There are novels that opened my mind to new and fascinating ideas. For me it was Dune, Stranger in a Strange land, Foundation trilogy (psycohistory is totally cool), Conversation with Don Juan, and Man of La Mancha (hopeless romantic).
Has this happened to you?
Atlas Shrugged
Helped me realize that many people have no clue how bad a book itnreally is.
Actually it messed me up for a while until I got my moral compass back in order. Too bad clowns like Paul Ryan and Rand Paul never got over it.
So. Bad. And it has such a great premise (regardless of where you stand on the issues presented and Rand's handling of them, the premise is interesting).
Atlas Shrugged is the only one I can come up with that caused serious reflection. I have read so many that have left some new perspective but I can’t come up with titles. A lot of you have indicated that Dune was important. I have tried to get through that book and I always put it down. Nothing in the beginning makes me want to keep reading. Maybe I will try again.
Ayn Rand yes yes yes!
I think the first book that changed my perceptions of the world, was "The Pearl" by Hohn Steinbeck.
Other books that influenced my world views...
"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
"Animal Farm" and "1984" by George Orwell
"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
"Elmer Gantry" by Sinclair Lewis
"Brave New World" by Adous Huxley
"The Sound of Waves" by Yukio Mishima
"Coma" by Robin Cook
and many many more that dot' immediately come to mind at the moment.
Excellent choices. I forgot Brave New world. I should add Player Piano.
Okay here is a series I recommend to everyone on this site. The ColdFire Trilogy by C.S. Friedman. Central to the struggle between good and evil. Is it permissible to conspire with an evil entity to save your species? Extreme fantasy with deep philosophical implications. I highly recommended.
Another was the book Exodus. I was trying to understand the Jewish/Palestinian conflict. I hadn’t known how badly the Jews were treated after the end of World War II. All the camps and not being welcomed in. I always thought we should have given them Germany. I’m sure I will think of more. I have moved so many times and the books I do still have are mostly in boxes. I also have loved the books by Malcolm Gladwell and my favorite fantasy is The Belgariad and The Mallorean by David Eddings
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce absolutely rocked my world. I was nineteen and just starting to figure out I didn't believe in gods anymore. It gave me strength to get through it, and to realize I wasn't alone.
George Orwell - Animal Farm
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Cynthia Voight - Homecoming
Camus, The Stranger. Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms. Conrad, Heart of Darkness. Hoffer, The True Believer.
Yes on Camus.
Not sure if they changed the way I think, but they certainly helped me articulate it.
Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series - Douglas Adams
The Discworld series - Terry Pratchett
Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas - Hunter S Thompson
The Culture series - Iain M Banks
The Diamond Age - Neil Stephenson
James A. Micheners HAWAII...7th Grade...the disgusting attempt to wipe out the gentle Polynesian Culture, Language, Customs and Religious Idols and Beliefs...I started HATING all forms of Christianity from that day forward. How utterly Arrogant and Egotistical Religion can make people.
There’s another book by Michener, that starts at the beginning of time and comes forward to man creating gods and forward from there. I can’t for the life of me remember the title. I have pulled his books off library shelves and can’t find it.
Wow what a question! A bunch have greatly impacted me. All the religious zealots can only give one answer, Book of Mormon, Bible, Koran, etc. And I have marveled at some things in there books. But give me Brandon Sanderson’s The Emperor’s Soul for a primer to all the other good reads?
ps. Soul in this book is different, there is an atheist compatible definition (connotation) of soul.
Emperor's Soul. I just looked. It should be a good read.
So, maybe The Good Delusion is obvious but it took me from agnostic to atheist. Revival by Stephen King had some very good things as well.
God Delusion
@OwlInASack no, what is elevator gate?
@OwlInASack gotcha, interesting story. Its always good to know everyone is flawed a little bit at least so we don't treat them as God's, right?
Sucks being white and male sometimes, you get to feeling invincible.
for me stranger in a strange land too, yes, although the door into summer was influential in its own way, and conversations and whatever all else i read by castaneda too (it's been half a century now). cancer ward by solzhenitsyn, whom, by the way, i met. davita's harp, by chaim potok, and yes i was already an atheist when i read that. so many others. even the two by john lennon!
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1984 and Brave New World were influential to my high school self.
Same here