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/lit/ - Literature

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3155375 No.3155375 [Reply] [Original]

I need that life changing book. Tell me yours?

>> No.3155386

My life changing book is Steppenwolf, which I read when I was 15 years old.
It helped me sort out my feeling of alienation, and it got me interested in literature.

>> No.3155397

Capital Vol. 1 by Karl Marx. haven't been able to participate in every day life in the same way since. my work life, the way i spend money, the way i see commodities. its also given me a lot of insight into the way different politics clash.

>> No.3155399

Steppenwolf really got me back into literature. I've read Huck Finn etc. as a kid and enjoyed them but I grew increasingly unhappy during my teen years and one day when I was 17 I heard about Hesse and ordered Steppenwolf. Another one would be Infinite Jest a few years later which is so ingrained in me that this would be another one of my "life-changing" books which aren't strictly life-changing but certainly the most important ones of my early reading life.

>> No.3155405

>>3155397
>Capital Vol. 1 by Karl Marx.
been wanting to read this... have you read all 3 Volumes or just the first? all 3 are like 700+ pages long and from what i've heard not the easiest material to crack

>> No.3155407

siddhartha

>> No.3155417

On The Road.
I know, I'm a pleb.

>> No.3155422

Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince
Yeah it might be cliché and all, but it was that book.

>>3155405
If he's not the first typically German/Austrian/Prussian/etc.ian writer you've read it won't be that bad.
It's dense is what I'm saying.

>> No.3155437

Song of Myself.

>> No.3155439

>>3155405

Just the first so far but I'm planning on reading all 3

>> No.3155447

>>3155417
>pleb
>>>/mu/

>> No.3155450

Infinite Jest or The Pale King

>> No.3155459 [DELETED] 
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3155459

>>3155375

>> No.3155465

Seriously? My journal.

>> No.3155494

>>3155375
Playboy

>> No.3155922

Katawa Shoujo.

>> No.3155932
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3155932

Man's Search for Meaning

>> No.3155959

>>3155932

JIDF, please go.

>> No.3155962

Dorian Gay

>> No.3155966
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3155966

>>3155959
are you really that dumb?

>> No.3155968

The King in Yellow.

>> No.3155970

>>3155962
That ought to have an interesting explanation.

>> No.3155978

Just how difficult a read is Kapital Vol 1?

>> No.3155980 [DELETED] 

>>3155978
Marx cocksuckers really need to leave my literature board.

>> No.3155989

>>3155980
I am asking as I haven't read the book and have only a small interest in economics and politics.

>> No.3155990

>>3155980
Cry some more.

>> No.3156006
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3156006

>>3155980
>>3155959

>> No.3156018
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3156018

>>3155375

>I need that life changing book. Tell me yours?

This.

>> No.3156024

L'assomoir, Emile Zola

>> No.3156027

>>3156018
It's ending up to be one of my favorites, but I'd like to hear why you consider it life changing.

>> No.3156030

Catcher In The Rye

Read it when you're young. Read it when you're older. It's one of the most over-talked-about and underappreciated novels of the past century

>> No.3156031

>>3156024
Yeah, that starting fight scene between the bitches was pretty cool

>> No.3156036

>>3155978
And still the question remains unanswered. Never change, /lit/

>> No.3156039

>>3156036

>criticize a board for not spoonfeeding me answers

You are the problem here, sport.

>> No.3156040

>>3156036
It's difficult. Happy babby?

>> No.3156052

>>3155375

Brothers Karamazov maybe didn't change my whole life but definitely changed my reading life. I cannot read a book the same after bros karamazov.

My whole life was mostly changed in the beginning by Brave New World. First book that really got me into lit and my sorta intro to philosophy a long time ago.

But then again, I haven't read a single book in my life that hasn't impacted and changed me greatly.

>> No.3156055

>>3155922
Can't tell if you're trolling but yes

>> No.3156067

>>3155970

I was a lonely homosexual who never knew anyone like me. In reading about Basil's obsession with Dorian, I felt as if I wasn't alone for really the first time in my life. It was the first time that I deeply related to what another human being had to say. Dorian Gray was the first book I read willingly, though it was an assigned reading.

A thesis paper was assigned to be completed on the text and I decided to try and reconcile the opening epigrams with the overtly moral nature of the text, but the solution to this problem ran far too deep for me at the time and I never completed the essay. I've since read most of Wilde's major works and I've discovered the nuance of Wilde's style which rides on his self-awareness and romantic character. The book pre-figured his tragedy and he knew it, yet he lived it anyway. And in the end didn't regret it. Wilde himself has become a hero of mine and my coming to adore him meant a complete shift in character from what I was in my younger years, where I fancied myself as sort of super-rationalist. Now I see that there is so much more to life. There is beauty to be had in frivolity and knowledge to be had in error, no matter how tragic. My current literary interests all write on this theme.

>> No.3156069

>>3156067
On Loving Josiah's right up your alleyway, have you read it?

>> No.3156070

>>3156067

gay

>> No.3156091

>>3156069

Seems a bit modern for me. Might check it out though.

>> No.3156105

>>3156091
well it's a modern interpretation of classic Greek concepts of love

>> No.3156107

>>3156105
>concepts

ugh wrong word but I don't have the right one to fit there. Philosophical interpretations?

>> No.3156111

>>3156067
That's a beautiful post, thank you.

>> No.3156114

"You can't read your self out of a Neurosis" -Manly Palmer Hall

>> No.3156124

>>3156067

I'd imagine you'd appreciate works by James Baldwin as well.

>> No.3156151

I dont know about life changing but The Heart I a Lonely Hunter made me really think about human relationships

>> No.3156162

Tropic of Cancer.

>> No.3156167

The Brothers Karamazov

I don't believe in God but after reading that I had a much deeper respect for Christians.

>> No.3156257

Shantaram
Scar Tissue
and Wild:An Elemental Journey

>> No.3156260

>>3155375
fahrenheit 451
life changing in that it's the first book I read for pleasure

>> No.3156269

>>3156260
The Martian Chronicles was mine, minus Harry Potter.

>> No.3156321

>>3156257
Josh?

>> No.3156329

If you are looking for a book to change your life you are going to be reading it wrong. Your perceptions of what you want the book to be will blind you to flaws and distort what the intent of the author was in the first place.

>> No.3156355

Gravity's Rainbow.

>> No.3156367

>>3156321
Yup

>> No.3156368

>>3156367
Damn I'm good

>> No.3156369

>>3156329
I second this. I think it's just a way for op to get recommendations he assumes will be good.

>> No.3156372

>>3156368
I'm the only one that has ever mentioned(I think)Wild:An Elemental Journey on here and if you're Starlon then I've mentioned those three books numerous times, so pretty easy for you :)

>> No.3156382
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3156382

Dead serious, this changed the way I saw life and humanity.

>> No.3156387

>>3156329

no one cares about the author

>> No.3156390

>>3156369
Oh well, who cares if he is?

>> No.3156391

>>3156387
Is this literally the first time you have ever come onto a literature board and this is your first post?

>> No.3156394

>>3156390
Not saying it's a negative thing, I was just pointing out what I think the purpose of this thread is.

Not so much about life changing, just life changing equals it must be amazing for that person so I'll read it, again not a bad thing.

>> No.3156396

>>3156387
>>3156391
>>3156329

Who is trolling who? I know I'm getting trolled

>> No.3156421

For me its obviously Orwell's 1984

>> No.3156459

It would definitely have to be the Outsider- Albert Camus

>> No.3156517

>>3156421
>>3156459
To be 14 again...

>> No.3156529

The Lorax

>> No.3156533

I think it's pretty pathetic when someone says a book changed their life. I mean, there are great books that make you think about things, or give you a new perspective about something important, or change an opinion you have, but what the fuck kind of life were you living if a book changes your life?

>> No.3156537

>>3156533

>a new perspective about something important

Can be more than enough to change your life

>> No.3156651

On Bullshit

>> No.3156658

>>3156651
Really?

>> No.3156662

Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

>> No.3156694

>>3156658
Seriously
by Harry G. Frankfurt
though, it is tiny for $10 bucks, it really did change my life by making me more critical of information that is given to me

>> No.3156696

>>3156694

Why did you need a book to tell you to always be skeptical? It's non-lazy thinking 101

>> No.3156713

>>3156696
Because we all start somewhere?
Because I like to read things that I already agree with?
Because it also made me critical of myself and the words I used.

>> No.3156840
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3156840

brothers karamazov

>> No.3156932

Les Miserables, Brothers Karamazov and Infinite Jest.

>> No.3156944

>>3156932

Oh, and maybe "Beneath the Wheel" (Hesse) and The Magic Mountain too.

>> No.3157015

The Iliad.

Read it when I was 15 and it was the thing that got me a lot more interested in /lit/erature.

>> No.3157043

Thus Spake Zarathustra

>> No.3157142

Steppenwolf

>> No.3157174

>>3156840
>>3156932
This!

>>3157043
I don't know why people name this. If you never touched philosophy before, you won't get it or you will missunderstand it. Or you will end up as one of those guys who think Nietzsche is the greatest philosopher ever (cause he is the only one you have read).

>> No.3157878
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3157878

>> No.3157884

Infinite Jest. Not even trolling.

>> No.3157890

Brothers K

>> No.3157891

>>3155375
Two:
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

>> No.3157892

>>3157878
how sad

>> No.3157897

>>3157891
I don't quite know how I feel about Irving. I've read The World According to Garp, and it was ultimately alright, but wasn't really very impressive.

>> No.3157912

>>3157891

A Prayer for Owen Meany is a beautiful book.
I don't see it mentioned around here enough.

>> No.3157953

>>3157897
Garp is a challenging book, especially since he's an author, and you have to read some of his stuff, including that horrible story where someone is raped viciously.

Owen Meany is much much better.

>> No.3157955

>>3157891
Same poster:
Non fiction: Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond

I know some circles have snarked and attempted to discredit the work, but i think it holds up as a plausible explanation. It fits into the world as we know it.

>> No.3157968

Books don't change your life. You change your life.

>> No.3157970

>>3157968
>implying you can change your life
>implying you're not just becoming more comfortable with your core misery

>> No.3157973

>>3157970

FUCK YOU ASSHOLE.

>> No.3157978

>>3157968
>IMPLYING YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ATTAINING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY !FIRST! BY READING BOOKS

quit reading those idiotic motivational quotes.

>> No.3157983

The point of life is to be super badass and eat Beef Jerky. Anyone who disagrees is a dumbass pussy that eats babies and is racist.

>> No.3157991

>>3157978

>>implying I give a shit about all the motivational quotes I'm bombarded with whether I like it or not.

I'll be happy to do whatever you want me to if you stop posting your moronic nonsense on this site.

>> No.3157994

>>3157991
you make no sense whatsoever. re-read my implication one more time.

>> No.3157995

>>3157978

>>implying books are the only source of intellectual capacity (even though they're pretty good)

>> No.3158001

>>3157994
No.

>> No.3158003

>>3157983
I highly disagree. There is no true benefit gained by eating Beef Jerky alone. It must be accompanied by an ardent effort to read, think, prepare for the future, and plan for the apocalypse. You need guns. Guns and Beef Jerky.

>> No.3158004

Hmm... I think Kafka changed my position on how literature should be written.
DFW changed my ideas on style and on social interaction with people.
Tao Lin changed my perspective on social interaction and even prose writing. As much as everyone hates his prose, he showed that by limiting diction, you could emit a different emotion from the audience.
Thomas Pynchon showed me also some amazing sentences and made me a better reader overall.
William S. Burroughs changed my perspective on language and literature.

Not really life changing but it is definitely something.

>> No.3158009

>>3157995
>implying we aren't talking about books

>> No.3158011

>>3156391

literature is more valuable when when it is reflected on personally rather than analyzed historically

>> No.3158014

>>3158004
>DFW changed my ideas on style and on social interaction with people.
>Tao Lin changed my perspective on social interaction
elaborate pls. some examples would be appreciative

>> No.3158413

>>3158014
I guess with DFW, I noticed a different perspective. He actively wanted people to see the other side of people and question their selfish actions and I do that now actively. An example would be I guess now. I am trying to see the perspective of another right now by being in this thread.

Well for Tao Lin he affirmed an apathy that in the youth of today. And he made me feel less alone. An example would be when I was reading Eeeee Eee Eeeee I understood and felt exactly what he was writing.

These might not be too profound to others but to me it was a change. I could notice a shift from when I started reading Tao Lin and DFW which is very weird and not very easy to track down the meaning to

>> No.3158442

As I Lay Dying was the first modernist book I ever read. I wouldn't call it life-changing, but it definitely changed the way I read and write.

>> No.3158504

This might sound pretentious and stereotypical for this board but I read 1984 and then a lot of Orwell's essays and then Ulysses right after that and now I consider this period about 3 years ago a point of change or enlightenment in my life.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't really wanted to or planned to do that, 1984 was quite fun to read and when I finished it and I read the last lines - and I assume most of you know them, I felt a kind of deep sadness.

I wanted to get answers and I began to read Ulysses without really knowing what it was about and believe me it was a pain in the ass and it took almost 3 months to finish it but I couldn't just put it away because I had this feeling that there is something quite unique with this book, so I completed it and I don't regret anything.

>> No.3158505

Demian is pretty good but really I'd have to say the Steve Jobs biography.

>> No.3158533
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3158533

the Ethic of Spinoza
the way i saw atheism and religion was never the same for me and it make me become a philospher

>> No.3158565

>>3158533
>implying he was an atheist

>> No.3158604

>>3158565
he was a man "drunk with god"
i know he wasn't an atheist, but i am (or was, as now im more of a "spinozist")

>> No.3158634

>>3157174

>guys who think Nietzsche is the greatest philosopher ever (cause he is the only one you have read)

I started off with "The Prince" (babby's first philosophy), then got up to the point in "Beyond Good and Evil" where he starts slating women, which I found hilarious, because I agree with him. I think we could have been bros.
At points he sounds like a condescending neckbeard, and actually contradicts his own philosophy though.

I get the feeling that when reading philosophy, you have to be two steps back, and be aware of how the author is trying to influence the reader.

>> No.3158658
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3158658

>>3158533

>> No.3158664

>>3156067
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gpVE1L2OAx4#t=52s

>> No.3158667

>>3158565
If God is everything, he might as well be nothing.

>> No.3158679

>>3158667
most idiotic thing i've heard this week.

>> No.3158687
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3158687

OP, you need this book. It's public domain (when you realize how good it is I'd recommend the penguin print edition), and it goes through all of the theory and the systematic and brilliant approach Darwin had to just about everything.

I've read so many contemporary books on evolution and nature and none of them has the incredible clarity of Darwin. I don't understand why it's been overlooked, it's extremely interesting (while Origin of Species can be a little boring sometimes this rarely is... and even when it is you can tell that it's still good stuff you should read). It's my favourite book of all time, and I barely even bought it at first.

While I'm here I also recommend the free librivox audio recording of An Autobiography of Charles Darwin. It's great: short, concise, has the best reader for it. I've listened to it several times now.

>> No.3158688

>>3158679
Think about it. A definition is something that defines and necessarily sets apart. Once you define something as everything, that definition loses all meaning.

>> No.3159512

I'm definitely checking these out, sort of test run each of them. Obviously they won't affect me the same way they affected you guys but at least I'll get to read some goods books along the way.

>> No.3159523
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3159523

Such invigorating arrogance.

>> No.3159535

Seymour an Introduction

is that gay I'm sorry

>> No.3159637

>>3155978

Relatively difficult but if you take it seriously and take the time read some secondary material you'll be fine. David Harvey lectures on Capital are very accessible.

>> No.3159661

>>3156517
Clearly you didn't mature very far past 14. Condescending douche.

>> No.3159662

>>3155932
Isn't that like Jewish Existentialism or something?

>> No.3159666

>>3158442
>first modernist book I ever read.
Me too, bro. Never looked back. Modernism is my jam, so to speak.

>> No.3159667

>>3158679

2deep4u

>> No.3159670
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3159670

It'll make you believe in love again.

>> No.3159685
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3159685

Godel, Escher, Bach. Posses more questions than it answers.

>> No.3159697

>>3159685
I've heard good shit about this too. On my to-read list.

>> No.3159702

>>3159697
You don't read GEB, you study it. Be sure to set aside a couple months at least.
http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/courses/godel-escher-bach/

>> No.3159719

Diogenes the Cynic

>> No.3159732

>>3159523
You've missed the point entirely by reading only the chapter titles. Good job.

>> No.3159740

>>3158667
Being everything includes being nothing

>> No.3159761

Not a philosophical book at all but my book was Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street. I'm just another normal guy trying to get rich (small-scale stock trading among other things) and it gave me a really good education on how finance works.

>> No.3159785

>>3155375
Catcher in the Rye

>> No.3160272

>>3155922
Fuck. This is true for me too (if you weren't trolling).