What are some sources of literature that have been instrumental to your personal development? What made you, you? Which author (or blogger, or commenter) started you on a path to devouring all they've written?
Oh boy, a whole lot. Vonnegut was a big one. Like AlderaanDuran, I loved Sirens of Titan. I also read and re-read the Dune series by Frank Herbert as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide series by Douglas Adams. I think Vonnegut and Adams helped to reassure me that in fact, many adults do not know what they're talking about and that there's a funny side to everything. Herbert taught me all kinds of things, especially about looking at things on different scales of time and influence. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I think that really helped to develop my natural curiosity about things too. When people ask me for recommendations for books, I generally tell them to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I read it when I was about 20 and it really helped me see things in a different way. Essentially, the book pits the arguments of living lightly, taking it as a given we only live once and therefore there are no consequences or living with weight, that is, everything we do matters.
Holy shit. Short of Sirens of Titan, I've read and felt the same way about everything you've mentioned. Ha. >The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I read it when I was about 20 and it really helped me see things in a different way. Funny story. I first read Unbearable Lightness of Being when I was 16 years old, the fall of my junior year in high school.. most of it went over my head. I could sense that there was a lot I wasn't getting. About 4 years years later, I happened to ask kleinbl00 what his favorite piece of literature was. He responded, What kind of cretin would I be with only one favorite book? ;-) and told me to start with some Kundera. Upon finding my old copy from high school, I spent that next day reading the whole thing. One of my favorite texts, and favorite reading experiences.
Alan Watts. He writes a lot of non-fiction about Buddhism, but with an approach to it from a western perspective. It changed how I think, how I approach my days, and how I live, and as weird as it sounds I even started shaving my head after getting into his books and Buddhism as a whole. Some books that I started with were "The Book", "The Wisdom of Insecurity", and "The Way of Zen". What started it all though, was when I stumbled across this audio of him speaking, which was animated by the South Park guys... Oddly enough this one little youtube link lead me down a very constructive path of self discovery and renewal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4 Also, Kurt Vonnegut has been integral to my life and how I think about life, reality, and society as a whole. Anything written by him for the most part has had some lasting effect on me. But if I had to name one, it would be Sirens of Titan by him.
In a way I didn't get to in the original post, this is exactly what I was asking. What piece of literature (or link, or whatever) started you down an important path. Thank you, am gonna start here :)
100 Years of Solitude by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez. -One of my favorite endings of all time. This book reignited my love for reading.
I've only read Metamagical Themas by Hofstadter, is it worth reading GEB;EGB as well or does it just cover very similar thoughts.
It covers everything. I'm not sure how much hyperbole is in my last statement there, either. The book is about the size of a standard sciences textbook, and "Through illustration and analysis, the book discusses how self-reference and formal rules allow systems to acquire meaning despite being made of "meaningless" elements. It also discusses what it means to communicate, how knowledge can be represented and stored, the methods and limitations of symbolic representation, and even the fundamental notion of "meaning" itself." - Wikipedia I haven't read Metamagial Themas, but wikipedia's summary of the articles makes it look like a relatively small subset of what is in GEB. In short, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Maybe with some asprin. It's quite a lot to take in.
Clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess. You get to know evil and he is Max. The weird thing about him it is that you'll probably like him. At the same time the book has nice critique of justice system, city life and the society as a whole. After reading it, I've been certain that moral behavior and feeling s don't have much to do with each other. People need robust principles to guide their morals. Why? You just felt amusement while someone was gang-raped. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It's exciting and after you have read it, hobos look little different. For me it was a story about how cool life can be and yet it can look very indifferent to an outsider.
I feel like Catcher is just taken way too seriously. its not a book that will give any deep life lesson, but its almost impossible not to view it as such. The rest of his stuff is great, though I am a sucker for stories that deal with the struggle for identity. Also Jewish American authors. If I was a woman it'd be my dream to marry a Jewish-American author. Right now my dream is to marry Emma Watson's pixie haircut.
Hmm, started reading some Philip Roth drunk last night. It definitely piqued my interest, will continue this quest sober today. What stops you from marrying a Jewish-American author?
This may be common, but Michel Foucault blew my mind open with History of Sexuality freshman year of college. I've read everything he's ever written based off of that and it has really taught me a lot about the world. Also, Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson prompted a thorough reading of his canon and spurred an obsession with science fiction in general.
...Right, it's time to revisit HoS for me, then. I really like Foucault, but sometimes the density of his writing is hard to penetrate...
José Saramago - The Tale of the Unknown Island
Cormac Mccarthy - The Road two book about love,with idiosyncratic punctuation, that could not be more different.
longish short story it was published as a really short novel. Do you read Portuguese ?
Nobel literature laureate Elfriede Jelinek is one of the funniest, shocking and beautiful discoveries that you will ever make. Begin reading "The piano teacher"(also a beautiful movie by Michael Haneke). Swedish writer Stig Dagerman is also a very great experience (if you love sledgehammers beating on your soul).
Brian Jacques. I think the first book I read of his was either Redwall, or Mattimeo. I kept up with the series right up until the last few books. Looking at the list, I have read almost all of the Redwall books. I remember devouring each book in a couple of days when I was a kid. Its amazing how attached you can get to the little creatures. I was really saddened when I heard that Jacques died. For me it opened up a love of fantasy (books, video games, MTG) that I still have to this day.