# Books that have inspired you in life



## Sonny (Dec 27, 2011)

Im not much of a reader, so when I do pick up a book it usually has to be exactly what I want, which can be a problem and I usually end up not reading anything. This forums probably a place where I can find a lot of people who have similar mindsets, so hopefully share similar tastes in literature?


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## TheLoneRat (Dec 27, 2011)

well first off, what authors do you like?


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## TheLoneRat (Dec 27, 2011)

It's always nice to read coming of age stories on the road because traveling usually has something to do with it.


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## Sonny (Dec 27, 2011)

Its hard to say who I like because of how little I read, Dan Brown is always fun, but just doesnt write about the kind of stuff Im interested in anymore, same with Mario Puzo. I really want a good adventure book, something about hitting the road or going nomad, something not to dated. Or something epic like lord of the rings, but not so..lord of the ringsy? lol


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## fateoficarus (Dec 27, 2011)

TheLoneRat said:


> It's always nice to read coming of age stories on the road because traveling usually has something to do with it.


 
Evasion is one of my favourite books about traveling


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## TheLoneRat (Dec 27, 2011)

hmm. have you read _The Road?_ by Cormac McCarthy. pretty grim but also a rather beautiful story.


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## Sonny (Dec 27, 2011)

TheLoneRat said:


> hmm. have you read _The Road?_ by Cormac McCarthy. pretty grim but also a rather beautiful story.


 
I saw the movie, I really liked it but even though the books probably a billion times better as they tend to be, I want a fresh new story, as ignorant as that might sound.


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## littlekittenteeth (Dec 27, 2011)

The outsiders which is a classic. Mr. Was a very good book if you are into time travel!!


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## TheLoneRat (Dec 27, 2011)

gotta say hemmingway's _Old Man and the Sea_ is one of my favs. Ironically, I read this along with _Cannery Row _by john steinbeck.

_Grapes of Wrath _and _East of Eden_ are two others of his which have really influenced me.


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## fateoficarus (Dec 27, 2011)

Anything written by Noam Chomsky is pretty damn good


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## Sonny (Dec 27, 2011)

I thought of another theme I really like, the oddesy theme, like in Cold Mountain or Legends of the Fall.


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## zhivago (Dec 27, 2011)

_east of eden_ is an amazing book. 
i like a lot of poetry, frank o'hara particularly. 
i love _eeeee eee eeeeee_ by tao lin,
henry rollins' _solipsist _and _black coffee blues_
i finished _steppenwolf_ a week ago which was interesting.


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## Asar (Dec 27, 2011)

The Call of the Wild and the Hobbit are the two books I read as a kid that made me want to travel and have some sort of adventurous life. As far as reading after I got older, my favorite and most inspiring book is easily The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen.


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## Kim Chee (Dec 27, 2011)

...not sure if I've been inspired in life by literature. I kinda like short stories myself. I don't have to invest a lot of time to read 300 pages to discover a book sucks. 
If its only 5-20 pages I'm not going to be disappointed if the story isn't up my alley. Just kinda flick to the next one and off you go.

http://bestsciencefictionstories.com/category/science-fiction-short-story-reviews/


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## Nemo (Dec 27, 2011)

Get some novels by Kerouac man! He's real easy to read and keeps you interested.


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## CXR1037 (Dec 27, 2011)

The Savage Detective - Roberto Bolaño

That book blew On The Road out of the water. 

Also:
- Anything Richard Brautigan (Trout Fishing in America, In Watermelon Sugar, The Abortion, to name a few...)
- Any issue of A Public Space (one of my favorite lit mags)


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## lalalazoe (Dec 27, 2011)

jack kerouac's sexist, but his literature is undeniably inspiring and exciting, and easy to read. there's also Bound for Glory, by Woody Guthrie, which is his autobiography, which is sickkk! AND it has tons to do with the great depression and the old hobo and freight hopping scene back then. also gives you an insight into what childhood was like before we all got so easily brainwashed by mainstream media - videogames, movies, etc. they actually DID shit. theres a sweet, epic chapter about a slingshot battle they have over the kids' fort on a hillside near their town. a lot of old lingo from back then too.
happy reading


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## hobogestapo (Dec 27, 2011)

Charles Bukowski Women. its semi-autobiographical. if you like science-fiction H.P. Lovecraft


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## Sonny (Dec 27, 2011)

I think im going to pick up a kerouac book, I looked him up and he sound pretty interesting, a lot of people on the internet say on the road and dharma bums are the best, which one would you reccomend?


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## ftcollinsanarcho (Dec 27, 2011)

living my life by emma goldman
prison memoirs of an anarchist by alexander berkman
fathers and sons by ivan turgenev


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## Avering (Dec 27, 2011)

I'll say that the books that inspired me greatly in life were most likely A series of Unfortunate Events, )When I was much younger)
And more recently, The Idiot, by Dostoevsky.

I have read a lot of movies based on books and I'd say that the books must be great, so I'll also tell you some of those movies:
Lord of the rings, trainspotting, ghost in the shell(manga), harry potter


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## CXR1037 (Dec 27, 2011)

lalalazoe said:


> jack kerouac's sexist, but his literature is undeniably inspiring and exciting, and easy to read.
> happy reading


 
I think Kerouac was more a product of his generation than a sexist (but I haven't read the entirety of his works, so I could be way off on this). 


I seriously think everyone should read more Latino authors. Bolano, Mario Vargas Llosa (reading Death in the Andes right now, it's epic), Borges, even the guys like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 

cxR - "everything that begins as a comedy ends as a comic monologue, only we aren't laughing anymore."


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## sons of vipers (Dec 28, 2011)

Kerouac-On the Road
Allan Ginsberg-Howl
Cormac McCarthy-The Road
Jon Kracaur-Into The Wild


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## christianarchy (Dec 28, 2011)

All Dorothy Day.
Daniel Quinn - Ishmael
Shane Claiborne - Common Prayer, Jesus for President, Irresistible Revolution.
The Bible.
Margaret Atwood - Oryx & Crake.


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## foxx (Dec 28, 2011)

ah, i love anything by Kerouac. as a kid my favorite was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. One of my favorites now is The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, i've never found a character i could relate to so well. i'm currently in the middle of Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and it's fantastic


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