FireDigger Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 The only two books I've read twice are The Stranger by Albert Camus and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I also like anything from Chuck Palahniuk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfort Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 The Bible...read it as a kid and it kept me out of religion for life!Zen, and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Got me thinking in new ways. I forgot about that one, which is strange. Reading that book was actually one of the things that got me into the practice of QiGong. Now it has been 15 years of practicing QiGong almost every day! Thanks for the reminder! I think I´ll read it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonInChiTown Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts True story of an Australian convict escapes the country to spend 10 of his fugitive years in Bombay. AMAZING story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khomeinist Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 A number of writers have had an effect on my thinking. First and foremost. Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of Morals and Beyond Good and Evil are two gospels in my personal bible. For those who are academically inclined (whatever that means), I also enjoy Hume, Kuhn, Feyerabend, Foucault, and several others. I strongly recommend Richard Lewontin for anyone interested in genetics. On a somewhat lighter note here are a few recommendations (so many great books already mentioned) Dead Souls (Gogol) Perhaps an all-time favorite King Leopold's Ghost (Adam Hochschild) Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) How to Sell (Clancy Martin) This book might be of particular interest to those who are in the watch/chronograph business. Cynical and amusing read Anything by Thomas Bernhard, Samuel Beckett, Stendhal, or Melville (Confidence Man!) Lol. No Chicken Soup titles in my library. Props to my friends on this forum who have mentioned books by Alan Moore and Albert Camus. Any of you old Hippies/Yippies like Dharma Bums? I enjoyed that when I was younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImTripN2 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 X2 on Atlas Shrugged. I've read this three times, once for the novel, once for the philosophy, and once in a effort to comprehend the whole. A thought provoking and difficult book to be sure, but well worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dbone Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Read Atlas Shrugged then 1984 then Animal Farm and see if you keep your grip on social reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rob Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Yes. Neil Gaiman. Really like his stuff.I've never tried the Sandman series. Since they are graphic novels, do you think you have to approach them with some kind of different mind set? Do they read differently than a "regular" novel? Yeah, they do read differently... but "differently" by no means means negative or poorly. The series is an amazing journey that has won numerous awardspreviously reserved for novels and solely text based media. I really do recommend it highly. Check out the Wikipedia page for a synopsis and other info. --> Wiki Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazolaman Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Probably like everyone else who smokes a cigar,I like to read! But,to take the question as it was given,books that have helped to change or form me are- No Logo-Naomi Klein. A great description of modern capitalism,branding,and the true cost of modern life. 1984 - not an original choice,but the novel still highlights many recurring themes of society. Billy Liar- excellent,made me realise I wasn't the only teenager who thought he was special.Really funny. As I walked out one midsummer morning-laurie lee - I admired his will to get up and fight for his cause. Too many to mention..... I too will take a look at others suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torontonian Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It's nice to hear Hesse mentioned. All too often he is left by the wayside. Gertrude is my personal favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 For me, a book called "Shake Hands With The Devil", by retired L.Gen. Romeo Dallaire. He was the Canadian general in charge of the U.N. mission in Rwanda during the mass genocide that occured there. It's a very powerful book, his step-by-step recounting of what led up to what happened there, and then, the ghastly events that led to the slaughtering of 800,000 or so in about 3 months. Some very shocking and horrific moments of our recent history. Something that the world had promised, with the formation of the U.N., would never again happen after the atrocities of World War II - and how this was the ultimate miserable failure of that main mandate for that organization. It's an amazing read, to see how such a man was so literally, both emotionally and spiritually decimated by the actions of those around him, and how he's come to terms with what happened. My wife (was then just my girlfriend) gave me this book as a Christmas gift when I was in college for policing back in 2003/2004. I got through about 1/2 of it, and had to put it away, finished it up a few years later when we got married. Aside from magazines or other articles or reference books (like MRN's tome), I haven't actually read an actual novel since then. Not a one. I just feel that nothing can compare - the imagery of this book still stays with me today. Hauntingly powerful, and in a strange way, gives hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montaigut Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 @CanuckSARTech There was an interesting article on Dallaire in the November 4th edition of the Globe... FYI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Gargett Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 scoop and american gods both superb books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongboy Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Shantaram by Gregory David RobertsTrue story of an Australian convict escapes the country to spend 10 of his fugitive years in Bombay. AMAZING story! x 2 Beautifully written story. The author was, at one time, Australia's most wanted man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Capitan Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Rob, for a successful businessman like you I highly recommend "Only Two Seats Left! - The Incredible Contiki Story". Just published this year and really drives home the need to continually innovate to stay ahead of the competition. Best of all it’s a great rags to riches story about John Anderson the Kiwi founder of Contiki Tours. Highly motivational stuff. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Presidente Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 I can't thank you guys and girls enough. I have enough books for the year Overall I am an avid reader of a book a week and that covers all from fiction to non and fantasy to autobiography/business/spiritual. I can't remember who said it but I am a believer in that the difference in the person you are today and the person you will be in 10 years is "the books you read and the people you meet" To be honest it has been the story of my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Robinmzg Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Well for me it is Albert Camus The Stranger also Dostojewskis The Player and every book that was written by Raymond Chandler Greetings from Germany Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalebread Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Did someone say “picture books” ? I’ve been into maps lately and have been looking at a bunch of interesting books on maps. Historical maps. Contemporary maps. Maps chiseled into rocks. Maps used for propaganda. All kinds of maps. Pictures, mostly. Just in case you want to take a break from all that reading in front of you, Prez. The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katharine Harmon and Gayle Clemans. 2010. Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities by Frank Jacobs. 2009. You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine Harmon. 2003. To the Ends of the Earth: 100 Maps That Changed the World by Jeremy Harwood. 2006. Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline by Anthony Grafton and Daniel Rosenberg. 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 @CanuckSARTechThere was an interesting article on Dallaire in the November 4th edition of the Globe... FYI Yup, saw it. Quite frequently, when anything about him pops up in the news, I take a keen ear to it, and see how things are developing/changing with him over the years. I also have a DVD documentary on him, also called "Shake Hands With The Devil", about his reconciling with himself a decade or so after the events unfolded. Amazing man - for how broken he had to become, to end up being such a heroic figure of strength to Canadians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montaigut Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Amazing man - for how broken he had to become, to end up being such a heroic figure of strength to Canadians. Indeed. When he was a cadet at RMC his mates at RMC thought highly of him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Indeed. When he was a cadet at RMC his mates at RMC thought highly of him... LOL. While that may be true, I'm sure it's not understating it to say that all of Canada thinks very highly of him, then, now, and in the foreseeable future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoyopr Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Rob, although this isn't the #1 book it would probably be #2, "A Simple Path" - Mother Theresa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesuscookies Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 There are 2 books that I would suggest. The first is called Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice. The second is actually a novella from Herman Melville, called bartleby the scrivener. In the 20 years since I first read these stories, I have never been able to forget them. They are a bit odd, and I think that is what I like about them most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stalebread Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 The Sandman (the whole 75 issue series) by Neil Gaiman Thanks for the tip on The Sandman. Picked up Volume One at the library this afternoon. Looking forward to starting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NitrousPurger Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk always puts life in perspective for me and I cant really tell you why. plus the story has one of the greatest twists ive ever seen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolivr Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Kerouac's On the Road - couldn't put it down but I suspect now that it resonated at the time of life when anything seems possible, late teens, breaking away from family and expectations I guess. Still want to take a long road trip through the USA. Obama's Audacity of Hope described many of the beliefs I hold close but couldn't quite articulate. Better leave that one alone - wouldn't want to start discussions which have been banned before There was also a book which I am sorry to say I cannot remember the title but it documented the beginning of heroin being easily procured in Harlem, perhaps in the 1950s and how this destroyed the community. Couplands Generation X The first four of Chopper Read's books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.e2a46b57b5880109ddf171d1b6f9daea.png)
Recommended Posts