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This book changed my life . . .

#42
eedre said:
Can't say I've read anything that has changed my life. Maybe opened up my eyes a little bit. But I don't go looking for the answers to life's questions in literature written by people that wouldn't know anymore than a thoughtful conversation with a good friend.
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I can assure you that writers like Sartre,Kierkegaard,Heidegger,Wittegenstein - know a lot more about life's questions than your friends!! :p
 
#47
Bruce Lindfield said:
I've read a few of Pratchett's books and they are funny - but not very "substantial"...:hmm:

In fact I would day they are the very opposite of "Life-changing" - read,laugh and forget... IME! :p
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I'll grant you they aren't deep thoughtful pieces that make you ponder the real meaning behind everything you see.

But man, I need them. I think a lot of antidepressant sales would be unnecessary if Pratchett published more often.

And as for actuall life changing books, I'll paraphrase Terry, because I don't have the original in front of meL "All books are dangerous. Not just ones with titles like 'How To Make Gelignite The Easy Way'. Take for example, when a German philosopher living in Vienna writes an exteded blatherinf manifesto that somehow becomes a best seller, and the next thing you know, milllions are dead because some of the people who read it didn't get the joke."
 
#53
Because you dont realize to which extent literature can open your mind. Dismissing everything ever written like you just did is silly. It's like someone telling you "oh well I dont listen to music it does nothing for me, but I'm a big movies fan".
 
#55
Who does? Its just very interesting to see an entirely new perspective which you hadnt thought of, helps you build up your own views of things with more ideas on hand.

That and uh... its art? ;)
 
#57
Its not about pinpointing what is right and what is wrong, its about perspective. Just because you know more of the story doesn't mean you have to change your point of view which was previously based on facts. It makes you think, which is always good, regardless of the rightness of the opinion.
 
#59
Bard2dbone said:
On a healthier mental note, anything Terry Pratchett has ever written should be required reading. He is the funniest author in existence.

I have bought at least a half dozen copies of Good Omens. I read it again, laugh myself silly, again, and loan it to someone never to get it back...again. Then I buy a new copy and do it all over again.

He wrote Good Omens with Neil Gaiman back when he and Neil were just a couple of guys. At the time neither of them had yet become the publishing juggernauts that they later grew into.

By the way. Gaiman's American Gods should also be rquired.
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Yeah, really. Good Omens is definitely the funniest book I've ever read. I've got dozens of Pratchett books kicking around the house, and everything Gaiman has written except for his Sandman series.

I'm actually in the middle of re-reading American Gods as we speak. Such an amazing book.
 

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