I am curious which books readers have found personally convincing and influential, when it comes to important aspects of their understanding of the world.
In particular, it would be interesting to hear about books that were first read during childhood and which immediately provoked a great deal of thought.
Author: Milan
In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford.
Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.
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“The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles” by Julie Edwards. I loved the adventure narrative, but the aspect that provoked thought was its emphasis on perception as a learned skill, not something you simply “do”. In the book the children have to repeatedly learn how to see in order to attain some goal. This distinction between “simply looking” and learning how to look by looking, and thereby transcending the initial model that you bring to the world – it catapulted me into philosophy and later phenomenology.
As a child –
“Roots” by Alex Haley
As an Adult –
“The Revolution will not Be Microwaved” and “Wild Fermentation” By Sandor Katz
“Teaming with Microbes” by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis
There were a couple of authors who had a very profound impact on my conception of feminism and of the way a story can be told from different, gendered perspectives.
The first was the “Song of the Lioness” quartet by Tamora Pierce, the other was “The Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmers Bradely.
I’ll split the difference and say that one of the most important books as a teen was The color of Water by James McBride.
This is a very wide subject. For the moment I remember the 1884
Victorian novella Flatland by Edwin Abbott. Abbott writes about a two-dimensional world , Flatland, where the shapes that inhabit it have a difficult time seeing beyond their dimensions. people find it.
The book is only 100 pages. I began it before a shift as a server in a bar over thirty years ago and kept reading it and completing it during my shift. It has stayed with me as an example of how we can stay blinkered within the world we know.
From my childhood, “The Phantom Tollbooth”by Norton Juster. I think it was my first memorable brush with absurdity and I definitely remember laughing out loud at parts.
Good question Mil.
Wild Fermentation was recently featured on Cool Tools.
I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now, ever since you first posed the question. Mine are The Little Princess, The Incredible Journey, and Charlotte’s Web.
I learned about poverty from The Little Princess, which was a riches-to-rags story about a privileged little girl who becomes orphaned and is subsequently treated very badly. I say I learned about poverty from this book, which is kind of ironic since I was living in poverty when I read it as a child. But really, it was the first book that made me really think about poverty and stigma and stuff like that.
From the other two books, I learned about animals and hardship and rooting for the underdog. From Charlotte’s Web, I learned that every life has value to the creature living it, even a lowly spider’s. From The Incredible Journey (which was about two dogs and a cat traveling thousands of miles to get reunited with their family, and enduring unthinkable hardships along the way), I learned to Never Give Up No Matter How Hopeless Things Seem Right Now.
I think all of these books – and a few others – in some way shaped my world view as a child.
That’s a very good question, by the way.
It seems from the comments to date that the most influential books are often books we read in our childhood.
Some books I can remember reading over and over as a child, and finding compelling:
My Side Of The Mountain by Jean George
The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Chemistry
The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Physics
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
I am sure there are lots of others, and I don’t have a clear recollection of what I read as a very young child.
I also remember reading Ender’s Game and My Side of the Mountain as an adult. They were also books that left a strong impression on me as an adult.
In my book club after 9 years and 100 books, there was a session to determine which of those 100 books was the best. The winner was Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance”.