What Book Has Had The Most Impact On You?

TheArticulate Level 1

March 21, 2018, 2:24 pm

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What Book Has Had The Most Impact On You?

I'm sure we all read publications on regular basis. Whether or not you read books regularly, you might read the new, blogs, articles or forum posts among other things as well. So what have you read recently (or a long time ago) that has had an impact on you? This impact could be anything. It could have simply changed the way you write, or it could have given you a completely new outlook on life.

I read a book several years ago called The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, and it changed the way that I approached characters in my writing. Buck to an approach to developing their character that I had only seen done well one other time, and that was in Breaking Bad with Walter White's development as a character.

In The Good Earth, you follow Wang Lung, a poor Chinese farmer who inherits a small plot of land from his father. Wang Lung is a good man, and the earth is good to him, giving him a very good harvest. Eventually, he has enough to afford more land, which he purchases to grow more crops, in turn increasing his wealth each year. He find a good wife who is willing to help him with his land, and eventually, he becomes very, very wealthy. But as his wealth grows, Wang Lung changes, and becomes a very despicable character. A character I started out rooting for and then later despised. It was a very conflicting feeling to have while reading a book, that's for sure.

After finishing the book, I realized I had similar sentiments toward Walter White in Breaking Bad, which gave me such a great appreciation for the skill of the writers for the show.

Anyway, tell us what books or publications have had an impact on you!

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Corzhens

Corzhens

From what I remember because I had read so many books during my school days and early years in my job, it is The Other Side of Midnight. It is the story of Noelle Page who is an ordinary woman but used her body and charm to be with the high society. Not to be tagged as social climber, she was able to get to the VIPs and that's where the story revolves. It is a woman's libber story, I guess.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

I would like to read this book and see how the story ended. It is a known fact that many humans will want to do anything in life in order to reach to the heights they desire in life and I bet this is what this particular book is trying to make us understand as well.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

The ending is surprising and, of course, I will not tell it for your benefit. The twists and turns made the reading enjoyable that you will be engrossed and forget the time. I think it was made into a movie although I haven't watched it. What I liked most is the part that showed the strength and firm resolve of the heroine.

7 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

The book that has a great impact on me is none other than the Holy Bible. This is the best part of my life. I encountered the Bible when I was in my elementary days. I love to hear Bible stories as taught in our religion class. I am fascinated with the books of the Bible.

The other books that I love are books on prayer. I love the books written by John Maxwell. Especially his book about prayer partners. He wrote about revivals that were born out of prayer partners. Charles Finney, John Wesley, etc. have prayer partners.

6 years ago

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Chinet23

Chinet23

The same thing with me. It's great to find people here who share the same beliefs as me. I only started reading the bible when I was already 31 although I've been a Christian longer than that. It was also the first time I bought my own bible. At first, I was so fascinated by it and read it with a scholarly approach. But as time goes by, it became more and more meaningful to me and has always been my comfort and guide. I treat my bible as my life's manual.

6 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

Thanks Chinet23! Thanks for reading my comment. Thanks for we have the same book that we love most. I believe there is no other book on earth can surpass the greatness of this Holy Book.

6 years ago

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romyter013

romyter013

Yes me too. My father always read the bible to me and to all the family. It really gives more impact to our lives. So many stories to choose from, characters, good and bad, believes, faith, battles, about meaningful dreams, ever lasting life, about the god and his son, so many verses and chapters that are really exciting to read. And by reading this really help me whenever I'm down or happy because this book is so true to me and powerful.

6 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

This is good to know that your father always read the the Bible to you and your family. Indeed it really has a great impact for all of us. There are many stories to choose from the Bible. I agree that it is very exciting to read. God's word is very powerful.

6 years ago

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sonnyisabeast

sonnyisabeast

I absolutely love Sidney Sheldon! You know, I thought at first that he was a woman, haha! Isn't this book one of his trilogies, or two-part novel? I think the other book is Memories of Midnight, I'm not sure if there is another one. I fell in love with his writing in his novel: The Stars Shine Down. After that, I went and grabbed every Sidney Sheldon book I can get my hands on, I may have read 8 of his novels, maybe more.

6 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

The book that has had the greatest impact on my life overall was The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. Mr. Kornfield is a former Theravada Buddhist monk, author, and teacher of vipassana meditation.

A few years back I was in an incredibly dark period in my life. I had ruined a great relationship with my girlfriend at the time, I had just dropped out of college, I was living with an abusive parent, and I was going through a serious alcohol problem. Looking for solutions to life's anguish, as well as greater self control, I somehow ended up looking into Buddhism.

Mr. Kornfield is a fervent advocate for the mental benefits of Buddhist psychology, so I began listening to some of his talks. I was convinced that the man knew his stuff, so I decided to purchase his book, The Wise Heart. Today, I pretty much consider that book my Bible. It is loaded with stories, anecdotes, and techniques, all intended to improve your quality of life in a long term way, and that is exactly what it has done for me.

7 years ago

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junrose123

junrose123

For me the book that made a great impact on me was the the book Noli Me Tangere by Dr. Jose P. Rizal which is all about the abuses commuted by the Spaniards when my country the Philippines was under their colony during the old times. I was been awakened by the abuses and degradable activities that the Spaniards do to my ancient forefathers which are really very worrying. I learned so many things in the past that was out of my expectations. I am very thankful to have such book since it will teach us about history on the important events that happened in the past. Many things in the past that was not published before was in the book which is really very important to me because I know all the things that happens in the past even though I was not actually there.

7 years ago

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Adesuwa08

Adesuwa08

No doubt I will love to go through this book, it will be a good digest for my motivational updates on the 21st century slavery and the black movement ignorance, I have read so much books about how we africans/blacks were being treated and with all those images it baffles my imagination on how people can be cruel because of skin color. Slavery is slavery either ways and I can only empathize with the ordeal of your people, I will recomend you to read Black Athena(forgotten the writers name for now, it will help you too; just like your recomendation will help me.

7 years ago

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mitan143

mitan143

I'm not really into history books and I am also from the Philippines but I have already read Dr. Jose Rizal's two great books too: El filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere, and yes all Filipinos should be very grateful to have books that contains such relevant events related to the history.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

I've heard so much about Dr. Rizal as the national hero of the Philippines and have always been fascinated by his works, and I love reading his works and then finding out about the historical background during the time of his writings and how it influenced the Filipinos during that time and even today,

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

This might be unusual, but the book that has had the best impact on me has got to be the act of seduction by Robert Greene. This is the book that I took time to read from the beginning till the end. In the book, you get to read historical stories about many men and women got to make those they are interested in to fall in love with them. The truth of the whole thing is that some of them are manipulative, but the lessons you learn from that is what can help you in the long-run in life.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Great topic. I have to say Zechariah Sitchin books collectively known as The Earth Chronicles Series.
Book 1 which is titled "The 12th Planet" explains our Human Origins relative to the Ancient Astronaut Theory. It also explains the Summerian Texts which was the source of the Holy Bible in retail. This collection of books changed my perception of religion in general. It basically explains that the Holy Bible is only 10? of the whole story. This also supports the assumption that the Bible was edited by people to suit their own purpose. It's quite an eye opener and the books contain all the proof you need to be convinced.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

I've heard of Zechariah's work before, and it's great that you find his work so interesting! Personally, I think it's always good to keep an open in terms of religion, and I think it's really healthy that you're doing just that.

Have you looked into what scholars and scientists have had to say about Sitchin's books? I've never read any of them, but I've seen that a lot of specialists in the sciences claim that his work is simply pseudoscience and that his research methods were flawed. What do you think?

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

"Have you looked into what scholars and scientists have had to say about Sitchin's books?"

I'll be the first to say that I don't really buy into the whole ancient astronaut theory, and neither do the majority of scholars and scientists. Sitchin has been heavily criticized for mistranslation of Sumerian texts and inaccuracies when proposing his astronomical and scientific theories. Needless to say, he isn't very well respected in the scientific community.

That being said, I can't deny that I find his work both fascinating and entertaining. I might not buy into it, but it is certainly interesting to see his outlandish ideas rationalized in a manner that is very convincing to the average person. While his ideas may or may not be true--I mean who really knows what's true in the end--I don't think they're a waste of time to read.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

If you read his books there are some parts that I disagree in but the clear majority of his works are supported by evidence and logic. For example there's a structure on top a mountain in Baalbek Lebanon made out of stone block pieces weighing 100 tons each and the biggest is 1000 tons not even modern day heavy equipment could move that, let alone transport it on top of a mountain. There's a lot of people whos trying very hard to discredit Sitchins works, saying that ancient cultures moved this stones in a scientific process that can even be repeated nowadays, these unknown scientists even has illustrations and complex technical calculations yep so that you won't undetstand. At the end of the day ask yourself do you really believe that men were capable to move these stones thousands of years ago?
Try reading "The Wars of God's and Men" and "When Time Began", I think you would like it.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Kakashi2020--
I am a HUGE fan of books about this subject! I know that Stitchin has caught a lot of flack in terms of his so-called "research", but I think that the ideas he presents are extremely compelling. There are so many other texts out there other than the "traditional" King Kames Bible, as we call it iin America--there are the apocryphal texts, of course, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc. There are TONS of podcasts out there, some better than others, on Youtube regarding these texts, books, and ideas, and I listen to them regularly! Cool post!

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

I do like reading this kind of literature, because sitchin based it on the first civilization, which is the summerian and they have an unedited version of the creation story where Genesis was based.

There's a lot of so called scientists and scholar wannabes who are branding Sitchins work as based on mistranslated Summerian texts but if you would study the the literal meanings of the text and not the clouded religious symbolism then you'll see and acknowledge what Sitchin is conveying. A good example would be in Genesis it is written that "when the sons of God saw that the Daughters of men were fair, they came into them and took them as wives and they bore the Nefilim, which in the Bible was translated to "Giants" but it's real meaning is "from those who came down to earth". The powers that be censored and edited the Bible not knowing that eventually the older Summerian texts would be discovered and along with it the "Enuma Elish" in which the creation tale was written.

7 years ago

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Adesuwa08

Adesuwa08

I will surely read this book, I need to get it too; this is what I have been longing for to read and I just got it on a platter of gold from you, things and the awakening of my curiosity have been engaging my quest for knowledge, I guess this will help me a great deal.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Sitchin's notable works are:
The Twelfth Planet, The Wars of God's and Men, Stairway to Heaven, Divine, Encounters, The Lost Realms, Cosmic Code, The End of Days and When Time Began. His book When Time Began is really fascinating it discussed the concept of time and when it was first used.

7 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Hey this sounds amazing, definitively going to look for it. It reminds me of a very particular book called "Horse of Troy" written by J.J.Benitez. Plot is about a retired army soldier, who left top secret information on this writer's hand, where he details how scientists have been traveling on time, and went back to when Jesus Christ came down to earth. The whole series have like maybe 10 books, but honestly, once you read the first one, you will get chills down your spine, that book changed my life.

7 years ago

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Pixie06

Pixie06

I love reading motivational books from Robin Sharma and I have read many of his books. The first book that I read was ''The monk who sold his Ferrari'' and this book was thought-provoking. There are many life lessons that I learned from this book. Nowadays, many of us are following this materialistic world and this is consuming our happiness.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

"Nowadays, many of us are following this materialistic world and this is consuming our happiness."

This is something that I myself have been feeling a lot lately. The older I get, the more disillusioned I've become with the idea of finding happiness through material wealth. I've never read "The monk who sold his Ferrari," but it certainly sounds like something that would be right up my alley. The title alone is intriguing enough.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

I would say Stephen King's THE SHINING. It's really the book that got me into horror. Separate from the film that got me into horror which was John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

If I'd asked myself this very question in my early years of high school, my answer also would have been Stephen King. I used to read his work regularly, and I was impressed at the intricate, compelling, and thrilling narratives he could create. One of the first books I read by him was The Long Walk, and I was blown away by how he kept me turning the pages in the book when the main characters were simply walking. That's it, it was a book about people walking to avoid dying, and he made it incredibly interesting!

He's definitely a writer to look up to.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

TheArticulate,
I completely identify with your love of Mr. King. I started reading him probably way before I should have, now that I consider his subject matter of nightmarish proportions, but I guess I survived it well enough, and it whet my appetite for the genre of horror, in general, which I still love and indulge in to this day. I remember being terrified by his book, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, and being scared to death by movies like CUJO and PET CEMETARY. I consider him, for better or worse, America's post-modern/modern Edgar Allen Poe, in terms of the approach to smart and compelling horror stories and the macabre.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

Absolutely! I read Cujo during my time in high school, and it made me feel really weird afterwards. I think it's because on some level, I couldn't decide if I felt bad for the main character or not (if I'm remembering the story correctly), and it left me feeling really odd about the book. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, I just think I should reread it now that I may have a great appreciation for it.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

I love Stephen's kings books on thrillers and it's such a delight to see a lot of his books being adapted for movies si that more people can appreciate his genius. While not all movie adaptations are great, the most recent one, It, was done beautifully.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

I agree! I really enjoyed the new IT. I thought it was well made, the cinematography and acting was on point, and it stayed true to the book. However, I think the best adaptation of King's work is The Mist. The ending of the movie is completely different from the book, and I remember people being up in arms and upset about the change in the ending. When King watched it, he absolutely loved the new ending and praised the filmmakers. It's just interesting to see the difference in interpretation of the ending between the writer and his fans. Really cool stuff!

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Stephen King is one of my Idols when it comes to the genre of horror and thrillers. Two of my favorite books of his are The Green Mile and Pet Sematary.

6 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. I actually read this book as a requirement for a Humanities class in college, and I didn't expect the book to have as much of an impact as it did.

7 years ago

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EfficientNinja

EfficientNinja

I saw PewDiePie recommend this too. He reads at least 4-6 books per month and he made a book club out of his YouTube followers. He said that it also left a great impact on him and it inspired me to read the book too!

7 years ago

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aeon

aeon

I think the conjugal dictatorship, by Primitvo MIjares. The story is about how our former President in our country and his first lady become dictators and how glamorous their life during that time. This book is also about their lifestyle during that Marcos era. This book gave us the courage to fight against the government during our colleges days, and just realize now, how we became victims of this propaganda.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

It has always been motivational books for me right from my college days. It was actually one guy in my neighborhood that introduced me to reading motivational books and my first was the best that had the most impact on my life before I continued with the precedent.

The first motivational book which I read was "THINK AND GROW RICH" by Napoleon Hill. This book taught me how to be more just a living being but one who is mentally ready to succeed in life my any means necessary.

7 years ago

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EfficientNinja

EfficientNinja

Think and Grow Rich is definitely on my to-read list! I searched for the top recommendations when it comes to personal finance and business and that was at the top.

What changed the way I view life and money, in general, is the book called "Millionaire Next Door". The book teaches you to be frugal. Millionaires in America are not what they seem to be. They are the simplest people and they are all frugal. I'll not spoil anything anymore for you to enjoy reading it.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

The very first book that has a good impact to me was and still is The Holy Bible. I think it contains the greatest story ever told because it's he story of our creation and the generations after that, when God created man and woman in His own image and all the animals and plants. It also tells us that when the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair they had sex with them and took them as their wives resulting to beings which were big and powerful men of renown, up to the time of Noah and the great flood. These are only a few of the great stories that can be found in the Bible. Reading it when I was a boy was such a happy moment for me.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Kakashi2020,
I am fascinated by the passage in the Bible that you are referring--the birth of the Nephilim--basically. Have you read much about this idea, or have you read any other books about this tale? There are many sources out there, religious and secular, that talk about the passages regarding the fallen angels and mortal women having monstrous children. Many believe that the great Flood was "sent by God" to wipe out these creatures because they were considered an abomination. That's a pretty wild story, if you ask me, and a lot of conventional and conservative Christians, here in America, who I know, do not even talk about this stuff found in Genesis!

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Hi JoeMilford did you know that I came to know that Genesis passage when I was in grade school while reading an old Bible in class and there's the word nefilim which was unknown word to me back then but posed some intriguing questions that can't be explained using modern religion. This is also what started Zechariah Sitchin's research, even though the Bible was edited there lies the fact that if you look closely there remain clues or unedited words which tells us that something isn't right and that it was really edited.

I read all of Sitchins work and the long version of the creation tale didn't start with the creation of Adam or Adama, it started with God landing on earth along with his kind 400,000 plus years earlier. The Sumerian and Egyptian Kinglists include kings before the flood and kings after the flood and one noticeable factor is the great lenght of time they serve as kings, some of them have life spans of thousands of years. Just like in the old testament.

The church nowadays talk about God and Angels as spiritual beings because they haven't been around physically for such a long time but I do believe that in the past they were all physically present here on earth and they saw that women here were attractive because they created us in their own likeness so its a fact, we physically look like Gods but we don't have their power. So these race went down and had sex with women which sons and daughters where called "old men of renown" which is written in the Bible like Nimrod. Remember the story about Roman Greek Gods and Goddesses well they just copied it from the Greeks. One such halfbreed son of Zeus is Hercules. So it seems that being a halfbreed means becoming powerful as the Gods and this intermarriage got the ire of the Supreme God and it resulted in the great flood in Noah's days.

7 years ago

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jaymish3

jaymish3

I like reading so I've read quite a few books. I started reading when I was 13 years old. I used to read romance novels with a spotlight under the covers so that my parents don't know that I'm reading them. The first book I ever read that had the most powerful impact on me, was Robin Sharma's The Monk who Sold his Ferrari. I realized I can do achieve anything and the world is my playground. I was hooked on self-help books.

7 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

It's hard to say since I like many books. But one likely candidate would be "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events." It's not so much the book as it is the entire series. Just the melancholic but hopeful narration is enough to give me chills whenever I read excerpts from it. I love the protagonists. They're smart, funny, and kind.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

This is a tough question, but a great one. I have been a lover of literature since I was just a young boy. As I grew up, I read the Classics of Western Literature, and then, as I entered university, I started to read more and more Eastern and Middle Eastern texts. The book which has had the most recent effect on my life is the Sumerian translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is quite possible the oldest poetic epic on the planet, and its stories and plot are timeless. It showed me something very important--even though you might be a bit of an expert in the literature of your own culture, you can always leanr so much from the ancient cultures of others, and yo unever know what book is just hiding around a corner you will eventually turn that can change your life forever.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

I practiced a lot of martial arts in my younger days and there's this book written by Bruce Lee titled The Tao of Jeet Kun Do, it means The Way of The Intercepting Fist.

This book deals more on the philosophical side of his fighting art and it taught me the different applications of this philosophy can be used effectively in my life.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Kakashi2020,
I LOVE books about martial arts, especially when they are focussed in the philosophies of these arts and not instruction manuals about how to just do certain moves or exercises. Martial arts are way more about the metaphysical than the physical. I am really getting into Brazilian martial arts lately, and I have read several books about or by Bruce Lee. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, has also been a huge influence on me over the years--have you ever read that by any chance? Thanks for reminding me that I need to dust off some of these books on my shelf which I have not perused for a while.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Yes joemilford I've read Sun Tzu's The Art of War many times and if you find that helpful then you have to read "I-Ching or The Book of Changes" you would definitely love it. There's also one book I would like your honest opinion on the book is titled "How to Meditate" it has a tree in the cover and it's a short small book written in 1974 by Lawrence Leshan.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Recently I've been researching on how to make money in Amazon Kindle and I bought an Ebook by Chef Gene Gonzalez, he's my favorite chef in the Philippines and he owns a lot of restaurants and culinary schools here. He's family has been cooking good food for hundreds of years and I got his Ebook for $2. The title is "The Little Pulutan Book" and I'm reading it now. One thing people should know about us native Filipinos is that we love to drink and when we drink beer or liquor, there must always be "Pulutan". Pulutan is a generalized term of dishes that are good drinking appetizers its like the Spanish Tapas. A good example is Spicy Sisig and Crispy Pata. I like reading about food although it makes me hungry everytime I'm reading it.

7 years ago

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mildredtabitha

mildredtabitha

I have read a book recently called "healing the wounded soul" by a local writer called Paul Onditi. I haven't finished it since I kept aside and forgot to continue. I enjoy most of the writing in it and it helps me understand and know how I can forget the past and move forward.

7 years ago

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esteban123

esteban123

I think the books that made an impact in my life was the comedy books that I purchased to a certain store before because it makes me laugh and happy through out the day. I like reading comedy books because they are very interesting and enjoying to have. I mainly read it whenever I am tired from doing the office work or when I have some idle time.

7 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

I love the title of that books. I would like to get a copy on that. It seems like its a motivational kind of book.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

I'm currently reading Mysteries of the Unknown it's an old coffee table book published by readers digest and it's a great read although some of the subjects in these book were proven hoaxes but it is still entertaining and it's a good read.

7 years ago

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esteban123

esteban123

I also like mystery books because it makes me feel amaze and great, there are some great mystery books that will really feel us to read for more and tend to be more interesting especially about the previous years that happen in the past where events that had still no concrete explanations or answer by the science.

7 years ago

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