Your Most Influential Book

[floater]

Downtownguy's recommendation of The Power Broker reminded me of others I've met who've described it as the most influential book in their life. I'm a fan of city building, but discovered the field too late for it to have had a tremendous effect on me.

As a kid, instead of reading kid's books, I read my dad's books. One of these was Peggy Noonan's What I Saw at the Revolution. She was one of the stars of the Reagan speechwriting department and wrote Bush's famous "Read my lips: no new taxes" speech. Her inside take on the Reagan Administration is filled with interesting anecdotes about the culture of that White House, but it was her comedic irony and poetic prose that I absolutely ate up as a kid. To this day, no other book has shaped my writing style more than this one.

What about you guys and gals? What's the most influential book you've read?

[mranderson]

I wonder how many will respond with "The Holy Bible?"

Influential? I really do not have one. It would probably be a book on conservative politics.

[Keith]

You are so right, mranderson.........the most influential book for me is the Holy Bible . To me, it is the blueprint of how we should all live our lives. I don't read it as much as I should, however, when I need answers, it is The Book that I go to. BTW, mranderson, if you don't have a Bible, I can get one for you...if you like.

[mranderson]

Actually Keith, I have several Bibles including one my mom gave me the day I was born, but I appreciate the offer.

[Joe Schmoe]

This is like favorite songs, impossible to name just one. My list would change from time to time & the order would be flexable.

Okay, Bible as a given, (at least here.) In particular the Psalms, & for entertainment value, Revelations.

Lets see;
the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Shock of the New
Mein Kampf
Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
Goedel, Escher, Bach
Une Semaine de Bont
A Separate Reality

And right up there with the Bible would be the I-Ching. (They are not incompatable because Confucianism is a mode of conduct & not a religion.)

A top ten is the closest I can get.

[floater]

Hey, Joe Schmoe, I'm curious as to what you took from Mein Kampf. This is half-serious question

[Joe Schmoe]

"I'm curious as to what you took from Mein Kampf. This is half-serious question"

I was serious about the book. It was very influential to me because it helped me to understand how constructs can be developed to rationalize incredible actions, like the need to methodicaly kill 6 million people.

Hitler's book is very pernicious in the development of its twisted logic. When I was reading it, the ideas haunted me even though I knew they were wrong. It takes core beliefs that almost seem like common sense and skillfully intertwines them with only a few falsehoods. Most of what Adolph says is true... & his logic is good, but those little kernels of hatred turn it all into the imperative to save the homeland... by violent means.

W.W.II was huge in my life, just because of my proximity to its time. It always seemed too easy to label people like Hitler & Goering as "EVIL." I wanted to know what they really thought, & how they convinced others to do horrible things. So I read as much of their actual words as i could.

I still don't understand Nazis anymore than I understand Charley Mansion, but I realize that no one ever thinks they are bad. They have good reasons to do what they do. It gives me perspective in current events.

Even Adolph was good to his dogs, they loved him...

[floater]

Interesting. No matter the subject, I think if we took the time you did to try to understand how this person could do what he did, we'd be better off as a society. I don't think we should condone terrible deeds, but the act of putting oneself in another person's shoes allows us not to get so caught up in our self-righteousness.

[Midtowner]

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead
War & Peace
Roots
Bible
Quotations of Chairman Mao Tse Tung (aka "The little red commie book)

[Luke]

For me, the Bible is the most influential.

Next to that is CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity". Just an amazing philosophical take on Theism and Christianity. "How Now Shall We Live" is a book by Chuck Colson. It's essentially a handbook on healthy, wholesome spiritual living. Very practical.

Of course, conservative political books are always fun reads. Ann Coulter's books "Slander" and "Treason" are fun. CBS insider Bernard Goldberg's exposé on media bias entitled "Bias" is particulary timely with the whole Dan Rather thing. And it's a great read.

There are others, I'm sure...

[Joe Schmoe]

Oh yeah! the Fountainhead is one of my most cherished books! Roark's testimony in court about the soverenty of the individual creative is like an anthem.

"Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. ...

That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning.

No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he authored and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive.. His own truth, and his own work to achieve in his own way. ... "

The movie is pretty great too.

Mao talked a lot about fighting a larger force with a smaller one. Our leaders would do well to read his book to understand how they can be beaten by a rag tag group of people with a cause.

Luke, did you see the PBS show recenly that staged a kind of debate between CS Lewis & Freud? Excellent.

[floater]

Midtownwer, did you know that Tolstoy was originally going to call it War, What is it Good For?

[Luke]

Joe Schmoe, I saw the first part of the CS Lewis / Freud series on PBS. I have the second part recorded but haven't seen it yet. I agree, excellent.

[Floating_adrift]

A few favorites

Godel, Escher, Bach
The Selfish Gene
The Blind Watchmaker
The Traveler's Gift
Being Digital
Engines of Creation

[Midtowner]

Midtownwer, did you know that Tolstoy was originally going to call it War, What is it Good For?

No kidding?

It's a hell of a book at any rate. I'd recommend it to anyone. Not only is the story really, really good, it raises some great philisophical points about the way we view "great men" in history and what makes them great. Kind of a chicken or the egg thing.

It's long as hell, but I swear to God, as dull as some people made it sound, to me, it was a real page turner.

[mranderson]

A few favorites

Godel, Escher, Bach
The Selfish Gene
The Blind Watchmaker
The Traveler's Gift
Being Digital
Engines of Creation

Never heard of any of them. Who wrote them? A brief discription of what they are about would not hurt.

[Floating_adrift]

Never heard of any of them. Who wrote them? A brief discription of what they are about would not hurt.

K, they're linked

[floater]

Yeah, I hadn't heard any of them so I checked the links. They are pretty interesting titles! When I get some time, I gonna check out that Godel, Escher, and Bach book. Thanks for opening these to us!!

[floater]

No kidding?

Well, actually, Midtowner, I was kidding. It was another line from Seinfeld I like to drop in every now and then. When Elaine (as a book editor) tells Jerry she's meeting a Russian author, he says that and she takes it. Later, when meeting that author in a limo, her boss tries to stop her from insisting on it because he knows better. The author doesn't buy it either, and later throws out her cell phone because it keeps ringing.

[nurfe75]

Is everyone in Oklahoma a right wing Christian? Just curious. I don't mean to pick fights, and I definitely understand wanting to read Mein Kampf for academic reasons (I have a lit degree and I couldn't get through it, though), but what exactly is the point of trying to shine light on the GOOD side of Hitler?

Two separate questions, certainly. But I'm interested in both. I see a thread called influential books, and the first two books I see are The Bible and Hitler. And we accuse the blue states of painting Oklahoma with a broad stroke.....

[nurfe75]

Is everyone in Oklahoma a right wing Christian? Just curious. I don't mean to pick fights, and I definitely understand wanting to read Mein Kampf for academic reasons (I have a lit degree and I couldn't get through it, though), but what exactly is the point of trying to shine light on the GOOD side of Hitler?

Two separate questions, certainly. But I'm interested in both. I see a thread called influential books, and the first two books I see are The Bible and Mein Kampf. And we accuse the blue states of painting Oklahoma with a broad stroke.....

[floater]

Joe Schmoe should probably answer this but I doubt he was looking for a good side. It was finding out what could make a man do what he did. In terms of the Bible, I think you'll find that in both red and blue states.

Remember, this question isn't about the best written, it's about most influential. People of different careers and interests would select different nonfiction (maybe some fiction as well) books -- but larger than those interested in business, politics, or sports, there are Christians.

[windowphobe]

I have an annotated Mein Kampf which includes, among other things, transcripts of actual Nazi handbills used to promote Hitler's public appearances; the compression of Third Reich thought into a single page makes for an interesting contrast with Hitler's own prose, which is convoluted and messy at best.

As to what books made me the vacillating centrist and wishy-washy Deist that I am, it would take a lot more lines than this text editor is likely to permit.

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

I think mine would also be the Bible followed by "Green Eggs And Ham" By Dr. Suess and "Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks" by Mick Foley

[mistipetal]

nurfe75....NO all Oklahomans right wing christians...very thought makes me rather ill actually...one, no single place should be all one opinion, stifles the thought process and growth. Of course there are going to be some people saying the bible. Personally, i think its a fairly interesting read and reflection of the male dominated times. I haven't read Mein Kamph, but I heard it's not an entertaining read. I didn't pick an influential book, mostly because I don't have one. I read a lot and they all enter into my ideas, but none are the be all, end all ...I don't think there is such a thing. I just had to comment on myself and the others in this state who aren't christians or right wingers.