Books that have Expanded Your Horizons?

humbert

For me the two that come to mind are The Grapes of Wrath and The Black Swan (by Nassim Nicholas Taleb).

I found A Brave New World interesting, more so than 1984 (with the exception of double-speak which I think is under appreciated in today's world).

I didn't enjoy reading The Grapes of Wrath very much at the time and it was stubbornness as much as anything that caused me to finish it but it drastically changed the way I saw capitalism (in the broadest sense). I'm still very much a capitalist but more conscious of faults and harm it can cause.

I don't like popular science books or history books. Popular science gives a airy feeling for the concepts involved from the perspective of the author and I'm deeply wary of the sense of awareness we get from retrospectively looking at segments of history.


I'm sure there must be countless other books out there that have changed the way intelligent people see and interpret the world...


So what books have impressed the good members of this forum?

Conchir

A World of My Own by Robin Knox-Johnston. It is an account of his non-stop, solo round the world voyage onboard his yacht from 1968-69. It just changed how I look at things, and made me appreciate all the small things a bit more.

Also, I sail a dinghy at the moment, and being only in my teens, this book made me realise how far I could go, if I just focus and really try hard. Or how I could take up the RNLI's and Coastguard's time by getting too far ahead of myself :P

But in all seriousness, it just really made me think differently about life. And it's a great read.

nownowtubs

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel made me stop and think.
Took me ages to get into it but posed some really interesting questions to me. Have a look!

bleg

The Singularity is near by kurzweil. Brilliant book, even just read the wiki, you'll be intrigued.

humbert

bleg wrote: »

The Singularity is near by kurzweil. Brilliant book, even just read the wiki, you'll be intrigued.

Interesting, I came across that movie and searched endlessly trying to download buy it but couldn't.

The book does look like it's worth a read having had a cursory glance at the wikipedia page (it's late!).

18AD

Check out the documentary about Kurzweil. It's seriously mental!

Transcendent Man.

gugleguy

"Elena a Tale of Love And Revenge"

This was also made into a movie with John Malcovitch.

Nub of the story:

After World War 2, Greek Communist Guerillas with the help of Soviet assistance try to force Communist government on Greece after being liberated from the Nazis. A Greek family stands up to this. Pays the price with death/toture of some family members at the hands of the guerillas.

Fast forward 40 years.

The son of this Greek family makes his way back to Greece to track down any surviving communist guerillas he can find.
Locates one such goon - he now is leading the life of a happy grandpa - he now has a happy grandchild

He was going to kill this old guerilla but then spits at him, point blank in the face. The ex guerilla is awake as he is spat at.

Personally, I think this guy was forgiven for being a communist guerilla by virtue of the fact that he is not executed.

CorkonianRebel

One that definitely expanded my horizons was "The Dice Man" by Luke Rhinehart.Its actually a book from the 70s that I only read a few years ago. Its fiction or at least loosely based on the authors experiences about using a Die to make decisions. You probably know it already but it did make me think about chances in life. I didn't start using dice though but it made me think about the options I wouldnt normally take and to take a few more chances. Its a very funny book too and not only entertaning but made me think about the roads we dont normally take in life when we put limits on things. Of course one cannot go crazy with them but it helped me "think outside the box" for the options not normally taken! Its actually not a bad idea to take a few chances!

2022rae

Two books that I could not recommend more are 'Frankenstein' - which is not at all like the myth most people know of (Frankenstein is actually the doctor, not the monster!) but an amazing tale of of a doctor and his abandoned, misunderstood creature. It's a real eye opener, amazing novel. The other one I would highly recommend is 'Maria, Or, The Wrongs of Woman'. A tale of a woman in jail for uncertain circumstances after she was forced to escape her abusive husband in an attempt to keep their child safe. Both classics and extremely good reads. I probably don't do the description justice but do check them out!

Xenophile

For those with some life experience "Siddartha" by Hemann Hesse will help you with events in your life which you might have difficulty in coming to terms with.

smallBiscuit

I'm a book worm, always have been. I think the books which have infiltrated my conciseness the most, and years later, I've realised, have changed my world view, are robert a heinlein books, esp stranger in a strange land

CorkonianRebel

I have Stranger in a Strange land but I haven't read it yet. I must definitely read it soon.Its supposed to be very good!

18AD

This is awesome!

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

smallBiscuit

CorkonianRebel wrote: »

I have Stranger in a Strange land but I haven't read it yet. I must definitely read it soon.Its supposed to be very good!

It is, without giving anything away, the concepts in it will really get you thinking. The main premise is conceptually perfect, but practically not realistic, at least not for me