The book that affected you the most?

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What is the book that has affected you the most and your way of thinking?
What is the book that affected your feelings the most?
Have you ever started to cry because of the book's contents?

Games People Play is the most useful book I've ever read. Others include the Tao Te Ching, the Bhagavad Gita, the New Testment...

To the first I have to say "Raja Yoga" by Swami Vivekananda, about so much more than yoga.

Affected my feelings? I'd say most books by aspies about aspegers.

Cry? No, never because of a book.

I saw a program on adults with ADHD, tears running down my cheeks, they are so like us aspies.

The book that has affected me the most, is Ray Davie's autobiography, "X-Ray". As I was reading the book, I've found out that both, his and my Childhood mirrored eachother, even though the Childhoods were 30 Years apart. I've also read in that book about how Ray Davies didn't care for change, very much. Another part that had touched me was how he was diagnosed with Depression and he spent a Month at a Respite. I was thinking, "This could be me, but it's Ray Davies of The Kinks!" That was strange.

I read 99.9 % non-fiction technical stuff so it would be hard to say anything moved me. I read The History of John Browing (firearms), Eugene Stoner(M-16 desiger),
Bridge over river Kwai, (there is a movie the book is alittle different) Other than
that my book titles read more like:Advance Organic Mechanism, Programming,
electronics, microbiology(you get the idea).

Cool question, interesting answers.

Mine:

What is the book that has affected you the most and your way of thinking? Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand.


What is the book that affected your feelings the most? Probably Lust for Life, the biography of Vincent Van Gogh, by Irving Stone.

Have you ever started to cry because of the book's contents? Possibly, but if so I have forgotten the incident.

Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged.

never cried for a boook. bestn boook i read?
travels.....micxhael crichton

Teh books that have most affected me:

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear (When I was very little)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (A major influence on my writing, and one of the few stories that I found I could attach my own meaning to...)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (Really made me think. Hated the sappy, happy, lovey-dovey ending, tho')
1984 by George Orwell (Another one that really made me think. About sociology, history, etc.)
Otherland by Tad Williams (The opening quotes in each chapter were brilliantly satirical, in a way that reminded me of the very world I live in)
Romeo & Juliet (Forbidden young love, beautiful secret relationships, depression... It had all the elements of the teen angst I was experiencing when I read it)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I have to say that with the guidance of my English teachera couple years back this book helped me understand a whole lot more about writing, critical thinking skills, and human nature than I would have known otherwise)
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (Read it in school and loved it. The title hero was rather violent and temperamental, but he was also a polymath, the sort of individual I tend to admire, and the concepts of being brave, honourable, and learning to overcome your fear of taking a stand have stuck with me since.)
The Call of Cthulhu and other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft (A very major influence on some of my current writing projects. This book had some of the very few stories that ever actually managed to make me cry...)

"affected you the most and your way of thinking?"

I've read so much this took a lot of reflection.
Oddly, and not because it was any good in itself, Eric Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods"

It seems to have been the first book that really broke in to me, at the age of about 14, that there were different ways of seeing the world, and raised to a practical and painful degree the problem of discriminating between them. That the book didn't survive a real examination was secondary. It, all unintended, provided a wake-up call. What other stories and views of the world that had been presented to me might be as mistaken?

"affected your feelings the most?"
Not good at feelings. Interestingly I got closer to outrage and tears at the death of Aslan than ever I did at the crucifixion of Jesus: a very effective piece of allegorical imagery.

Two novels from Tim Powers did raise the hairs on the back of my neck... Very rare for me.
The first of his I came across, "The Anubis Gates", and what I think his best, "Last Call"

If you could post the funniest I'd say:

"Three men in a boat" by Jerome K. Jerome

"Catch 22" by Joseph Heller

"The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" by Douglas Adams

I also love thrillers, Stephen King, Agatha Crhistie

Two people have mentioned "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, must be good, I'll read it.

I dont like books that make me cry...I can do that fine on my own ...
I prefer books that make me think or laugh out loud(reading is about the only time I do this)

I have been influenced by different books at different times...usually find a favorite author and try and read everything the wrote...though it can be dissapointing sometimes...some authors only have one really good book in them...

when I was in my "society sucks "phase ...I really enjoyed

Catch 22
Brave New World
Women on the Edge of Time
The Wanting Seed
1984
The politics of Experience
The Doors of Perception

then went through a "feminist" period and read everything by Maya Angelo(sp?)and others I no longer remmber but did shape some of belief system...Actually enjoy alot of the "opera" book list books even though I dont care for talk shows...some of the books were very good..others..uhm,not so much..

Last books read....
Born on the Wrong Planet
Welcome to My Country
God Knows(very funny)by Heller
Welcome To My Planet(pretty funny)

Weave World...Swan Song...Gunslinger series(Stephen King)are good escapist novels
Siddhartha and Illussions made me alittle crazy for awhile but were interesting...

Oh...just remmbered..."A prayer for Owen Meany" and "Shes Come Undone"both made me laugh and cry

Highly recommend...

White Noise....The Sharp Shooter Blues..The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman...The Neon Bible...The Drummer...and anything by T.C.Boyle...he is a genious(so is Douglas Adams)

What is the book that has affected you the most and your way of thinking?

Probably "A Perfect Spy" by John Le Carre. My interpretation of the novel is that, essentially, "A Perfect Spy" is about a man who lived a life pretending to be what others wanted. Despite the success of his career, he is never truly himself, but instead a hollow projection of other peoeple's expectations. He realises the hollowness of his life and finally strikes out on his own.

Another book was "No Logo" by Naomi Klein. That really had me thinking about globalisation, "free trade" and the ever-growing gap between affluent and poor countries.

What is the book that affected your feelings the most?

I would say "Nobody Nowhere" by Donna Williams.

Have you ever started to cry because of the book's contents?

No, but I came close while reading a passage from a Dick Francis book. He had described the murder of a young girl and how it was such a waste of life, and summed up the sentiments in half a page of searing prose. It really affected me.

the 12th planet. even if it isn't true its still a good story.

Websters dictionary. . .the Big one.
When my ex lobbed that sucker at me, I was out cold for hours. So yes, I can safely say websters dictionary made an impact on me.

The lord of the Rings, if only because i grew up with it as a child, my dad used to read it to us at bedtime and i love fantasy and lotr kinda started all that. There are plenty of other books i love, i tend to go in phases, i'll read crime for a month, then fantasy, then vampire books etc.

I've cried at a lot of books ( and laughed too) but when i was younger a passage from Anne of Green Gables used to get me...every time!! !