Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This question came from our cerebral friend Sara. The question asks what book (singular) influenced your thinking, but of course there is no penalty for broadening the discussion and naming more than one. It need not be a literary classic, but it can be.

Well, I am going to start with the obvious, The Holy Bible: King James Version. My beloved grandparents who greatly influenced me were daily bible readers. Only as I aged did I realize how many of their spoken words came from the Bible. This memory is completely filled with warmth and love, because they were so warm and loving.

When I went to College I took courses in World Religions. The book that showed me how people can think very differently from what I had learned was Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice. There would be much that I recognized in the philosophy from my own life, but then there would be things that were completely new.

Hmmm,.... given how many times I already mentioned Richard P. Feynman, it will probably not be a surprise that I mention "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!".

Goodread's average rating 4.27

Do not be fooled by the description “light-hearted anecdotes”. If you dig a layer deeper the book is about how to think. Feynman was likely one of the smartest people who have ever lived. Want to learn from him?

I have just nominated it in the New School Classic Nominations
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Well, there is a word I don't believe anyone has ever used to describe me--thanks, Lynn. You have, of course, made the perfect choice. I suspect your grandparents and mine would have had a lot in common.

The book I chose is Little Women. I read it at a very young age and then read it over and over again as I was growing up. I come from a family of sisters, and I was not the prettiest or the most clever and witty, nor the most refined and elegant. The character of Jo allowed me to see that I could still be the best at something by just being who I was. I also think the book planted in my mind that you should not confuse friendship with love...that there are a variety of permutations of love and that what you are really seeking is the person who fits with you as a partner. Jo was smart enough to know that what she felt for Laurie was not that and she waited, even though it was painful. Lots of life lessons in Little Women, and I learned them early.

Wonderful choices so far. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice had a huge impact on me as well, Richard Feynman was a favorite of my brother, and Little Women, though I grew up with brothers, was my guide and friend growing up too, for some of the same reasons you explain so well, Sara.

I'm going to choose The Wish-Tree by John Ciardi. It's the first book I remember loving. Here is a picture of the old version from the 1960's that I had, no longer in print:


It's about a boy whose father is trying to teach him responsibility, but the lesson comes across in a magical dream, and a message "take care of your wish." The enchanting drawings etched themselves on my brain, and I think I learned to equate being responsible with enjoying something wonderful--in this case the boy got an adorable new puppy!

Mine is The Lottery. It was required reading for me as a middle schooler way way back (I am 50 now). This book was the first time I recall reading about a dystopia, and it blew my mind. Today, the trope has been written a million times and new readers to this book won’t quite get what it was like to read this for the first time; they have read it all and can easily guess the ending. But at the time, seeing the twist at the end happening as I read it… I had to go back and read it again to find what I had missed. I always say that this is the book that changed me from ‘someone who reads’ into ‘a reader’.

What comes to my mind first (for today) is Exodus by Leon Uris. I 'stole' it from my parents' library, because - what else? - I had been forbidden to read it, being considered too young. I WAS too young (10 or 11!), but I didn't know it. The book is of course questionable in its glorification of zionism and of the foundation of Israel, so I had food for thought for later years about biased, one-sided writing of history and fiction: a good lesson. The more immediate and impressive lesson was reading the parts about the Holocaust. That was in the 60s, and we were still very far from 'Aufarbeitung' and 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung' in Germany, let alone Austria (re-working and processing of the period of Nazism), and I thus got a massive dose of it early on, and made a big step toward growing up.

Dr Seuss taught that the world was not a perfect place, yet one could find guidance and joy in it. My mother taught me to read to read from Dr. Suess, and I taught others to read from his books too.

The Joy of Cooking and my mother together taught me to think of cooking as being a worthwhile task that could bring me quiet personal joy.

By reading The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz, I discovered how to correct my thinking about myself in the world and among others in ways that took me out of a self-created hell and put into a place of freedom from my own thoughts.

Excellent choices, Cynda! The Four Agreements are really the tenets my parents raised us on and an excellent code to live by.

I think two that really influenced my thinking most were A Separate Peace and C.G. Jung's Dreams.

The first one was momentous for me because it got me thinking about why people do terrible things. Rather than just being angry at people who had hurt me, it made me wonder what in them had driven them to do those things, and that brought me peace. It brought me to a place where I could forgive. It also made me much more analytical of my own behavior and more questioning of why I was doing things. By peeling back the reasoning behind things, it made things possible to change. Such as, if you are afraid, why?

The Jung one was important because it got me thinking in a much more complex way about gender and identity, and I found a world view that felt comfotable and right to me, one very different than the one prevalent in my area.

Kathleen wrote: "It's about a boy whose father is trying to teach him responsibility, but the lesson comes across in a magical dream, and a message "take care of your wish." The enchanting drawings etched themselves on my brain, and I think I learned to equate being responsible with enjoying something wonderful--in this case the boy got an adorable new puppy!"

Love your choice and your reasoning Kathleen! :)

Thanks Sara! That you read Little Women and absorbed the lessons therein explains a lot about the wisdom you bring with you.

Cynda wrote: "By reading The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz, I discovered how to correct my thinking ..."

Based on ancient Toltec wisdom....
Worth a nomination?

Greg wrote: "I think two that really influenced my thinking most were A Separate Peace and C.G. Jung's Dreams.

The first one was momentous for me because it got me thin..."

I just re-read A Separate Peace recently, Greg, and I can totally relate to what you have taken away from it. How wonderful when a book has that effect.

Cynda, I have The Four Agreements and remember it fondly--a great choice.

And such interesting picks, Greg. I still need to read the Knowles, but I studied Jung in college and found his theories fascinating. I couldn't get the Jung I wanted to read for my challenge this year, so maybe I'll read Memories, Dreams, Reflections. (I may be dreaming, that I can fit it in, but I'd like to!)

That Jung book would make for a good buddy or group read or maybe even a bingo selection

The Giving Tree

Quite a few books:
1. Why I am Not a Muslim. One of the books that along with Hitchens' books on religion encouraged me to question religion and doubt the very existence of God.

2. The Things They Carried. The first serious anti-war book I read. Had a strong impact on me.

3. A Christmas Carol. Read first as a feel-good story in my childhood, it directly attacks the very concept of hoarding obscene wealth. I mean, the filthy rich Scrooge literally has to be terrorized by spirits into mending his ways and that's cool.

4. Twelve Angry Men. How justice can easily be subverted.

5. Wuthering Heights. Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff as also the other supporting characters are in fact seen in everyday life. Class conflict, domestic violence, feminism, the supernatural - this one has it all.

6. Embers. How nostalgia and the past keep haunting us.

7. Gone with the Wind. Despite all her flaws, Scarlett is a woman I deeply admire.

8. Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men and Loving to Survive: Sexual Terror, Men's Violence, and Women's Lives. Painful and scary reads but I learnt more patience for my fellow sisters and they helped me become a better feminist.

The Selfish Gene - switched my thinking of dna as a means by which living things reproduce, to thinking of living things as the means by which dna replicates
so just a minor shift really ;o)

LOL yes a minor shift Darren. This thread is a little off the beaten track for a Classic Literature group, but I think it has been interesting. Thanks to all who have played. There's still plenty of time for more comments.

The first book that comes to my mind is 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read that book for the first time when I was 14.

It was one that really spoke to me on several levels. Two in particular though.

1.) I had never read a book that had fragments and run-on sentences. It showed me that when it comes to reading and writing, despite all of the rules and guidelines that there seem to be, they don't have to be followed. It's why I've become so heavy on not being one for grammar or punctuation. Even though I myself am a good writer, I toss out the rule book as it were.

2.) It showed me that my behaviors are okay. I'm not good at verbally speaking. I fragment my sentences a lot to where it sounds like stops, pauses, and such. I know it gets on people's nerves and annoys them, but I have a hard time speaking because my mind goes so fast that I can't keep up with what I want to say versus what's inside my head. It's like I know what it is I want to say, but I can't get it out right and so the fragmenting kicks in. And then people expect you to speak "normal," but I can't.

'Speak' showed me that it's okay to speak how I do. It's taken me a long time to accept that part of myself, but now that I finally am it's getting easier.

Ron wrote: "The first book that comes to my mind is 'Speak' by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read that book for the first time when I was 14.

It was one that really spoke to me on several levels. Two in particular..."

Oh that was a particularly difficult book for me to read. It was one of four selections when I was teaching 8th Grade Literature.

I have one from childhood, not a book, per se: the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Shulz. It was one comic, as well as the Disney Duck comics by Carl Barks, that fostered what has become a lifelong love of comics as a medium.

In adulthood, in retrospect, I can see Schulz as a conscientious worker who kept his strip going literally until his death (he announced his retirement in Dec 1999, he died Feb 12, 2000, the last strip ran Feb 13). In the strip's main character, Charlie Brown, I see resiliency in the face of constant setbacks. I see depression that has sunk in young and refuses to be dislodged. But regardless of how things are going--poor weather, or whatever else might be going on in his life, or his grouchiness at dealing with the tedium of it--he takes care of his pet dog every day.

It's kind of funny that this is the first thing that came up, and nothing has come to mind that I read after I was aged ten or so. I'll keep thinking.

Beth wrote: "I have one from childhood, not a book, per se: the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Shulz. It was one comic, as well as the Disney Duck comics by Carl Barks, that f..."

What a great choice! Beth. I think, without realizing it, Peanuts had a huge impact on me too. The comic strip was a daily dose of humanity.

This has been a fascinating read. I think it would be fun to buddy read many of the books on this list.
Also it’s interesting to note how different books effect you at different points in your life. For example Paula wrote about The Lottery and how much the concept of a dystopia effected her as her first introduction to it. I bet we can all recall how impactful that genre of books was when first encountered and yet we’d probably all list a different book.
For me, Don Quixote was very impactful because it was the first classic I read as an adult (meaning I wasn’t forced to do it by school) and I throughly enjoyed it. It really changed my relationship to classics and therefore reading in general. In school I did not enjoy classics (probably because I had no real life experiences yet to make any of the adult scenarios make sense). But now, as evidenced by joining this reading group, I really enjoy them. So Don Quixote, which is a great book on it’s own, is a very special to me for that reason as well.
Don Quixote was also the first audiobook I read, which opened the door to reading for me again. As I was extremely busy at the time I could never find time to just sit down, let alone stay still long enough to read. But here I suddenly was, reading one of the longest books ever written, and somehow it fit into my schedule. This was life changing for me, because my life never slowed down, so it meant that I was suddenly able to read again. Finding a way to add books back into my life was extremely meaningful to me.

Not necessarily a classic, but one book that really influenced my line of thinking was The Giver by Lois Lowry. I think this book made me appreciate all that our world had to offer, seeing the bleak, desolate world of Jonas (our main character).

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Hmmm,.... given how many times I already mentioned Richard P. Feynman, it will probably not be a surprise that I mention "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!".

Good..."

I read three books by Feynman and loved them all! He was quite an interesting character!

Gwyneth wrote: "Not necessarily a classic, but one book that really influenced my line of thinking was The Giver by Lois Lowry. I think this book made me appreciate all that our world had to offer, seeing the blea..."

Gwyneth, I absolutely agree about The Giver (and it is listed as a 'classic' in the genres). It really affected me, and I read it when I was 53 years old! I think the strange descriptions about their society and how everything was done made me turn a mirror onto our own society and look at the "accepted" things we do, but that are more unusual than we realize -- if we just look through new eyes. I don't know, that book just really got to me!

But I'll add in a childhood book that I read, in probably third grade, and have loved ever since: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I enjoyed that one so much!

Terris, your final comment made me realize how often I return to a childhood favorite Pollyanna. What draws me back is the glad game, which I have played for a lifetime and which has helped me through some very difficult situations. Perspective is everything.

Sara wrote: "Terris, your final comment made me realize how often I return to a childhood favorite Pollyanna. What draws me back is the glad game, which I have played for a lifetime and which has..."

You are so right!
I loved Pollyanna! But I read it as an adult (I didn't have great reading guidance as a child. I don't even remember the librarian, and I was there a lot! I feel like someone should have guided me a little more to better children's literature. My mom was good to get me to the library for books, but was not a big reader). I also loved Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and, of course, Anne of Green Gables. I love sweet stories like those :)

Terris wrote: "Sara wrote: "Terris, your final comment made me realize how often I return to a childhood favorite Pollyanna. What draws me back is the glad game, which I have played for a lifetime ..."

I love all three of these stories! <3

This is such a great question... I need sometime to put my thoughts in order..

Janice wrote: "Terris wrote: "Sara wrote: "Terris, your final comment made me realize how often I return to a childhood favorite Pollyanna. What draws me back is the glad game, which I have played ..."

I also read and loved all three of those. I have my mother's set of childhood books from the 1940s. I own about 6 Pollyanna books, all of the Anne, and two Rebecca books. I have not read all of the Pollyannas yet.

Forget the Alamo completely blew away some myths that I had previously assumed were historical facts. While too new to be a classic, it focuses down on one of the most classic American fables, popularly taken as truth.

Odon Von Horvath's Youth Without God. I read the German original Jugend ohne Gott in the 1980s. It was initially written in 1937 by the Austro-Hungarian playwright in 1937 prior to its publication in 1938, and his fleeing from the Nazis after they annexed Austria in 1938, and just before he was ironically killed by a falling branch in Paris during a thunderstorm. The first English translation in 1939 was The Age of the Fish.

I learned from my German friend that it was widely taught in schools in Germany, but it is nearly unheard of here. When I initially read it in the 1980s, I found it to be an astounding parable about the rise of authoritarianism and fascism and the results of this upon the personal character of individuals, and to use Hannah Arendt's phrase, "the banality of evil". It is cloaked in a simple, and simply and directly written, murder ministry. I believe Horvath skillfully wrote in this simple manner with the goal to gather the widest influence.

Unfortunately, I believe that it has not been widely read or taught due to the "Huckleberry Finn" problem, that is, it is an anti-racist book that uses the most widely reviled racist slur to point out racism in society, and prominently so. But it teaches the important lesson that context matters, and true freedom of thought is necessary to confront the actual evils in the world. The novel has only become more prescient about the rise of fascism, literally touching upon issues that are today reflected in Black Lives Matter, genocide, colonialism, media propaganda, censoring of teachers and history, and the cold brutality of bullies.

Jerome wrote: "Odon Von Horvath's Youth Without God. I read the German original Jugend ohne Gott in the 1980s. It was initially written in 1937 by the Austro-Hungarian playwright..."

Fantastic review. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Lynn wrote: "Well, I am going to start with the obvious, The Holy Bible: King James Version. My beloved grandparents who greatly influenced me were daily bible readers. Only as I aged did I reali..."

I was also greatly influenced by the The Holy Bible: King James Version as all my grandparents read it too. One read it even tho he was a Mason. His wife later converted him.
There were many other books that influenced me as a teenager but as time went on books began to lose their influence. That is one reason I think that teenagers should be more careful what they read.