy is about the only set of books ever to give me an inferiority complex. So beautifully woven, with a poignant humanity unlike any I have ever read. It's brilliant.
"Speaker for the Dead" - Orson Scott Card "I Am Legend" - Richard Matheson "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - Philip K. Dick "Fahrenheit 451" - Ray Bradbury "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - Lewis Caroll "1984" and "Animal Farm" - George Orwell As for fantasy I haven't been overly impressed by anything so far, but I am planning to pick up the Dark Elf trilogy from the Forgotten Realms series as I've heard good things. Also, it's kind of embarassing for me to think about now but I used to be really fond of "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.
Well, here's my list. All these books/writers changed the way I looked at the world, read other books, and wrote (well, when I used to "really" write): --Ray Bradbury: Anything written by him. I would kill to have a sliver of his talent. My favorite is The Halloween Tree. --Philip K Dick: Now Wait for Last Year is still my favorite from him. I really love the gritty sort of perspective he gives his books. For some reason, after I read some of his books, my own characterization became just a wee bit stronger. --Kurt Vonnegut: I've only read The Sirens of Titan and Bluebeard, but you can bet I'll be reading more. --Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I can't explain it. --Edgar Allan Poe: When I was much, much younger, every story, poem, or article I wrote was sunshine and happy-birds. After reading Poe, I learned not only that art isn't always happy, I learned that even darkness could have a . . . pull of its own. --Douglas Adams: (I keep wanting to write "Adam Sandler"). Anything he wrote. Anything even mildly humorous from me is because of him. --Terry Goodkind: For better or for worse. I hate his books now, but when I read them in the eighth grade, he blew my mind. I had no idea anyone could write that kind of stuff, or write books as long as he did! Now I want to read some Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick, and Kurt Vonnegut.
Redwall series, absolutely love them, always my favorites... ...There was one that completely washed out everything else that I placed above the Redawll books ( :O ), but I can't beleive I can't remeber the title...*ashamed*...
A summer to die really changed the way I look at things today. It makes me appreciate everyday I have just being here, and being with the ones I love.
1984 by George Orwell (his style and perspective/situation) The Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (her ability to write out of order, and seems like a timeline after reading the whole story; fate + a time traveler) The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Is amazing because it is all true. Everything that is quoted is what they actually said, but it sounds like a novel, not a history textbook. Also opened my eyes to the mentality of cereal killers. Is eerie, suspenseful, and complete nonfiction.) How to Read Liturature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (Is humorous and eye opening to the world stories, which all derive from, and are part of "one story".)
Dune, the entire series actually. It has to be the best mix of religion, politics, morals, and flat our story telling ever written.
Too many to count. Anything by (in no particular order): Camus, Orwell, Huxley, Dahl, Lewis Carroll, and Bukowski All have collectively shaped my views on life. That life is absurd, most metaphysical and philosophical questions (ie, "what is the meaning life?") are extremly beyond our grasp and there really isn't much you can do about it. No matter how hard you try you'll end up like Winston Smith, tortured into loving what you hate or like the Savage in Brave New World at the end of a rope. The only plausible thing to do is to find your own way to deal with it and survive day to day life.
The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan The Sword of Truth - Terry Goodking Chronicles of the Necromancer - Gail Z. Martin The Inheritance Cycle- Christopher Paolini The Banned and Banished & The Godslayer Chronicles - James Clemens All of Raymond E. Feist's Books. And ahellofalot more
I guess my first one would be Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coello. For that time in my life, it seriously got to me. Very awesome book.
A short story By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benét is a first person narrative that helped open my eyes to the fact that we are all looking at the world through our own eyes based on what we know to be true and what the people of the world know to be true based on science, religion, etc., but my individual point of view is not always accurate even if the whole world agrees that it is. Looking to history and the beliefs of past societies, we can see some things that frankly seem ridiculous to us now. How much more will the people of the future think the same thing about our generation?
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas. Gonzo journalism stole me. On the road. Tuesdays with Morrie. Flowers for..
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown was amazing. I couldn't keep myself away from it, and the climax was fantastic.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. No other book has had a larger influence on me. Some have come close, though.
I must say that Watchmen by Alan Moore seemed absolutely perfect. It made me think about the world so much, and at the end, my mind was really blown! I just sat there gaping!