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OT - Life-changing books and how it changed your life


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Got one? I was thinking about this. Victor Frankl's "Man's Search For Meaning" is a book about his being in German prison camp. What he did to survive. Pretty profound. It was assigned to me in a college class. I guess it might be the first time I had an inkling about mortality / brutality / human condition. It's stuck with me through the years.

 

I guess I should say The Bible as well. But not the way you usually hear people say. Reading it after I started questioning things once I got out of the Southern Baptist stranglehold on free thinking, wow, that was heavy. What the god of the Bible did and ordered done. Yikes. Took me awhile to get over it. ;)

 

My encyclopedias, as a child. Yep. I'd read those suckers for hours when there was nothing else to do. With pictures! I think it stimulated the desire to learn. Building curiousity.

 

"Guitar Pull" by Philip Self. About Nashville songwriters, their life's story, etc. I couldn't put it down. I've read it more than once. That and Paul Zollo's 'Songwriter's On Songwriting. Those two stimulated my desire to tackle songwriting in a serious way.

 

I'm not much on fiction. I can't think of any fiction that 'changed my life.'

 

EDIT: DON'T FORGET -- please add HOW it changed your life.

> > > [ Live! ] < < <

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The Art of War

 

The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran

 

I Ching

 

A Brief History of Time - Steven Hawking

 

Doors of Perception - Aldous Huxley

 

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

 

I prefer not to go into how each affected my life; both because I don't want to subject everyone to a boring lengthy treatise (and an exercise in mental masturbatory narcissism), and also because I wouldn't want my experience to color the reactions/perceptions of those who haven't yet read them.

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein. This book showed me how a SF book SHOULD be written. I became a SF junkie afterwards.

 

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn. This one showed the endurance of a single man caught in a governmental nightmare. A 'cautionary tale'.

 

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess. The fight of the individual against forced governmental conformity. This book showed me that, while someone may be no hero, he deserves individuality and the rights of a free mind.

 

The Lord of the Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkein. These books opened up the worlds of fantasy writing to me. Escapism at it's finest. When the real world gets too real, escape is possible to a world of magic and heroes.

 

1984 - George Orwell. Another 'cautionary tale' that made me an activist. Governmental conformity vs. the individual.

 

Edited to stop LiveMusic's whining ;):D:thu:

 

Happy 4th!

-Tim from Star-Spangled Jersey

Play. Just play.
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The Bible - God and a cast of thousands

 

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

 

On War - Carl von Clausewitz

 

Animal Farm - George Orwell

 

MIDI For Musicians - Craig Anderton

 

When Bad Things Happen To Good People - Harold S. Kushner

 

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

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Craig Anderton - Home recording for Musicians (circa 1979ish)

 

Armed with a Teac 3440 a wall full of egg cartons amd Craigs book I aint never been the same.I'll have to look to see if I still have that book.

 

Thanks Craig, I could have been a doctor :D

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Okay, you guys can do whatever you want to do... but you're not telling HOW IT CHANGED YOUR LIFE. Which I added to the original post within minutes of posting it. This way, it's just a list of popular books, which are all over the internet. The other way would be way more fun. ;)

 

Why don't you guys list a couple of tell how it changed your life? We could find some interesting comments.

> > > [ Live! ] < < <

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The books I choose changed my life in that they showed me success is not about luck. Its about being decisive, taking appropriate action and focusing on the goal. Then you assess the situation and if necessary, change the process to adapt for a strategic position that will take you closer to the goal.

 

The Dan Brown book I mentioned did not change my life but it was a fabulous read!

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"The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel" - Edward Abbey's semi-autobiographical novel published just before he died. The first time I read it I was aware how much it underlined the discontents in my life. I didn't realize it would help begin a complete migration from pretty much everything that made up that part of my life (wife, job, etc.).

 

Yes, it was a good thing.

 

:thu:

this house is empty now...
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The Teachings of Buddha - Changed my life in everyway.

 

Brave New World - Has given me a different perspective on societal advancement and trends.

 

The Teachings of Don Juan - Changed my viewpoint about how controlled substances should and should not be used.

 

On the Road - The book that sparked my interest in literature.

 

Dharma Bums - Opened my mind at a time it was totally needed.

 

How could I have forgotten

 

Hyperspace - Michio Kaku

 

 

honorable mention

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Melbay's Complete book of Bass Essentials

Craig Anderton - Home recording for Musicians

Travels with Charlie - John Steinbeck

Together all sing their different songs in union - the Uni-verse.

My Current Project

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Marshall McLuhan: "The Medium is the Message"

 

Igor Stravinsky: "Poetics of Music"

 

Marshall McLuhan: "The Gutenberg Galaxy"

 

Anton Bruckner: Biography

 

this books where essential for me, and gave me the strenght, and the courage to make music above bubblebum, the rest i learned from my wife...

 

.

-Peace, Love, and Potahhhhto
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When I was young:

 

1. Seuss - everything

2. James Thurber

3. Woody Allen

4. Everything by Vonnegut, including Eden Express by Mark Vonnegut (Kurt's son's account of his experience with schizophrenia)

 

Later in life:

 

Take your pick of the great modernist novels, but I'd settle on Joyce's Ulysses and something by Faulkner, probably As I lay Dying but maybe the Snopes trilogy.

 

Later in life:

 

Russell Hoban's wildly underappreciated masterpiece, Riddley Walker

Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer

Martin Amis' The Information

 

Oh so much more...

Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp
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1. The Bible - The the source for understanding the creator and sustainer of everything else.

2. Being Human by Barrs and Macauley- It helped me see the flaws in platonist and enlightenment thinking.

3. The God Who is There by Francis Schaeffer- Got me thinking. A lot.

4. Modern Times by Paul Johnson. Best synopsis on the 20th century that I've read.

5. Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian. All 21 books- great historical fiction. Didn't change my life, but for sheer reading pleasure- totally engaging.

Of course the list goes on, but not now...

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The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde

 

Oscar Wilde had a way of thumbing his nose at anyone who lacks tolerance. He forges forward with quips and sarcasm. An amazingly potent and at times venomous writer. It taught me to flip the bird to nay-sayers...

 

The Importance of Living - Lin Yutang

 

Lin Yutang was a Chinese man raised in a Catholic, privileged school in Hong Kong. He bridged the gap between western and eastern mentality. It taught me to recognize and listen to wisdom, even in the unlikeliest places.

 

The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

 

This taught me to grow up. Holden Caulfield hated "phonies", "boring people", "people with acne and poor hygiene", but most of all, "phonies." But really, he was just afraid to grow up. Not like Peter Pan, but like the pissed off young teen who hates the new adult world he's being forced into.

 

I just had I thought, Phait should read Catcher In The Rye!

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"Starship Troopers" and "Red Planet" by Robert A. Heinlein - opened my imagination and started my joy of reading at the age of 9 in fourth grade.
There are two theories about arguing with a woman. Neither one works.
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Surviving The Myth of Being Male. I can't remember the author. The hometown I was from taught me to try and beat evertbody up. You have to be the Alpha male, not true! Slowly

 "Let It Be!"

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OK Duke although I've read a lot of good books if your talking about life changing books I'd have to say " The Road Less Traveled" by M Scott Peck.

 

As far as how it changed my life I'll have to address that someother time when I don't have 12 songs staring at me begging to be mixed. ;)

 

Great read

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You Are What You Think - Doug Hooper

The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield

Conversations With God I, II, III - Neale Donald Walsch

Wisdom of the Mystic Masters - Joseph J. Weed

The Art Of War - Sun Tzu

Secrets of The Baby Whisperer - Tracy Hogg

Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger

 

I love dictionaries and thesaurus', too. :D

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One more time. PLEASE tell how it affected you. Else, it's just a book name, doesn't mean anything.

 

If it's too much effort, heck, just pick ONE.

 

Thanks! C'mon, play the game. ;)

> > > [ Live! ] < < <

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