Home› General Chat
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options

Books that change the way you live your life

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited January 2023 in General Chat
Someone was talking to me the other day about a book that, they said, changed the way they live their life. I thought, bullshit. Anyway I want a book that'll make me look at the way I live my life - Not that there's anything wrong with the way I live my life, just that any book capable of doing so must be a good read. I'm looking for a book to read anyway you see because word on the street is 'knowledge = power'.

I wish it didn't have to be a personal question and I could get some answers of books universally accepted as life-changing ones, but y'know.

No romance >_<

Chars.
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Life of Pi by Jan Martell. Perhaps not completely life changing, but it definitely made me think. It makes you wonder about how people see the world around them, and how significant events affect their views.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Read Hesse's book DAMIEN and didn't care for it much. Then I read the Bastardized interpretation of it called FIGHT CLUB by Chuck Palahniuk and it caused me to make some changes.

    Funny how the rip-off meant more than the original.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh, Hermann Hesse's Demian certainly changed my perspective, though it's not going to have the same impact on everyone.

    However, the first book that springs to mind is The Chosen by Chaim Potok... or Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky. I can't recommend either enough.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hmm. Life of Pi. I think that author was trying a little too hard to make a great philosophical amaaazing thought provoking novel there - but it was still a good read.

    I think the three books that most changed my life were 'Illusions', and 'Jonathon Livingston Seagull' and Plato's 'The Republic'. The first two just because they are such peaceful, beautifully written sweet tales. And the third because after reading Plato. I decided that I wanted to study philosophy, which has totally changed the direction of my life I think.
  • Options
    **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    wooooooooah wrote:
    The Life of Pi by Jan Martell. Perhaps not completely life changing, but it definitely made me think. It makes you wonder about how people see the world around them, and how significant events affect their views.

    Interesting... I just started reading this book on the train this morning. (I know I'm a bit behind!) :) .
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm prepared to be laughed out of town but for me it was Life After God by Douglas Coupland. I can even pin point the paragraph:

    "Well, Clappy the Kitten was going to be a movie star one day. But the she rang up too many bills on her MasterCard and had to get a job as a teller at the Hong Kong Bank of Canada to pay them off. Before long she was simply too old to try becoming a star - or her ambition disappeared - or both. And she found it was easier to just talk about doing it instead of actually doing it......."


    Not that I want to be a film star but yeah.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Infinite wrote:
    I'm prepared to be laughed out of town but for me it was Life After God by Douglas Coupland. I can even pin point the paragraph:

    "Well, Clappy the Kitten was going to be a movie star one day. But the she rang up too many bills on her MasterCard and had to get a job as a teller at the Hong Kong Bank of Canada to pay them off. Before long she was simply too old to try becoming a star - or her ambition disappeared - or both. And she found it was easier to just talk about doing it instead of actually doing it......."
    A lot of truth in that one paragraph. I'm sure most people can relate to it with some aspect of their life. Hopes and dreams, and all that stuff.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dunno.

    Dostoevskii's Brothers Karamazov was pretty good and did kinda make me think about my life for a minute or two. Books don't generally strike me that much. I reread 1984 the other day and that was still pretty poignant.
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    cheque books changed my life in the seventies.
    i discovered it could be great fun spending other peoples money!
  • Options
    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The Kama Sutra? The Atkins Diet Book? The Bible?
Sign In or Register to comment.