What is the first influential book you read?
 

What is the first book you remember reading that influenced your life? How did the book influence your life?

For me, it was Salem's Lot by Stephen King. I read it when I was young (before high school), and I still occasionally will think about the prospect of a vampire child floating outside my window. It was a very scary book, and also likely the first book I clearly remember reading as a child.

Um, the Bible? Maybe the Qu'ran? Most religous texts have effected my life profoundly.

If you're talking secular works:
-Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke. I read this when I was in maybe the 7th grade. This was when I was crazy about Star Trek and such, but had not really experienced all that science fiction had to offer. One afternoon I layed back on my bed, turned on the New World Symphony by Dvorak, and read the book in a few hours. Then I read it again. Then again. It blew my mind. Never had I read a book so inspired that had to do with humanities role in the grand scheme of the universe. Evolution, philosophy, and fate were perfectly intertwined in such a way only Arthur C. Clarke can. I'd reccomend this for anyone, espically sci fi lovers. This was also my gateway to all the great science fiction writers from Ray Bradbury to Frank Herbert to Orson Scott Card to Isaac Asimov.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville. I don't know how many times I've read this book, but I remember the first time I read it: 6th grade reading time. I was reading comics (Spider-man, maybe?), and my teacher handed me an old copy of Moby Dick. I gave it a chance. I needed a dictionary, but I got through it. It took A LOT of patience and it took weeks on end, but when I had finished it not only did I consider it a great feat to finsih the book, but the whole meaning of the book was perfectly clear to me. No conversation with someone or show on TV or movie could possibly communicate as much as a book. I still consider it one of the best books ever written. I dressed as Queequeg for that halloween.

Introduction to Psychology Through Science Fiction, many authors. This was one of my dad's old text books from college (circa 1972-74ish) I happened to glance at one day. It was a simple idea: take famous short stories by famous science fiction authors to explain psychology. This opened me up to psychology. I have my B.A. in psych.

Fiction: Today I Was A Pirate. I forget the author. It's on a shelf in my room at home. My grandma bought it for me when I was 6, and it started my love affair with reading, so that's why it was influential.

Non-Fiction: The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. Taught me about basic money skills and the 10% rule. Reading this book made me want to learn more about how to control my money and make it work for me.

-Tamerlain

The Outsiders by SE Hinton, which I read in 7th grade. I really related to the kids in the book in a lot of ways because of the way I was treated at school and such. I remember finding comfort that I wasn't the only kid who dealt with the discrimination because I was "different". To Kill A Mockingbird affected me in the same way...I read that in 8th grade.

The first influential book that I read that comes to mind is, "And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street", by Dr. Seuss.
It's the first book I remember reading on my own, and I firmly believe it's what got my imagination jumpstarted.
Imagining the whole Seussian world started me thinking and questioning events and people around me, and opened my eyes up so I wasn't so self-focused.

Really influential?

I read tons of influential works in college (Nietzche, Rousseau), but the first that comes to mind was a work I read a lot as a child and one that bored the hell out of me.

The Bible.

I discovered when I was about 13-14 that I'd been reading the wrong parts of the Bible. My Sunday School had always focused on the stories of the Old Testament, the stories you can get in a picture book of Bible stories. But those never interested me; Jonah and the whale simply didn't appeal. The God in the OT didn't appeal to me.

But then I read the Beatitudes, and went to look them up in the Book of Matthew. And through reading that, I discovered a God I loved, and a God who loved me in turn. It was a huge door opening. Matthew is a much more philosophical book, more thoughtful, and I suppose that was what appealed to me most. It still appeals to me today.

Well, I know I read a hell of a lot of books while a little girl but most of those were of the "Babysitter's Club" vein. I would have to say that the very first book that blew my mind was "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gardiner. It was given to me by a friend and took me six months to read but it changed my outlook on religion being the pinnacle of thinking. I bought it a couple of years later and then found a copy in French. I don't understand that version much, but the already gorgeous writing is even better.

I would also say "Anthem" by Ayn Rand. It taught me to think completely outside the box.

George Orwell’s 1984, easily the most influential book I’ve ever read. i read it back in high school. i've always liked his work, i read Animal Farm back in grade school and loved it.

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I read Ayn Rand's Anthem when I was in 7th grade. I would say that's the first book that covered any philosophy that I had touched except for the Bible.

Chalk up another to Stranger in a Strange Land, by robert? Heinlein. Really gave me a fresh perspective on relationships, although in retrospect it is really idealistic picture he paints.

Who moved my cheese? by Spencer Johnson. It was given to me in '99 by my mom when we moved out to the country. Changed the way i dealt with the world and allowed me to come to terms with living somewhere new.

i'm sure there are others but that's what i can think of off the top of my head

The first influential book I read is Go Ask Alice by Anonymous. I must have read it when I was about 10. It's supposed to be a published diary of a girl who gets addicted to drugs after succumbing to peer pressure. I would say that was the perfect age to read that since it convinced me of several things. That peer pressure did not always have your best interests at heart and that drugs really could be dangerous.

I always enjoyed reading, but I was more into nonfiction science-type books. I did enjoy reading fiction and literature but I wasn't exactly crazy about it. I would read the occassional Stephen King book and the ones that were required of us in school, but I couldn't find a place for fiction that mattered.

Then, in my Junior year in high school, our literature teacher had us read Albert Camus' The Stranger. There was something about his style and what he had to say that spoke to me in ways I could not describe. I was a teenager with loads of issues (as if I were the only one), and this book spoke to many of the things I was feeling - apathy brought on by a lack of direction and inability to find meaning in anything. I read it in one evening and promptly read it again the next day. I have made it a habit to read one of his works at least once a year. There isn't much and I've re-read many of his books many times and each time I do, I am renewed again.

I credit that book for opening me up to all the literature I've read since then.

I really enjoyed "The Outsiders" as well. I actually remember being emotionally upset when certain events happened in the book. Good stuff.

Fiction: The Giver I remember wanting to know if there was going to be a part 2 or am I going to have to make up my own ending for the first time.

The Outsiders I felt lucky to live where I did because it was safer. but it made me think/wonder what it would be like when I was a teenager.

I don't really have an 'influential book.'

For a series, the Animorph series would probably be what got me into reading. I was off and on with books until the 6th grade when I started reading Animorphs and I read practically all of them and couldn't stop.

From that, probably another influential book for me was Great Expectations. It wasn't really anything philosophical that influenced me, just that it was the first realy fucking hard book I had to read.

I guess mentally and emotionally influential - The Great Gatsby. I've got my Daisy. The last paragraph of that book makes it without doubt my favorite book of all time.

For me, it was actually Dear Mr. Henshaw (4th grade). I don't know what exactly in it appealed to me, but it's one book that definitely stands out.

Fahrenheit 451 in 8th grade also stood out for me as well. It really shaped my views on the future and made me aware of the dangers and benefits that technology can have.

Fortunately, my junior high teacher had some good taste and helped develop my love of books. I read To Kill a Mockingbird, Brian's Song, Animal Farm, and a few other classics as well.

High school, I started getting into mainly non-fiction, and distinctly remember Fast Food Nation sophomore year. Fiction-wise, probably Catcher in the Rye (soph.) and Perks of Being A Wallflower (junior). Made me remember I was not alone and gave me more confidence in myself.

Catcha back on the flipside,
keyshawn

Catcher in the Rye - Was the first real book that I had to read at school. I was/am not much for rading books, but this is the only book that I remember that made me want to keep reading. Couldn't put it down.

Treasure Island by R L Stevenson. It started my anglophilia and also my love for all things nautical.
Going to actual source texts have also been eye-openers for me, be it the Bible or the civil law or critical theory texts.

The first novel that I remember reading and making me say 'wow' was either "The Blue Adept" by Piers Anthony, or maybe "The White Dragon" by Anne McCaffrey, which I read in either the third or fourth grade.

But as far as shaping my thoughts and philosophies Fictionwise I have to go with "Once an Eagle" by Anton Myrer. In poetry anything by Robert Frost or Emerson gets my creativity flowing. I still haven't found any Nonfiction that grabs my attention for any longer than the time it takes to read the opening paragraph.

HG Well's science fiction works were some of the first books I really go into, not sure how influential they were. War of the Worlds and Island of Dr. Moreau were my favorites.

Something that struck me at a young age were the Spider-man comics, especially the really early ones. The idea of "with great power comes great responsibility" has stayed with me. Who says comics are all bad?

1984, Farenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange (the unabridged version with the last chapter intact), Hamlet, and Huck Finn are the books that influenced me the most throughout my middle and high school years.

Vote number three for Stranger in a Strange Land. Ender's Game also had a big effect when I read it for the first time (around 13 or so). I find it weird that it's been out for 20 years.

I was in 5th or 6th grade when Roots (the miniseries) came out and I was in awe of it and then read the book. However I don't know if the book was as influential to me as the miniseries. My first thought that came to mind when I saw this thread was To Kill a Mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird has been a very influential book to me. I just wish the people in this world that are getting away with having To Kill a Mockingbird removed from school libraries would read it and comprehend it.

When I was 10, I read Lord of the Flies. It was at this point in my life that I really began to think for myself and become an independent person. My resistance to conformity hit hard.

As a freshman in college I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard. I read about myself, my feelings and my ideas. This book was therapy for me.

In search of Dibs It was the first book I read that made not being normal ok. I was about 12 when I read it and I still have the copy and I am pushing 40 +. I still admire the authors acceptance of people and hope the book made me more accepting of all sides of normal.

Hmmm...

When I was in 4th grade, we read The Giver and I remember it really having blown my mind. Apparently, Lois Lowry wrote two sequels (lthough they weren't directly about Jonas, if I recall) which I really want to read.

in 5th or 6th grade, I read John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, wih really helped guide me through some tough spots in my life, religiously and otherwise, and I loved the characters and writing so much, it was one of the biggest determinants in me becoming an English major.

When I was in high school, however, I read Tony Kuschner's Angels in America, and being in love with theatre, it spoke to me on so many levels, politically, religiously, theatrically, grammatically and had a huge impact on my worldview.

Understanding Psychology. It was a used textbook I got at a book fair when I was 12. Hence my foray into the studies of the human condition. As for novels, I wasn't really too affected or influenced until my senior year of high school when I had to do an in depth study on The Handmaid's Tale. Everything else I read just kind of went through me because I read so much. Other than that, maybe Where the Red Fern Grows or The Yearling were the first books I remember crying while reading.

I read some good books in high school that made me think. The Stranger come so mind. As far as "influential", a book that had a inpact on my life, I would have to say my second year in college when we read, The Prince.

When I was 14, I found a copy of The Cave of the Ancients by T. Lobsang Rampa on the ground. It's historical fiction from a british author under the premise that he is writing about his previous incarnation as a monk from Tibet. The book is heavy in philosophy and focused on the differences between eastern and western culture. I really enjoyed it because many of the ideas on life, technology, and society were 'outside of the box' and yet completely plausible explanations from a different perspective.

SHOGUN was the first book that made me want to skip to the end to see how it turns out. I've enjoyed the book so much I usually read it once a year. I'd by it in hard cover if I knew I wouldn't dogear the pages.

Several different chronological directions. The very first was A Wrinkle in Time which I read in elementary school (purchased through Scholastic Book Services). It was definitely a far cry from Dick and Jane.

In middle school, I discovered the Three Investigators series (Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews) who introduced me to mystery, and those books led me directly to Alfred Hitchcock books, which introduced me to the supernatural and suspense. This phase culminated into full-blown science fiction with Dune. I actually listed Sietch Tabr as my hometown on my high school ID card.

In college, my brother gave me Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden and I reversed directions toward scientific discovery. Later in college, I discovered Tom Robbins' Still Life With Woodpecker (a must-read for all redheads) and I learned how to balance science with fantasy.

When I met my wife, she got me started on Stephen King, and the circle is now complete as I have returned to the land of Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit via the Dark Tower.

I know this is way more than the thread asked for, but there so many directions with me that I couldn't limit it to just one response.

The most influencial book I read was called "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". It's basically a book that simplifies how money and personal finance works. It has raised my awareness about how important business and investing is, and since reading it, I have spent more time reading and studying about investing. It also nearly changed my career path until I realized that I'm not suited to be a business owner.

There are better books out there for learning about money and investing, but this particular book was the first one I read.

Alas, Babylon.

I think that I first read this book in the 6th grade? Close enough. That was the first influential book that I read.

The most influential? Toss up. We have 1984, Brave New World, A Handmaids Tale and Farenheit 451 all in contention.

Hmmm....I think that I see a theme here. No wonder I'm a flippin' Libertarian. :D

White Fang was the first "big book" I remember reading. And now I have a thing for snow, wolves and the mountains-big surprise there.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Brandbury was the first influential book I remember reading and the only book I ever read in school that i read again as an adult.