Most Important Books in your Life

I read fairly sparingly (maybe 2-3 books a year) so I try to pick stuff that I know will resonate with me. Looking back, though:
1984, George Orwell - I don't know why this made such an impression on me. I was only about 15 but I remember being absolutely blown away by the concepts presented to me. I think it really made me look at the world in a different way. I'd love to revisit the book with a more adult perspective.
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger - I just remember Holden Caulfield expressing every bit of frustration and fear and doubt that I experienced at the time; I came away from the book with no lessons learned, just the reassuring feeling of no, I'm not the only one who feels this way. As an insecure teenager that meant the world for me and I think helped connect me even more to works of art.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams - Adams does an amazing job of looking at the world through a totally absurdist perspective, which has helped me view a lot of things in life much more lightly. I read this when I was particularly angsty and angry at things that I wanted to change but felt powerless against and I think HHGttG helped me a lot with that.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, particularly the Second Chronicles. <3 Kevin Landwaster.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Cyteen b C. J. Cherryh.

Since the rest of you can't see that I'm the one who repped Teek, I'll +1 everything by Shakespeare.

Two Gentlemen of Lebowski by Adam Bertocci

I can, in fact, see that you are the one who repped Teek, by virtue of my being awesome.

Anyway I'd say the big one for me is The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil. Whilst I don't agree with everything in it, the broad principle that technology is advancing very smurfing quickly, this development is accelerating, and that this is going to have tremendous implications for our future was one I always sort of believed in but which was really laid out starkly and clearly by him.

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn was maybe the first novel I ever read and is probably responsible for making me a voracious reader as a kid. I was in third grade, so probably 9 years old? I still remember walking into the local library and seeing it and having my whole world upended. "There are books about Star Wars!?" Took me about a month read through it I think, and that led me to read a ton more Star Wars books, but also much longer books than I otherwise would've been reading in elementary school.

kikimm got me to read Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin my junior year of high school. At the time I'd kind of pushed reading to the side in favor of games and the Internet, but that book completely revived my interest in reading. And I loved the series, of course.

I read 1984 and Brave New World senior year of high school, along with some other wonderful books like Catch-22. 1984 was great but Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was actually the one that really stuck with me. I guess I was familiar enough with dystopian settings at that point that Brave New World's captivated me more, because it was paradise, but everything was wrong. Looking back, this part doesn't have the emotional resonance it once did, but when I read it for the first time I was so enraptured with the philosophy.

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"But I like the inconveniences."
"We don't," said the Controller. "We prefer to do things comfortably."
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."
"Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen to-morrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind." There was a long silence.
"I claim them all," said the Savage at last.
Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders. "You're welcome," he said.

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Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail 72 by Hunter S. Thompson blew me away in college for so many reasons. For me it's the ultimate romanticization of journalism because Thompson is such a creative, unfiltered, brilliant writer and observer. He took a subject I had very little interest in, McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, and made it utterly fascinating. He knew politics and culture so well that he was able to capture the political and social atmosphere of the country. But mostly, god, he can just write.

I wouldn't say I specifically look up to him or even would ever want to be or write like him. Gonzo journalism is just so goddamn interesting.

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Originally Posted by Azar

I read 1984 and Brave New World senior year of high school, along with some other wonderful books like Catch-22. 1984 was great but Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was actually the one that really stuck with me. I guess I was familiar enough with dystopian settings at that point that Brave New World's captivated me more, because it was paradise, but everything was wrong. Looking back, this part doesn't have the emotional resonance it once did, but when I read it for the first time I was so enraptured with the philosophy.

Quote:

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"But I like the inconveniences."
"We don't," said the Controller. "We prefer to do things comfortably."
"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."
"In fact," said Mustapha Mond, "you're claiming the right to be unhappy."
"All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."
"Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen to-morrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind." There was a long silence.
"I claim them all," said the Savage at last.
Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders. "You're welcome," he said.

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You're making me want to re-read BNW. I remember being enraptured with it when I first read it, and re-reading that quote made me think I might enjoy it more as an adult.

The Outsider by Albert Camus. Good to read when you're a teenager.
The Castle by Franz Kafka. I think most people prefer The Trial, but The Castle is more cyclical, even more damning on our ability to reach something (god/ salvation?)
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. Humbling.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. See above. Just when he had alighted on the correct path.
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. I only read this for the first time a few years back. Really funny, and touching. The ending of the second book is somehow incredibly sad.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Not much I can say about it. Black comedy doesn't really come close. And to have a whole chapter about Phil Collins...
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima. I love Mishima's work, but I'm not sure I ever fully understood the tetralogy of which this book is the first part. It works as a standalone book.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. My favourite book. Absurd, but realistic in the extreme. I laughed a lot.

Definitely second Burtsplurt's suggestion of The Outsider. Excellent book. I think to a certain extent I found it to be what Catcher in the Rye is for many others. I was never a big fan of the latter, possibly because Meursault got there first with me. On your other suggestions, I've not read The Castle by Kafka, but I did enjoy both Metamorphosis and The Trial.

I'm just peering at my bookshelves now trying to settle on one or two individual books but I'm struggling to single them out. As I'm forcing myself:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my absolute favourite books. It presents a wonderful portrait of a man evaluating his past, present and future, all of which is told with a startlingly convincing narrative. I was recommended it by an English teacher in college, and it remains one of my favourites.

Jane Eyre. I realise I probably lose masculinity points for picking a novel by one of the Brontë sisters, but it was a book that really took me by surprise. Really enjoyed it from start to finish, and I think made me reconsider both what my own literary tastes were, and what I actually enjoyed novels for.

A book I've read recently, A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil McGregor I found to be quite thought provoking, and made me reevaluate my view of history, and the relationship between the past and the present, and of society's interaction with history. Some of the choices (all of which are objects in the British Museum) are quite novel and don't present the 'Kings and Queens' narrative of history.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Robert Tressel) was a book which helped to shape my political beliefs in many ways, and something which I think spurred me to get involved with politics whilst at university. While I know it's rather unashamedly a piece of propaganda, it's well written, and provides a very human portrait of the living standards of working men in19th century Britain.

Honourable mentions to Catch-22, HHGttG, and Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)which are among the few books I've read more than once.

Yeah Brave New World always hit me far more deeply and was a far more interesting book than 1984 was.

Ah the EoFF influence. I read this title as "Most important boobs in your life"...

I don't read as much as I should. Too busy with TV and video games. But I picked up the Doom novels when I was young (yep, about the 1993 shooter. There are books.) and took a shine to the characters and their adventures in those and have read them enough times that the first one is falling apart. So there's that? It's insane, the authors use silly names from the real world, there are plot holes everywhere, there's constant religious and right wing crap shoe-horned into the books, but somehow I love it.

And then there's the Harry Potter series. Which like FF, I genuinely believe is popular *because it's outstandingly good*, not because of marketing and hype.

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Originally Posted by Parker

breakfast of champions. i dont even remember the plot. there's just one particular set of paragraphs that haven't left my mind since I read them. i should read it again. for a favourite book it's weird that I don't remember any characters or story :)

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This is tied with The Catcher in the Rye for my all-time favorite book. I like the fact that I'm being held responsible for the junk and the things that are sacred all at the same time. I read the book at a time when I truly felt there was nothing about people that was worth much of anything, but the novel put it into perspective for me. Awareness of the world and respecting the awareness in others, and protecting that, is of tantamount importance.

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

A Perfect Day for Bananafish by JD Salinger

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All of the stories in Nine Stories are heart-breaking but that one is probably the one that's always hardest for me to read. Especially given the foreshadowing of Salinger's references to The Wasteland in dialogue and in the character Sybil. As much hope as I squeeze out of Breakfast of Champions, I lose as much with A Perfect Day for Bananafish.

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Originally Posted by Heath

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my absolute favourite books. It presents a wonderful portrait of a man evaluating his past, present and future, all of which is told with a startlingly convincing narrative. I was recommended it by an English teacher in college, and it remains one of my favourites.

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This is another of my favorites, and one that I think is seriously overlooked time and time again. I especially liked the questions concerning loyalty, personal accountability, and missed opportunities that Stevens has to face. Basically I'm a big sadsack and I like sadsack things.

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

All of the stories in Nine Stories are heart-breaking but that one is probably the one that's always hardest for me to read. Especially given the foreshadowing of Salinger's references to The Wasteland in dialogue and in the character Sybil. As much hope as I squeeze out of Breakfast of Champions, I lose as much with A Perfect Day for Bananafish.

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I still have yet to read Nine Stories, but I've been wanting to for a while. I was at a used book store with a couple of friends at the end of last year, and I came across that book. Unfortunately, one of my friends snatched it up before I could. I got a hold of Franny and Zooey by Salinger, which I absolutely love. It is one of my favorite books of all time.

One of these days I need to get my hands on The Remains of the Day as well. It sounds really interesting.

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

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Originally Posted by Heath

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my absolute favourite books. It presents a wonderful portrait of a man evaluating his past, present and future, all of which is told with a startlingly convincing narrative. I was recommended it by an English teacher in college, and it remains one of my favourites.

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This is another of my favorites, and one that I think is seriously overlooked time and time again. I especially liked the questions concerning loyalty, personal accountability, and missed opportunities that Stevens has to face. Basically I'm a big sadsack and I like sadsack things.

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It's the ending that always gets me. (SPOILER)When he finds out that unfortunately he has missed his chance with Mrs. Kenton which feels quite crushing even to the reader. Yet then at the end he has a chat with that man and discuss how the evening is the best time of day, which gives you hope that he might be able to live the (I was going to say the remains of his days but that's far too corny!) rest of his life for himself, and not for other people.

I found Brave New World to be depressing in a different way. I found it to have a bigger effect on me emotionally than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Both classics of their genre though.

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Originally Posted by Heath

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my absolute favourite books. It presents a wonderful portrait of a man evaluating his past, present and future, all of which is told with a startlingly convincing narrative. I was recommended it by an English teacher in college, and it remains one of my favourites.

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I loved Remains of the Day too (though Never Let Me Go actually hit me harder, I think) but I think this to be an interesting description. My takeaway of the narration was that (SPOILER)he was basically lying to himself about the importance of his life, suppressing all emotion, and hiding from how he had squandered the use of his time. An untrustworthy narrator can still create a convincing narration, of course--not trying to pick on your phrasing. It just stood out to me because it's what goes unsaid in that book that makes it so affecting and tragic.

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Originally Posted by Azar

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Originally Posted by Heath

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of my absolute favourite books. It presents a wonderful portrait of a man evaluating his past, present and future, all of which is told with a startlingly convincing narrative. I was recommended it by an English teacher in college, and it remains one of my favourites.

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I loved Remains of the Day too (though Never Let Me Go actually hit me harder, I think) but I think this to be an interesting description. My takeaway of the narration was that (SPOILER)he was basically lying to himself about the importance of his life, suppressing all emotion, and hiding from how he had squandered the use of his time. An untrustworthy narrator can still create a convincing narration, of course--not trying to pick on your phrasing. It just stood out to me because it's what goes unsaid in that book that makes it so affecting and tragic.

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Never Let Me Go is also excellent, as is When We Were Orphans.

Absolutely agree with your comment about (SPOILER)his narrative and him being an untrustworthy narrator. When I said convincing narrative, I more meant that he is a believable character, as humans aren't generally as open as many narrators, and do gloss over things or leave things unsaid.

Hopefully this will get more people reading Ishiguro!

Gotto be those mangas I read as a little Christmas. It gives me hope and happiness to face the cruel world that we all live in. Now they are gone and life seems so dark and dull like Quin's asshole. :(