/lit/ - Literature

-Who moved my cheese?
but i was nine

I'm unsure about a book being able to change my life. Most of the things I believe or stand up for have little to do with what I read, but I'd say Carl Sagan's books really molded the way I used to think when I was a teenager. Some books like A Sportsman's Sketches make me use less technology on my daily basis and enjoy nature, but I'll probably never implement that into my life anyway.

>>15769036
Youth in Revolt probably was one of my biggest inspirations for doing dumb shit and making non-traditional life choices. I had this book with me where ever I was car camping, hitchhiking, couch surfing, and fucking up my future. I eventually lost it somewhere along the way. Now I'm the type of guy who gets too into Harrasment Architecture and goes to trade school as the male equivalent as the "used up slut goes to nursing school."
I'm not gonna make it, but I hope you do, bros.

>>15769036
Clarice Lispector drastically changed my view on women, on people too. Probably for the better, but I'm not sure. Particularly her short stories.

Nietzsche's beyond good and evil was the hardest philosophy pill to swallow.

I haven't really finished those two, but the evil I felt on "The temple of golden pavilion" and "The wuthering heights" definitely messed with how I see people.

I don't know, anon. There are too many different books that changed me dramatically. I'm definitely being unfair citing those. There are some poets too, Drummond, Pessoa, Blake, Gonçalves Dias. I'm particularly fond of these, but I don't think I read a lot of poetry.

>>15769036
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

probably Childhood's End because it started my habit of reading often. That has been a part of my life for a long time now so I think it qualifies as changing my life. As for worldview changing, i'm too cautious to be swayed by any one author.

>>15769036
honestly i feel like i'd have to be retarded normalfag for a book to change my life. all the stuff i care about is shit that's been in my heart since i was a kid, so anything that goes along with that is gonna reinforce my beliefs or i'm just gonna ignore it.

>>15769036
The Culture of Critique. All of what my teachers in college had been saying to me suddenly made sense. I understood, once I had the missing pieces provided by this book, exactly what had been going on throughout my life. Really opened my eyes, I buy copies for people all the time.

None. Books are auxiliary to changes in my life, but not causes for them.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, that 2nd chapter is so interesting.

>>15769036

Brother's Karamazaov legitimately changed my life more so than anything i experienced in medical school or even close family members dying etc,

>>15769298
One of the best scifi books ever.

Corncob McCarthy really changed my views on a lot of things.

>>15769036
A book by an anonymous person but this and his other works helped me to start changing shit "Demystifying the Mystical: Exposing the Myths of the Mystical and the Supernatural by Providing Solutions to the Spirit Path and Human Evolution"

>>15769171
how old are you anon

the sun also rises maybe? my family are a group of hemingway admirers and i remember my dad mentioning him when i was a kid. saw the book on the counter and put it down when i was done. the whole just hemingway frame of thought got me. it was like rekindling something in my soul. i know you guys think its midwit reading and i agree but hemingway is such a part of my personality that this book just connected all the dots.

The Soulforge

>>15769641
Would you gift a copy for me?

Jean Marie Guyau - Attempt at an ethics without obligation or sanction

>>15769036
Friedrich Nietzsche: "Thus Spake Zarathustra"
Borges: "In Praise of Darkness"

Macario was the first "serious" novel that I had read as a child, something close to my 10 years, it was the first time that I really felt the misery of a character in the sense that I believed it, I remember it because my others Children's books always had a moral at the end of the story, and this was the first time I had to think about how I felt about the story's unfolding.
my favorite part is when death asks him why he agreed to share his turkey with him but refused to share it with satan and jesus

>>15769036
For real.

>>15769641
You also want to read Libido Dominandi, which is even more relevant to our age.

Unironically Machiavelli in Discourses on Livy
He made me realise that I used to value virtue and honour more than what could be said as being practical and grounded in reality. It meant that people just saw and treated me like a doorstop or took my forgiveness/tolerance for granted.
I feel people misunderstand Machiavelli, he tells you to betray absolutely no one, and have no enemies if you can help it. But that's not realistic and there will be people will a vested interest to yours or who sees you as a threat, and he teaches you through many, many historical examples, on how to deal with these types of people.

>>15769641
Never heard of this. Who is the author/what is it about?

>>15769036
The Bible

>>15771437
The heart of it is that the Jewish people are a group and that influential individuals within that group will act in the interest of the Jewish people, and that this interest has often been to the detriment of outside groups. Some of the historical examples include Jewish radicals from eastern Europe coming to the west and promoting communism because the Jews made part of the Russian government and he also talks about how in psychoanalysis people like Freud and Adorno would pathologize healthy behaviors in gentiles while sometimes strongly supporting or ignoring the same behavior in Jews. Another big part is how the Jews in the west would support open immigration as a strategy for fighting antisemitism.

I don't think the book would be controversial at all if it was about any other group.

>>15769054
same

>>15771437
Also worth mentioning that the ame author has alread published two pther books on the jewish people. Unlike his third he has been highly respected and praised for the others, because he mainly complimented their history and character. But alas, mentioning unbecoming things about the chosen people is absolutely haram and now he is suddenly called an anti-semite.

>>15769036

>>15772005
How did it change you?

>>15773491
I work on Japan whaling boat now

The Elementary Particles. I was already going slightly crazy and reading it pushed me over the edge into a breakdown.

>>15773590
People (women) like to say "breakdown" a lot, but what does it actually mean?
Like a car? Leaking oil, little man? Because of a book? Haha.

>>15773590
Houellebecq is proof that words can be violence.

Have read a lot but none changed me so much as Bhagavad Gita did. Being raised Christian i wasn't aware there existed different spiritual traditions other than the strictly religious one we have in the West so reading Bhagavad Gita was for me a massive accelerant that allowed me to think in a whole different way about things. It says in one chapter the same thing that a western philosopher would say in 5 books.

>>15773606
In my case I had recurring panic attacks for like two weeks with a depressive period that was very intense for two months. It slowly tapered off and my life went somewhat back to how it was before, but I started seeing a therapist. In my case it wasn't really that the book in itself was powerful. There were just a few details in the book that resembled my childhood that had a profound effect. I feel like I could have stumbled on another book and had something similar happen.

>>15773667
I'm glad you pulled yourself back together son, God bless and best of luck

Another book that impaced me was Rene Guenon's "Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times". But i don't recommend it to people generally because it's a book you have to be ready for in terms of having read a bunch of other literature to understand most of what he's talking about. There's a meme somewhere, it says after reading that book there's no turning back and i laugh about it but the meme hits a mark because there are some redpills that you cannot vomit back up. It's somewhat like stepping behind the scenes and seeing what's behind the curtain of the play you've been watching your whole life and realizing exactly how the characters on the scene have been animated by the machinery. Plato's allegory about the cave.

>>15773693
>bla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla blabla bla bla bla bla bla bla blablablalablabalablablaablablbalalbalblablabla blablablalablabalablablaablablbalalbalblablabla blablablalablabalablablaablablbalalbalblablabla Plato's allegory about the cave
lol

>>15773709
Hey look, it's the guy who gets triggered when you mention authors he doesn't understand.

>>15773721
I'm sorry about making a mean post, don't take it personally my friend
Hope you enjoy your books! (:

>>15773746
Been shitposting a lot today?

>>15773774
Yes
I want to repent

fahrenheit 451 but i have schizophrenia so maybe it wasnt as special as i experienced it to be

>>15773779
I can't help you with that i think you need to find a priest or maybe try asking on /x/ even.

>>15773779
Come on, anon. Why not respect the thread? OP explicitly asks for no sarcasm and shitposts.

>>15773797
Perhaps you are right, but all change must come from within!

>>15773810
I honestly didn't even see that at all, just went straight on down to type town

>>15769036
In my adult life I have yet to read a book that impacted me profoundly, but when I was a little boy reading The Hobbit with my dad was a great bonding experience that I hope to one day repeat with my own son. Thank you

>>15769036
I liked steppenwolf quite a bit, especially the part about Goethe appearing to the main character. It helped me lighten up a lot, and life is more fun when I can laugh at stuff.

>>15773642
Holy based, the Gita is awesome. I've read that one by Kriyananda. You should read the Bible too, expecially the NT: every spiritual belief is based don't just snob Christianity because you were raised as a Christian, just pick up the gospels and you'll see how great Jesus was.

>>15773926
Thanks for the recommendation and i've read the NT this year, also some of the books of the OT as well. Jesus was a great man (maybe more than a mere man) and what's interesting is the cultural difference of how in ancient India (and even today) it's not very controversial to go around claiming that you are a God. But in Jesus's cultural climate it was obviously very controversial to claim such a thing. The eastern doctrine of avatara really fascinated me.

>>15769036
don quijote; truly life affirming I'm planning to reread it sometimes soon; I'm reading Marquez right now and even thou it has nothing in common it steel has the same "vibe" through it

>>15773642
> It says in one chapter the same thing that a western philosopher would say in 5 books.
Maybe if you are reading meme philosophy.

>>15773991
Which western philosopher is not "meme philosophy" according to you?

>>15769036
The Incoherence of the Philosophers by al-Ghazali completely turned all of my philosophical and religious beliefs on their head, and Crime and Punishment rescued me from the worst existential crisis I have ever dealt with and taught me how to have a limited amount of empathy for human beings. I would be in jail right now if not for the latter.

>>15769842
Blood Meridian single handedly brought me back to reading a few years ago.

>>15769171
Should i read that, i sometimes feel that i am too scared of doing new shit

>>15773570
big if true

>>15769036
the talmud

>>15769036

The Ego and Its Own

The book version of the Cosmos TV series

ended up reading a lot of Carl Sagan after that

none desu. I've been reading my whole life and can't point to anything I've read that would make me imagine my life different if I haven't read it. I've read a good chunk of the Western Canon and /lit/core and The Bible, and I wouldn't call any of it life-changing. It's probably time to admit that I maybe don't like reading but I don't have any other hobbies, so I have to stick to something to kill free time.

>>15769292
Anon typed calmly.

>>15769036
Decline of the West likely had the greatest impact on me. Followed by Plato's Republic.

>>15775042
>mfw browsing /v/ and /tv/, occasionally spelunking to /r9k/ to witness what new insanities have been derived from lack of human contact
>a few years ago browse /lit/ on a whim
>buy A Confederacy of Dunces and Blood Meridian
>get hard filtered by Blood Meridian
>read CoD and like it
>come back to Blood Meridian
>it finally clicks, the prose blows my fucking mind
>been reading frequently ever since

>>15776196
don’t feel bad about that dude. I’m in the same boat where there are books that I’ve really loved but nothing that I can say really changed my life or my perspective. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.

My (not only literary) tastes were probably shaped in some not insignificant part by reading A Series of Unfortunate Events as a child. It was my "harry potter", I guess.

Now, a bit later, I don't really get changed or affected by books that much. I'm searching for something that might, though.

>>15776196
No, anon. You aren't going to read anything that will change your view on life if you keep reading traditional books. That is what I'm tending to do, but I'm an unconventional person. You should read classics or whatever that make you cringe. And confront that with your current worldview. I learned that relatively early in life, I guess most people aren't like that.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You gotta know what the hell you're worshiping once in a while.

>>15776310
Yeah i read it once or twice a year.

I literally cant find anything else nearly as good, nothing. In terms of fiction anyway.

Suttree was really good though actually, and The Crossing.

But yeah, Blood Meridian is based as fuck.

>Player Piano (K. Vonnegut)
>Crime and Punishment (F. Dostoevsky)
>The Master and Margarita (M. Bulgakov)
>The Picture of Dorian Gray (O. Wilde)
>Stoner (J. Williams)
>The Republic (Plato)
>The Way of Zen (A. Watts)
>Zen in the Art of Writing (R. Bradbury)
>Death in the Afternoon (E. Hemingway)
These books either immediately turned something upside down within me or lead me down a path of greater discovery.

>>15769036
The World as Will and Representation

Almost every book has changed my life in some ways but I don't read any more and miss it. I'm addicted to masturbation, pornography and sex and waste all my free time indulging this wasteful habit, which has become an armed enemy against me as its stronger than it was even during the height of puberty. Suffice it to say, it's always been a net negative in terms of enjoyment. After the mess, I'm fatigued and can't focus, and am prone to masturbating again and again. This goes on for weeks. The only good days I have any more are those I manage to wake up on the right side of the bed and coast through the day without any arousing material being replayed in my brain. Those have become fewer and fewer. I think most men deal with this but they just cope when it comes to the question of overall utility and benefit because the concentrated fun time to them is all that matters.

>>15769036
Understanding Power as a young teenager

>>15777043
https://sites.google.com/site/hackbookeasypeasy/home

>>15777043
As cliche as it might seem, have you tried nofap? I was in a similar spot as you, and even going just four or five days can really clear your head.

Plato’s Republic. I wrote a paper on the thumos and Pythagorean harmonics in college and it’s impacted how I see everything

>>15769036
BRONZE
AGE
MINDSET

>>15769036
Introduction to the social sciences - Dilthey

>>15769036
Epictetus' Discourses it was my first introduction to philosophy, which got me reading Plato and the Pre-Socratic's and generally reflecting on my life and the motivations behind my actions and what the meaning of a good life is.

>>15777387
Pleb found

Dial8

>>15769036
Enchiridion by Epictetus

>>15769036
The Zhuan Falun.

The true curriculum of the spirit, taught directly without confused and wasteful metaphors. It's what the tired religions of history have attempted to be, and is genuinely the most powerful book ever written.
The command by the Chinese Communist Party to eradicate Falun Gong was, in this age, the great archetypal conflict between the true manifestation of spiritual essence on earth and the central presence of evil.

>>15777914
Looks scary. Going to check it out.

Tao te Ching
Papers on utility theory

>>15777914
Lmao
The founder was a college professor
Told people irl he ascended to heaven on clouds
Chinese equivalent of Joseph Smith or L Ron Hubbard

>>15769641
Why is that book not on amazon?

>>15769036
The NeverEnding Story and the Alice books made me fall in love with reading when I was a kid.

>>15769036
My biology textbook

>>15777287
I used to be able to but not anymore.

>>15778043
I'm thinking he was based.

>>15769036
Don Quixote. I read this book once a year. This book is so funny and sometimes it gives me sadness. really entertaining masterpiece.

>>15779942
Hope you pronounce it correctly if it's ever discussed in public.

I slowly build my worldview and arrived at something different than the default worldview of 21th century subject.
A book changing and upending your worldview is a meme. It's more like a very gradual process.

Bible, KJV.

>>15779945
Thank God i'm hispanic

Orgy of the Will was my introduction to philosophy, and it really changed my life for the worst. Before I was ignorant, happy, trying to move forward in life, now I know exactly why I'm a worthless subhuman (shit genetics + shitty upbringing means I'm doomed no matter how much I try to change - especially since that itself is impossible) who's probably just going to end up a depressed and resentful wage slave until a drone army kills him and all his friends in some 50 years or so, if he doesn't kill himself first.

>>15779945
Donny Quick-shotty

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight rekindled my passions for history, religion, and myth
>>15769298
good taste

>>15780053
Did you at least remember to get into bullet hell shooters afterwards?

>>15778043
The CCP is North Korea tier, and merely tried to remove Falun Gong using the usual tactics they employ to dissapear and silence anyone who interferes with the absolute autism of their political control. They said Falun Gong members were setting themselves on fire and all kinds of stupid stuff.

It's just business as usual. During the great leap forward and the cultural revolution people were killed for being landlords, teachers, musicians, and all kinds of trivial things. This is all well documented.
Believing the statements of the CCP is like belieiving the claims on the plaques of North Korean museums. The party that was in power during the time of Chairman Mao is still in power to this day, and has been the only party in China since the 30s.

>>15769036
unironically Hitler's autobiography. If you forget everything you "know" about him, his story is actually very inspiring.

>>15769036

>The Decline of the West ~ Spengler
>The Anti-Christ ~ Nietzsche

>>15769036
idk, Homer's work maybe

>>15779942
I dont often read fiction but this book gives my the impression that is very intelligently written

my two-semester textbook of analysis (math)

>>15769920
28
>>15775102
It's a YA book, hit the right buttons for me at the right time sort of thing, maybe it will be beneath you, or maybe it will be just a fun read. Check it out if you like escapist light hearted humor about a girl manipulating a genuinely stupid and thirsty dude.