What book had the most significant impact on your life?

Totally off-the-wall response, but "The Antipope" by Robert Rankin.
I picked up a copy of this in Barcelona in 1982 at the now-closed Libreria Salas. The author blurb mentioned that Rankin was Writer in Residence at an arts centre near to where I was living; so when I got back to London I enquired further, and attended performance nights that he hosted. There, I met people who became my closest friends, and we have remained close ever since. (in one case I already knew this person via writers' workshops but suggested we go to Rankin's Poems and Pints sessions - we might not have become friends without our shared experience of that).
"The Antipope" itself is comedy-horror nonsense, fun but not as good as some of his later books.
 
jim_slim said:
What book had the most significant impact on your life?

For me the Bible!

Some good reads are Frank Peretti books “Piercing the Darkness” and “This present Darkness”. They are about spiritual warfare.
Click to expand...

Okay.

Okay.

Crash, by JG Ballard. Life changing. Radical. Formative. Mysterious. Shocking. Disgusting. Beautiful. Brilliant. Challenging.
 
Last edited:
Very narrow audience, but The Velvet Rage by psychologist Alan Downs. It explains why living in a Straight world causes Gay men issues of shame, rage and self-hatred. It also outlines the corresponding actions, like promiscuity, perfectionism, cattiness and the inability to form long-term relationships. I had already moved past these when I read it but it made me think "so that's why I acted that way when I was younger". It was eye-opening.
 
For me it was a French book that I read when I was in my teens called "Le Grand Meaulnes". I absolutely loved his descriptions. It was quite poetic and so well written. The author Alain Fournier only wrote one book (he was a soldier during WW1 and was killed at the beginning of the war). It is an old book. It was written in 1913. From what I read, it was translated in English a few times but unfortunately the translations were pretty bad and the book was not well appreciated by the public.
 
What book was significant for me? Nothing really stands out, except one. It was "Two Years Before the Mast", by Richard Dana, written in 1834. Not that I ever read it, but in high school I was assigned over and over to read it. Dana wrote ONE sentence that stretched over three pages. Time and time, I tried to slog through it and never got past page 8. I'm dyslexic, so sentences with 12 clauses and 1800s language beat me up. First year in college, yup, it was on the reading list. I couldn't get away from the book. For me, reading this book was like running into a brick wall.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
What book was significant for me? Nothing really stands out, except one. It was "Two Years Before the Mast", by Richard Dana, written in 1834. Not that I ever read it, but in high school I was assigned over and over to read it. Dana wrote ONE sentence that stretched over three pages. Time and time, I tried to slog through it and never got past page 8. I'm dyslexic, so sentences with 12 clauses and 1800s language beat me up. First year in college, yup, it was on the reading list. I couldn't get away from the book. For me, reading this book was like running into a brick wall.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's kind of how I felt about a book I was required to read in school, The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top