What book made made a big impact on you ?

Question

What is your favourite book ?, one that you keep going back to, one that affected you , the book you love to talk about.
Can you tell me why it means so much to you ?

Answer 1

A few years ago I would have said Memoirs of a Geisha - I moved to Japan a year after reading it and had never considered Japan before. It's a beautiful story that moved me from the inside out.

However, now I cannot choose one book over any other so here's a list of my favourites:

THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE - Audrey Niffenegger

The story of Clare & Henry who met when Clare was six & Henry was thirty-six, they were married when Clare was twenty-two &
Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers froma rare condition where his gentic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future.

"A Big, reckless novel... Utterly convincing" - Daily Telegraph
"Wonky, sexy, incredible"- The Times
[RATING * * * * *]


LULLABY - Chuck Palahniuk

Carl Streator is a reporter investigating Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. After responding to several calls with paramedics, he notices that all the dead children were read the same poem from the same library book the night before they died. It's a "culling song" - an ancient African spell for euthanizing sick or old people. Now he must try to find destroy all copies of the book & try not to kill everyone who gets in his way.

"There are more plot ideas in the first 30 pages... than some writers manage in a whole book." - Independent
"A black comic cauldron bubbling with contagious ideas" - Time Out
[RATING * * * *]


RING - Koji Suzuki

While journalist Asakawa is researching a bizarre sudden death syndrome, he discovers a videotape which plays not a movie, but a series of abstract subliminal images concluding with a message...
"THOSE WHO HAVE VIEWED THESE IMAGES ARE FATED TO DIE THIS EXACT HOUR ONE WEEK FROM NOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO DIE, YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY..." Then the tape cuts to static...

"A superb read that haunts you long after you've finished reading."
"Way better than the movie!" - Also ME!
[RATING * * * * ]


MY SISTER'S KEEPER - Jodi Picoult

Anna is not sick, but by age thirteen she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions and injections to help her sister, Kate, fight leukaemia. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her more. But now, she wonders what her life would be like if it weren't tied to her sisters... and so she decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

"A suspenseful, richly layered drama... (it) never loses its grip." - People
"If you use one of your children to save the life of another, are you being a good mother - or a very bad one?" - The front cover
[RATING * * * * *]


KEEPING FAITH - Jodi Picoult

For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman, and Faith, their seven year old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath... Faith begins to confide in an imaginary friend. At first, Mariah dismisses these exchanges, but Faith soon starts reciting passages from the Bible, develops stigmata, and begins to perform miraculous healings. Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl?...

"[Jodi Picoult] creates the kind of satisfying emotional conundrums that have her fans wondering about what they would have done, long after they've turned the final page." - Daily Mail
[RATING * * * * *]


FOREVER - Pete Hamill

Cormac O'Connor is on a quest to avenge the death of his parents and honor the code of his ancestors. It is a journey that takes him from Ireland to the settlement of New York, where, in return for aiding an African shaman, he is given an otherworldly gift: Cormac will live forever, as long as he never leaves the island of Manhatten...

"Hugely readable... Forever is old fashioned storytelling at a gallop"
[RATING * * * *]


GHOSTWRITTEN - David Mitchell

"The Sarin nerve gas attack in the Tokyo Subway leads to a love-affair between two semi-Japanese juvenile jazz-buffs, thence to a tea shack in revolutionary China. From there we are whisked into a rogue soul's spiritual progress through Mongolia... A cold war thriller, a love story, a cult exposé, a radio script transcript ... and... a ghost story." Lawrence Norfolk, Independent

"Not only an astonishingly accomplished first work but an indication of considerable talent in the making" Peter Ingham, The Times
[RATING * * * * ]


THE UNDERGROUND MAN - Mick Jackson

The fifth Duke of Portland is a Victorian misfit, a man who spends his time and wealth creating a network of tunnels beneath his estate. No one, not even he, understands his most persistent ache, a pain of absence that no amount of tunnelling can bring to light. The Duke's slow piecing together of the truth about his past builds to an intensely moving and powerful conclusion.

"Quite simply astonishing" - Observer
"The narrative structure is immaculate, the characterization superb, the prose so polished you can see your face in it" - Max Davidson, Daily Telegraph
[RATING * * * * *]


FINGERSMITH - Sarah Waters

London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.

"There are always novels that you envy people for not having read, for the pleasure they still have to come. Well, this is one. Long, dark, twisted and satisfying, it's a fabulous piece of writing... and unforgettable experience." - Julie Myerson, Guardian
[RATING * * * * *]

Answer 2

Creation by Gore Vidal. I just keep going back and reading it over every couple of years because I love the journey. I am an avid reader and there are a handful of books that I have to read more then once because they call out to me from the bookshelf. There are always new books to be read but as you know every so often you read something that just doesn't do anything for you. I think then it is time to read something that you love again.

A little more information about this book for those who have the time.

Some years ago, Gore Vidal hit upon the idea that one man, given a long enough life, opportunity to travel, and a knack for being in the right place at the right time, could have met face to face with Zoroaster, Socrates, the Buddha and Confucius. Vidal decided to create that man, and Creation is the result.

It may be the most panoramic historical novel ever written. (“It sounds like something Michener would write,” Vidal says, “but it is’t.”) The time: the fifth century B.C., which Vidal calls “the most extraordinary century in the history of the human race,” when “every idea we have today was conceived.” The setting: Greece, Persia, India, Cathay. The object: to illuminate the origins of the ancient thought systems that have dominated the world, East and West, ever since. Vidal has never been faulted for lack of ambition.

Creation is the memoir of Cyrus Spitama, grandson and unenthusiastic spiritual heir to Zoroaster, the original prophet of monotheism and judgment after death. As emissary of the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes, Spitama travels the world. His personal quest is for a solution to “the only important subject there is”—the creation of the universe. The hair-splitting Greeks infuriate him, the nihilism of the Buddha he finds useless; only Confucius, a fellow political animal, earns his respect. In the course of Spitama’s trek, the past reflects on the present. Creation is really about politics, and political behavior, Vidal asserts, is the same no matter where one travels in space or time, no matter what the local shamans preach. Cynicism without end, amen.

Answer 3

Ok, it's not my favorite book, but Kerouac's _Dharma Bums_ had the biggest impact on my life. I read it one Spring during college, and as soon as finals were over, I put everything I owned in storage and hitchhiked across New Mexico. Long story short, the trip basically ended when, broke and exhausted, I stumbled over a hill to see the horizon end in a black line about a mile away. It was monsoon season in Northern New Mexico and three tornadoes had formed just to my north. I returned to the village of Gallinas and managed a ride back to a friend's in Albuquerque, where it would be easier to plan a retreat. When I returned to find a new apartment for the fall semester, life just wasn't the same. And although I've never read that book again, nor any other Kerouac, if it hadn't been for it I would have never had that experience.

Answer 4

Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander

I was first exposed to this book in 1998 when I was given a copy by my father. At first glance, I thought he had given me a children's book! I had no idea of the impact this book would have on my life.

When you first sift through the pages, you would never guess that you were holding a book that would teach you the basic principals you need for success, but that is exactly what you'll find. For the younger generation, the author covers many of the areas in which you can improve yourself, provides examples on how to do so, and plants the seeds you'll need for success in the future.

Answer 5

The best book in life which has great impact of on my life is SIKH Religion HOLY BOOK called as GURU GRANTH SAHAIB.Its got written around 400 years back.but is futuire predicted by Sikh Gurus.Bcoz their is nothing else other than truth. For example its now people r saying do not mate with other except u r wife or use precation to fight against AIDs, but its400 years back it was said by sikh Gurus PAR NARI KE SEJH SAPNE BHI NA JAEO means that do not go or think of mating with others WIFE/LADY.

Answer 6

"Dream Park" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was such a fantastic book that I still cannot understand why some one in this day and age hasn't made it into a movie. With our present movie technology this would be a great movie to make and the suspense, romance and action would definitely rivet many a viewer who is too lazy to read the book.

Answer 7

First and foremost, Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead." Gave me an outlook into human nature, how people are misled by popular notions, lied to by those they entrust with power, cliques, committees, incompetents, malfeasance and inept in power because they know the "right" people... vs. the lone individual who triumphs above it all through individual cojones, integrity and courage in spite of overwhelming odds. It speaks of what Man (humanity) can accomplish once he lets go of his presumptuousness and avarice.

Then, George Orwell's "Animal Farm," and "1984." Hits "home" with what's happening today in American politics, the super-rich and powerful, and this Plutocratic Republic mistakenly called a Democratic Republic, a euphemism the rich and powerful want us to believe in.

Third, just recently went through and am still buzzing with "The Messianic Legacy" which re-affirms many of my beliefs and will probably cause people to question if they've been told the truth about the Bible... their religions, their beliefs... it is not a put-down but more so a history lesson based on documented historical events. I recommend it to those who feel strong in their faith. I recommend it likewise to those with questions about faith. I recommend it to those with an open mind, who are willing to learn. I also recommend it to those that want to know the truth.

Answer 8

"On The Road" by Jack Kerouak is the story of the beginning of the beat generation as they came back from Korea and found they could not live life as they had before. It is the beginning of beatniks who evolved into hippies then yippies in the 60's. It is coming out soon in an unabridged version that is printed on a roll of paper as Kerouak actually wrote it. Try it out. You might like it.

Answer 9

Betty Crocker Cook Book

Answer 10

"All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque It is in my opinion the greatest anti-war novel ever written. It made me realize the people who are caught up in conflicts are ordinary people like myself and often have no wish to be there or involved in the conflict. I also like the contrast between the often idealized view of war, as a masculine act and the rather emasculating reality of cooking dinner and mending socks.

Answer 11

The autobioraphy of Miss Jane Pittman, by ernest J. Gaines