Books that inspired you

[Rich Kressly]

Warning: Do not read unless you're prepared to get an earful about books from an English teacher. Actually, the books that have had the most influence on me are more philosophical in nature than the stardard literature you'd expect to hear about from someone in my profession.

Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield: While some of the story in the latter stages is a little "out there" for some readers, the nine insights and the lessons learned along the way have taught me a great deal about history, world view, relationships, learning, living life, and making choices. I even had one student a few years ago compare the insights to Maslow's basic needs. We sent the paper out and Redfield's publicist read in and sent us a nice note.

Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Albom: True story. Morrie Schwartz is truly the finest example of a teacher and mentor I've ever come across (no offense to present company). I've used parts of the book and the movie in class. It's powerful and, even if you don't like books or read much, I guarantee you'll finish this in a few days at most.

Art of War by Sun Tsu: The most ancient and respected text ever written about war strategy and preparing for competition. Most of the great war generals throughout history had a copy on their shelf. The book has also been applied to athletics, business, competition of all kinds, and even FIRST Robotics (our whole strategy team got a copy in the mail last summer to read). I carried a copy in my back pocket when I coached baseball and have frequently referenced the priciples when making decisions and leading others in competition.

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: When Woodie spoke about this book at kickoff in 2002, I knew I had to read it. This book has definately influenced the way I make decisions and the type of people I surround myself with.

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn - Practical ways to mesh the best of eastern culture into our western lives. How I found out about Zinn and this book is quite an interesting story all by itself.

-There are others I could write about, but these are the five most influential in my life right now.

[MissInformation]

Okay, you started, now I get to play! I honestly have to say I don't think I would have survived my childhood without books. Most inspiring? Biggest impact? Here are a few off of the top of my head:

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer. Eric Hoffer was a stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s who wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. True Believer is a study of fanaticism and what personal failings lead people to willingly offer up their lives and the lives of others for a cause. An English teacher gave me this book when I was 15 after reading an essay I had written about the differences between my father’s and my views on patriotism. Right time, right mind frame, I don’t know, but no other book has ever hit me so hard.

A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins. I read this when I was 12 because my much-adored older sister read it and loved it. I read every book she did and most of them were full of concepts that went over my head. Not this one. It’s about a man who’s ready to leave America because he’s disgusted by his country, when a friend of his suggests he gets to know his country before making that decision. So he decided to walk his way to its heart. Acceptance, and freedom and beauty in the ordinary.

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. After reading this one I swore I would never, ever forget how magical the simpler things in life are.

To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. I’m having a really hard time describing why this book was so important to me… is it odd to have learned your morals from books? My family is a bit racist (not violent or anything, but it’s there) and I’ve always wondered why I was different, why I hated that side of them… reading books like this, and The Bluest Eye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, as a young teen ingrained something in me that says it is completely wrong to judge by race, by gender, etc. It gave me insight into cultures that seemed so different, but when it came down to it, weren’t.

A Slipping Down Life by Anne Tyler. This book was my introduction to Anne Tyler’s writing and while it’s a really good book its true impact is that her books don’t have neat and tidy endings and this was a first for me when I read it in 1986. It frustrated me, her books would hook me, string me a long and leave me hanging at the end… I almost always threw her books against the wall when I finished reading them because of this, but eventually, I accepted it. And in accepting it, I accepted that life isn’t going to be wrapped up all neat and tidy and topped with a bow.

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. I read this book a year after I rather dramatically ended a relationship that was leading towards wedded blight. I have never identified with a character as much as I did with the main character of this book and I don’t think I ever will again (I also have to add that I am glad I am no longer this character). The guys I have convinced to read this book don’t find it funny, but this book will always make me laugh (oh my, the under the bed scene). Besides being funny, it also has a very powerful message about calling yourself back to you.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I was 13 when I read this and decided censorship was bad, very bad and that nothing would ever stop me from reading what I wanted to read…

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach. “Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.” Do I have to say anything else about it? Well, there’s also “Everything on this list may be wrong.” which helped form my philosophy that every thing I believe in may be wrong, I chose to believe it because I feel its right for me, but I can’t prove that it’s right for you.

I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged and I’ve read other books people have mentioned: the bible (read it at age 13), Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance (27), Tao of Pooh (29), Jane Eyre, Tale of Two Cities, Shakespeare (all in high school), The Autobiography of Malcolm X (32), and while they were all good, I haven’t yet noticed their influence on my life. Some books I read that I resented having to read at the time but that I should go back and re-read are Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an age of Anxiety by Alan W. Watts.

Heidi

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"Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity." -Eric Hoffer

[dubious elise]

another great ayn rand book is "anthem" its short, don't worry, but very powerful! i think you'll enjoy it.

also look into pearl s. buck's "the good earth" and tom brokaw's "the greatest generation", both are excellent!

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

Originally Posted by dubious elise

another great ayn rand book is "anthem" its short, don't worry, but very powerful! i think you'll enjoy it.

I second that all the way. Anthem is a story about the meaning of identity in a "group oriented" world. It is utopia failure, and the book flashes by, leaving the meanings for life. It won't take you even an hour to read probably, but it is immensely fascinating. Good choice, Elise.

[Karthik]

The Glass Bead Game - Herman Hesse.

This great story is a philosophical masterpiece. It's one of the few novels which shows great regard for all facets of intelligence, not just the conventional ones. It appreciates the challenge in bringing together art and science. It really explores the issues of whether the great intellectual has a special responsibilty to society. I read this book in my last year of high school, when I was quite a troubled kid. It really opened my eyes, and guided me through some rough situations.

Hey Nostradamus, All Families are Psychotic, Miss Wyoming, and Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland

Coupland's last four novels. The author who first coined the term "Generation X". This man just gets it. His characterizations are so realistic it's scary. His novels deal with the lives and eccentricities of young adults. You can't read Coupland without feeling like you're a part of the lives of his characters. It's mesmerizing. Reading his novels is great for opening your mind to all sorts of new perspectives. In my opinion, he's the greatest writer of our generation. Hopefully by the time I have kids, they'll be reading him as part of their curriculum.

[JVN]

Though he's not exactly "Mr. Gracious Profesionalism" I learned a lot from Machiavelli's "The Prince".

If you ever want to take over Italy, this is a must-read.
Ohh... it also applies to lots of other situations as well.

[KathieK]

The Little Prince (as mentioned before) only in English, not French, because I struggled with French all through Junior and Senior High School! "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye."

And Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. Although a lifelong reader, Mr. O'Dell's tale made me want to write children's literature and eventually launched me into a lifetime of library work.

I love that this thread was created and that so many of you are contributing to it! Perhaps there could be a HUGE book swap in Atlanta next year!

[Adam Y.]

The collected adventures of Sherlock Holmes which taught me that things are not always what they seem and different people see things differently. You need to broaden your horizons to see the world but have the ability to narrow your focus down to one detail at a moment's notice, to find a solution to a problem.

I reccomend you read Poe. He actually invented the dectective story and is really good at writing them. I believe Doyle actually was inspiried by Poe. If you read anything from Poe read "The Gold Bug".

[Bill Beatty]

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read books for enjoyment since I had surgery 30 years ago, so I have to go back a ways.

"Your Erroneous Zones" by Dr. Wayne Dyer was on the best seller list for many weeks. I can truly say it changed my life.

Bill Beatty

[Joe Matt]

Well, I'm wierd, so here's just a few books that have inspired me over the years (or year or so)....

Catch-22- Funniest book and one that also shows that no matter how bueruocratic the world becomes, there will always be character, life, and soul.

Catcher in the Rye- I hate this book. But it still influences me and inspired me. I hated it the first time around, then when I went over it with my great english teacher Ms. Rose, it made more sense, but I still don't like it.

The Imaginering Way- Great book. Read M. Krass's non-fiction works for the reason.

[Bharat Nain]

On the risk of going a little off-topic, I am making this post. One book which really inspired me was my history text book, the part about the civil war. I am going to type out the last two paras, which concludes the war .

The end - Appomattox Court House. On the afternoon of April 9, 1865, General Lee, accompanied only by his military secretary, rode his horse to a little white house in the town of Appomattox Court house in central virginia. He went to arrange his surrender. There occurred one of the most remarkable and one of the most encouraging episodes in American history. It would show that, despite the monstrous indecencies of war, the respect of one American for another had not been destroyed.
Grant, who had just come in from the field, was dustry and even more unkempt than usual. Confronting him in the living room of the house that he had taken for his headquarteres was General Lee - handsome, erect, in a spotless uniform, and wearing his dress sword. The men sat down and then exchanged recollections of their fighting together twenty years before in the Mexican War. The two great generals talked to each other calmly, with courtesy and respect.
Now that the fighting was over, it seemed that humanity had suddenly returned. Lee heard Grant's terms of surrender. Grant was more generous than he needed to be. He allowed the Southern officers to keep their swords - the symbols of their honor - and he let the officers and men keep horses so that they could go home and plant their crops. lee was touched. "this," he said, "will have a very happy effect upon my army."
A new renewed nation, fused in the fires of war, would now seek its destiny in peace.

This so relates to our own world of FIRST. On the field, we can have the worst, metal-shed battle ever, but soon after we come together, be best friends, apologize if needed, and move on, better than never. In the whole of the civil war, we can see good strategies, extreme hatred etc..,. In todays world we don't see hatred, but we do see the concept of Gracious Profesionalism, which has been used in the past.

Some parts of history have touched me, peace is our destiny
-Bharat

p.s: dont turn this into a debate or something

[JVN]

Just Thought of Another one:

The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne.

Though it is fantasy, this book showed me what it truly means to be an engineer, and the power of an ingenious mind.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by JVN

Just Thought of Another one:

The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne.

"But here not any instrument whatever, not a utensil. From nothing they must supply themselves with everything... if the engineer could have brought his practical science, his inventive mind to bear on their situation, perhaps all hope would not have been lost. The engineer was to them a microcosm, a compound of every science, a possessor of all human knowledge."


I'm home for the 4th of July.
This quote from The Mysterious Island has been hanging on my wall for years. I thought I'd share.

JV

[Joshua May]

Originally Posted by JosephM

Catch-22- Funniest book and one that also shows that no matter how bueruocratic the world becomes, there will always be character, life, and soul.

That's a great book, too. I've read about a quarter of it, and its great. And really, it really shows some insight into humanity.

[Vin211]

Hey Guys,

Are we forgetting one of the most informed books........Codename Ginger by Stephen Kemper? I'm in the middle of reading it now. Its pretty good and interesting. Don't spoil it for me if you have already read it though.


Thanks!