I was asked this question, without any elaboration, by a college professor. Without thinking I blurted out "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." While it is a great book I have to question whether it is the most "important" book I've ever read. It certainly changed my life and how I looked at the world, but IMPORTANT?
Looking back, I have to say now that the most IMPORTANT book I've ever read has to be the Stephen Mitchell translation of "Tao te Ching." While it technically may be a religious book, and I am not a religious person by any means, it went a very long way in transforming my way of thinking about the world around me while I was in high school.
PS. I purposely did not define IMPORTANT. You decide what it means to you. I also exclude the Bible so I don't get 50 of the same answers.
2006-12-29 04:11:20 · 14 answers · asked by walt flanagan's dog 3 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Polls & Surveys
I KNOW many people think the Bible is a very important book. That's why I excluded it. I want your opinions on OTHER books. If you cannot follow the parameters of the question, why bother answering???
2006-12-29 05:35:52 · update #1
The Naked Sun by Issac Asimov. A foreign exchange student in elementary school let me borrow it (many many years ago). That book opened my eyes to completely different meaning of things and life.
2006-12-29 04:20:59 · answer #1 · answered by blueeyeskenai 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon
2006-12-29 04:14:45 · answer #2 · answered by oana 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hey Nostradamus!: A Novel
by Douglas Coupland
2006-12-29 04:14:39 · answer #3 · answered by borris0298 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's hard to pick one, and I don't intend to. Don't like it? Mod me down.
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Summary: your intrinsic value is all about doing best what you do best. What you feel and want and are entitled to are a miasma of meaningless drivel.
"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Summary: of course, there is a beauty to meaningless drivel. And if your best pursuit is to write primarily to expose the beauty of your language, then your name is probably Jane Austen.
"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. Summary: and if your finest purpose is to write about, generally speaking, nothing, then you are probably well adjusted to your presonal relevance to a strictly scientific universe.
So, there. Have at. Read all three before returning to work tomorrow and you'll be a better person for it.
2006-12-29 07:00:01 · answer #4 · answered by meandlisa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK but the Bible is the most important book in the entire world after all it is the inspired word of God, but SECOND best book I have is
The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, by
James Strong,I.I.D.,S.T.D.
Christian in Pa.
(I love the story of Black Beauty too., and Old Yellar!) The lessons are great in these books.
2006-12-29 04:25:18 · answer #5 · answered by Penny Mae 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, which should be on the reading list of any American who wants to understand what the relationship between a governing body (e.g. the US goverment) and an economic system (e.g. consumers and their love for consumption; producers and their love of consumers) should be, and also why that relationship matters.
2006-12-29 04:16:20 · answer #6 · answered by Prisoner081406 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance is a good book.
so is Nietzsche's 'genealogy of morals'. and John Ralston Saul's 'volatire's bastards'. those should be read by any capable of doing so.
2006-12-29 04:24:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Im sticking with the Bible. sorry
2006-12-29 04:17:51 · answer #8 · answered by brock 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
sexology
I found out the miracle of birth giving and learned it was never a bird that brought me to mom and dad
2006-12-29 04:14:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
FM 21-76 you shouldn't have to ask why....
2006-12-29 04:22:05 · answer #10 · answered by The Pooh-Stick Kid 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋