# The Book That Had The BIGGEST IMPACT on you was..



## brockDXD (Nov 5, 2004)

well? Let me know, i need to read more.


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## A_MacLaren (Nov 5, 2004)

I don't remember what it was called. It was a book about a little girl who went fishing with her grandfather. They caught mussels.
It was the first book I ever read, so it must have the biggest impact on me.

Other ones:
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien
The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett(the first Discworld novel I ever read)
BattleAxe, by Sara Douglass (not a great book, but had a single scene which inspired a single line which evolved to become my second novella)
The Smile, by William Blake (a poem)
The Raven, by E. A. Poe (a poem)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
Memories of Ice, by Steven Erikson.

That's just a few. I have more, but I can't think of them right now.


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## Talia_Brie (Nov 5, 2004)

A_MacLaren said:
			
		

> BattleAxe, by Sara Douglass (not a great book, but had a single scene which inspired a single line which evolved to become my second novella)



You've caught my attention. Which scene?

on Topic: The Shining by Stephen King was when I decided I wanted to write. And (Alex, you'll kick me) Magician by Ray Feist was when I decided I wanted to write fantasy.


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## Farror (Nov 5, 2004)

I must admit, the book that had the biggest influence on my reading was probably one of the Shannara books. The one that had Garret Jax in it. He was a great character.


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## Anonymous (Nov 5, 2004)

The Four Agreements and The Voice of Knowledge by Miguel Ruiz

The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis


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## Ralizah (Nov 5, 2004)

*Atlas Shrugged* and *The Fountainhead* were both experiences that still are unforgettable to me. Perhaps it's because I've always shared Ms. Rand's convictions that they spoke to me so powerfully.


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## bobothegoat (Nov 5, 2004)

I had the Lord of the Rings read to me aloud by my dad when I was younger, so that helped get me into reading.

I used to read the Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.  It was like a 60 book series and I never read them all, but I read over half of them. That influenced me and kept me reading.  I got lots of experience from those  .


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## A_MacLaren (Nov 5, 2004)

> You've caught my attention. Which scene?


It was at the very start of the book. When the baby eats it's way out of the mother. The setting and the wraiths inspired the line 'Ours is the path of white snow and black stone,' Which eventually became my novella 'Summer'.
If I hadn't read a lot of better fantasy first, I would have liked Feist. I can see how he could inspire you to write fantasy.


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## doctor (Oct 13, 2005)

Too many to mention... but if I were to try for one, I'd say.........
Invisible Man -Ralph Ellison

I recommend this book to anybody that reads. Period.


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## Graff (Oct 13, 2005)

I can't really pick out a book, but I can pick an author! 

Stephen King has definitely been my biggest inspiration to write. 

Lord of the Rings also had a big impact.


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## FredCQ777 (Oct 13, 2005)

brockDXD said:
			
		

> well? Let me know, i need to read more.



Fiction: Neuromancer by William Gibson and Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams.

Non Fiction: Stephen King's On Writing and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card.


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## Farror (Oct 13, 2005)

> "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger. The teenage main character, Holden Caulfield, expressed everything I felt about the phoniness of modern life.



I found Holden to be abolutely infuritating in his contant hypocritical repetitions.


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## Feed The Ravens (Oct 14, 2005)

Anthem by Ayn Rand- made me realise the evils of her very philosophy, but also brought to light the importance of stylism in lit
The Giver- Made me hate the killing of humans, even if it is done supposedly for the sake of "mercy killings." Kind of exposed the culture of America for what it really is.


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## this_reckless_pace (Oct 15, 2005)

There were two books that had a huge impact on me, at different times and for different reasons.

The first was "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Robert Heinlein, which I read when I was 13. It was the first novel I ever read and I only picked it up out of sheer boredom while I was lying in bed recovering from the flu. Up until that day, I'd had no interest in books. In terms of literary merit, it really has none - it was one of Heinlein's many sci-fi novels for teenagers. But once I picked up that first book I never looked back.

The second was Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil", which I first read over a year ago, and it really did changed my life. Up until that point I was blindly walking along the corporate career path, no end in sight. It woke me up to the possibility of living the life I wanted to live on my terms. 

It's been an interesting year.


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## Saponification (Oct 15, 2005)

_Fight Club_ by Chuck Palahniuk.


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## Farror (Oct 16, 2005)

Or at least his editor knew how. I wouldn't say it's innapropriate to have typographical errors in a reply to a post on the internet.


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## dannyboy (Oct 18, 2005)

Portrait of an artist as a young man

and 

crime and punishment

after reading those two

I wrote a forty page story full of 16 year old angst

been writing ever since.


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## dannyboy (Oct 18, 2005)

oh and just read

old school (God i hope that was the title) by Tobbias Wolfe (God i hope that's how you speel his name).

Syklor will be pleased to know the thing that really got me about this book was economy of words....

Oh and The dark is Rising - books

and all the Arthiurian books ever written

and Enid Blyton (farway tree....)

and CS Lewis

and an obscure Sci Fi book called the fifth experiment

shit now i can't stop.......

Travels with my Aunt (great book!)

My name is Asher Lev - hell this should have been first.....

No, no, The Norse Myths, Aboriginal dreamtime stories, the Greeks Myths and the Magabignon (however that damn word is spelt!) - yes, yes mths first - devoured them from age 9 to around 15!


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## ThatSmokingGuy (Oct 21, 2005)

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
and, Rage, Stephen King  :cyclops:


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## stro (Oct 22, 2005)

The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick. It was a collection of the best sci-fi I had ever read, and the best use of the short story I've seen to date - especially in the extremely pointed stories "The Pre-Persons" and "The Golden Man".


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## daisy (Oct 24, 2005)

The book that has most recently knocked me on my butt was "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer.  His prose is full of these wonderful little poetic moments; I keep returning to the book just to reread my favorite sections.  I just love this book so much.


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## A Glass Thought (Oct 25, 2005)

The book that had the biggest impact on me was Samuel R. Delany's novel Dhalgren. It completely opened my eyes to what writing could be. Honestly, I think I am a better writer since having read it.


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## Chris Galaska (Oct 28, 2005)

Believe it or not folks, Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
is the book that made me want to write.  All moral issues aside Hunter S. Thompson was a wizard with words and had a sick humor in all of his novels, which I can definitely appreiciate


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## cole doesnt care (Oct 28, 2005)

its hard to choose just one.

stephen king's The Dark Tower series was amazing, Fight Club completely changed the way i thought, Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse 5 from Kurt Vonnegut were both very influential, and after i read Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas i pretty much declared  Hunter S. to be my hero.

but as far as most impact goes, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller


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## maxthefax (Oct 28, 2005)

i would have to say the pendragon series. they are the first book i had ever read and had intrest in it was amazing.


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## salvothasock (Nov 5, 2005)

naked lunch by william s burroughs. i bought it, read through a couple pages. returned it. then a year later it surfaced in my thoughts. so i bought it again and read it halfway. put it down for awhile... then finished it. this book inspired me to take writing seriously. because i consider it to be a great piece of art. vibrant and chilling, colorful and exhausting. 
runner up- franny and zoey by jd salinger


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## cryptika (Nov 8, 2005)

"Tully" by Paullina Simons had a huge impact on me when I was growing up. I would say it's my favourite novel, as well.


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## amusinglackoftalent (Nov 9, 2005)

*This is tough...*

I can't begin to recall all the books I've read and thoroughly enjoyed, but I kept going back to the word 'impact'.  'Impacted in what way?' I kept asking myself.  Impacted to a degree that while reading, while completely enraptured with the author's words, a little voice whispered from way down deep and said, 'I wonder if I could do this?'  

_The Mysterious Island_ by Jules Verne.  I picked it out because of the cover when I was perhaps ten or eleven years old.  I had just seen _Twenty Thousand Leauges Under the Sea_ in our tiny little theater and had been captivated by it.  For some strange reason though, Verne never struck me personally as a science fiction writer.  Perhaps this is why his science fiction was so superb.  It was always about the characters.  I have never written a piece of science fiction but Verne struck me as an amazing writer... and still does.  He is one of the chief reasons I take pen to paper to this day.


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## irishidid (Nov 9, 2005)

The book I read as a kid that gave me the love of reading. I don't remember the author by the book was titled Baby Island.


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## John A Roark (Nov 12, 2005)

'Stranger in a Strange Land,' 'Starship Troopers,' 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,' and 'To Sail Beyond the Sunset,' by the unquestioned master, Robert A. Heinlein.

Jack


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## bornagainathiest (Nov 12, 2005)

the demon headmaster. first non picture book i read. great book


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## RM2179 (Nov 13, 2005)

I can't remember the name of the book, but it was about this boy and his dad had a kit-car in his garage. His parents left, but he built the car himself and decided to leave and see everything. He meets this bum just after he leaves, and they travel around. It was a good book, I wish I could read it all the way through, I never got to finish it.


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## eleda (Nov 13, 2005)

As a young Girl - First Book - Alice In Wonderland **** Indelible impression

Poetry - T.S. Eliot - Four Quartets I-IV ****

Epic Fantasy - Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley ****

Fiction- To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee ****

Have had many years to read such great masterpieces  -- I am forever steeped in gratitude to those who dare put pen to paper to write . . .


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## Avarice (Nov 14, 2005)

American psycho - Bret Easton Ellis


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## strangedaze (Nov 18, 2005)

Avarice said:
			
		

> American psycho - Bret Easton Ellis




Great, great book.


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## Soccah (Dec 1, 2005)

If anyone is interested; Mordecai Richler, _The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz._


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## PamHKyle (Dec 1, 2005)

Every book I read sort of influenced me (and God knows, that where many, many books). 
If I have to chose, there are 2 books that rocked my world, and made me think about how I look at life and the rest of humanity. 

 The first is 'Morgen is blond' by Maria Jacques (title is Dutch for _Tomorrow is blonde, _don't know of it's translated in English); I read it as a 12-year old (in the mid 90s). It was written in 1974 (yes 1974!) and is actually about the ethic questions raised by genetic manipulation of humans. When I came across it a year or 2 ago, I bought it, read it again and found it as accurate as ever. 
The second book is actually a trilogy (okay, I admit, haven't read the 2nd and 3rd part completely): 'Red Planet' by Kim Stanley Robinson (The 2nd and 3rd part are called 'Green Planet' and 'Black Planet') about the colonisation of Mars. Again, a lot of ethical questions are raised. It's amazing, but you need to take a little time to think about it.


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## LA (Dec 1, 2005)

Stephen King - Needful Things... the first book I'd read properly in about 8 years after I discovered it on my dad's bookshelf, and decided I really should get back into reading.

Terry Pratchett's The Colour Of Magic enlightened me to how humourous writing could be made.  I knew that he was a funny writer beforehand but could never envision quite how someone could inject humour into fantasy novels until I read it


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## krazyklassykat (Dec 1, 2005)

I'd have to say _The Da Vinci Code_.  As a person who has almost ZERO interest in science and history, I found it really intriguing.  Iconology is amazing.  _The Da Vinci Code_ just made me feel like my mind was going to burst from all the information, yet at the same time it made me kinda manic, I wanted to get up and tell everyone I saw the crazy things I was learning from it.

But one of my favorite books to read is _No More Dead Dogs_.  It's fun and interesting, and has one of those endings that makes you feel good, but without coming out and pronouncing a happily ever after or something.  If anyone's read it, tell me what you thought of it.


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## missmojorising (Dec 2, 2005)

As a Kid--A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle.  
http://www.madeleinelengle.com/books/wrinkleInTime.htm





			
				John A Roark said:
			
		

> 'Stranger in a Strange Land,' 'Starship Troopers,' 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,' and 'To Sail Beyond the Sunset,' by the unquestioned master, Robert A. Heinlein.
> 
> Jack


 
"To Sail Beyond the Sunset" helped to make me a better parent.  I miss new encounters with Lazarus, Jubal, Maureen, Minerva and the rest of the whole fam damily more every day.  RAH "got it" and he was brilliant story teller.  Absolutely Unquestioned.


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## vwayne (Dec 3, 2005)

*I owe it all to my sixth grade librarian*

Corny as this will sound - The Hobbit (need I name the author?)

I had read everything in the little southern grade school library that I could.  The librarian, whose name I don't recall (it was 37 years ago) reached into her bag and handed me a copy of the Hobbit.

"Here, you're ready for this."

She was so right.  I read it that very weekend.  I read it again during the next week.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes Ma'am.  Thank you for loaning it to me."

"Oh honey, that is yours to keep."  She reached into her magical bag and pulled out three books.  "These are for you, too."

Brand new paperback copies of The Lord of Rings books.  

I don't recall her name, can't picture her face, or remember her voice.  Her generosity and love of the written word will never be forgotten.


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## myblackhairedgirl (Dec 5, 2005)

I would have to say "The Bitten" by LA Banks.  In one of my pieces I felt a extremely sensual scene was needed.  I, however, did not know how to word it and convey the emotion I wanted.  I stopped writing and went to the library.  I picked up that book and opened the first page.  In it there is a sensual sequence that conveyed the feeling i needed.  The scene was more about love than actual sex.  It gave me a lot of inspiration for my own writing.


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## myblackhairedgirl (Dec 5, 2005)

I would have to say "The Bitten" by LA Banks.  In one of my pieces I felt a extremely sensual scene was needed.  I, however, did not know how to word it and convey the emotion I wanted.  I stopped writing and went to the library.  I picked up that book and opened the first page.  In it there is a sensual sequence that conveyed the feeling i needed.  The scene was more about love than actual sex.  It gave me a lot of inspiration for my own writing.


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## myblackhairedgirl (Dec 5, 2005)

I would have to say "The Bitten" by LA Banks.  In one of my pieces I felt a extremely sensual scene was needed.  I, however, did not know how to word it and convey the emotion I wanted.  I stopped writing and went to the library.  I picked up that book and opened the first page.  In it there is a sensual sequence that conveyed the feeling i needed.  The scene was more about love than actual sex.  It gave me a lot of inspiration for my own writing.


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## myblackhairedgirl (Dec 5, 2005)

I apologize for the same thing being posted three times.  My computer was a little messed up for a moment but I have fixed the problem so it shouldn't happen again


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## Mean (Dec 5, 2005)

The Elric Saga, by Michale Moorcock, inspired me to write. The Dragonlance Chronicles inspired me to learn to write well.

However, no series has ever affected me like "A Song of Ice and Fire", by George R. R. Martin.


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## poetrykid16 (Dec 5, 2005)

Anne Rice. that author got me into the whole vampire thing. From there it just sorta mutated into poetry and things about death.


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## Shawn (Dec 15, 2005)

*Beowulf*

_Beowulf_, by of course... anonymous. It impacted me in the fact that the entire poem taught the truth about good and evil, that it didn't just end... and all the heroes die next time. It influence my writing alot and gave alot of realism to my scenarios... but hey, its influenced anyone who studied or studies classical literature. Also, I gained a favorite villain of all time... Grendel.

Others I would have to say are the Hobbit, which was mentioned many times previously but really got me started on the fantasy genre... then the Harry Potter books which ended my stint on the fantasy genre. The Northwest Passage, by Kenneth Roberts which got me started on historical fiction. Then Witch Child, by Cilia Reeds, which ended my time with historical fiction. Then I read To Kill a Mockingbird which started me on writing my own book.


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## Brasstwister (Dec 15, 2005)

Green eggs an ham, it was my first


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## kalibantre (Dec 27, 2005)

for me it would be,

Oscar Wilde's, The Picture Of Doiran Gray. I don't know what it is about it but i was absolutely captivated. And later I was mortified when in the league of extrordinary gentlemen he was the bad guy (sorry if you havent seen it) Dorian at least tried to repent a couple of times...

Jasper Fforde's, his Thursday Next series. great light reading, but not too light.

John Steinbeck's, Of Mice and Men. yes it can be a cliche but dear god it's aazing, you can read it in one afternoon and it's the most tragic, beautiful real tale of friendship I've ever known. Friendship is being able to shoot them in the back of the head. It's that simple.

Then there's my favourite story of all time, Hans Chrian Andersen's The little mermaid. it's brillinat cause it's imperfect. She doesn't get what she wants, it's life, plain and simple. Try as hard as you might there is no happy ever after, but there's always hope.


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## ross (Dec 27, 2005)

Definately The Van by Roddy Doyle. A really earthy and honest piece of dark humorous fiction. Damn I WISH I could do it half that well!


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## Forge (Dec 28, 2005)

Biggest impact... hmm...

Like a previous poster, I'd ask, "impact in what way?"

Going with a very general sense though (as in a 'what book did I get the most out of' kind of way), I'm split between Joyce's _Ulysses_ and Dostoevsky's _The Brothers Karamazov_.


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