Book(s), movies, music that shaped who you are

[ceeveg]

What book (or books) shaped who you are?

Have you read anything brilliant and inspiring recently?

What music or movies inspired you?

[Murihiku]

Originally Posted by ceeveg

What book (or books) shaped who you are?

The Bible
Wuthering Heights
Narnia
Lord of the Rings
Middlemarch

(All read before the age of 20, the first four by the age of 12 (not ALL of the Bible).

[ceeveg]

Any of Jane Austen's books.

I've also enjoyed Milne and Dahl, but even more so now that I'm older.

As for movies, I love The Third Man and The Year of Living Dangerously -- I don't know that they've shaped me necessarily, but I return to them again and again. I also loved that novella by Greene and the book by Koch.

In terms of music, I love rockabilly.

[Murihiku]

I love Jane Austen too but her books didn't shape me in quite the same way.

I love Graham Greene but I haven't read that one!

I can't really think of any movies that had the same effect on me as books . . .

As for music, how about "Total Eclipse of the Heart"?

[merpk]

The Beatles and the Grateful Dead shaped who I am. Music-wise, that is. Dylan had a lot to say on the matter as well.





Movies, a lot of them, too, but "Testament" and "On the Beach" (the 1959 version, never saw the one a few years back) are foremost. And "Silkwood." And "The China Syndrome." (Notice a theme here? )










Books, I couldn't begin to start. I will say that "A Canticle for Liebowitz," which I read before I became religious, was very mindblowing to me. And yeah, was able to become religious after reading it, ain't that a mindblower in itself. (The author is surely spinning in his grave on that one. )

And "A Stranger in a Strange Land" is one that's stayed with me on all sorts of levels, as well as the "Dune" books.









Haven't been able to read much since the kids came. However, for the first time in my life I'm really reading what might actually be called a "self-help" book. Always found them annoying and stayed away, and to be honest, this is on audiobook (no time to actually read anything ) but it's really helping me reassess my life, my outlook, and how I deal with the heaviness/stress/negativity that has been overwhelming the last few years. It's Christopher Reeves' "Nothing is Impossible." It's working.

[Traci mom23boys]

Music: The Grateful Dead because I fell in love with my husband at a show and they(the band, music, deadheads) helped shaped my desire for social justice.

Books: The Mists of Avalon, The Red Tent, Wise Child by Monica Furlong, Your Heart's Desire by Sonia Choquette, Into The Forest by jean hegland, Little House on the Prairie Books,One Thousand White Women, The People's History of the U.S. By H. Zinn, The Chinaberry Catalog because of all the books they recommended over the past 20 years, The Outlander Series, To Kill A Mockingbird, oh so many more....

Movies: It's A Wonderful Life, Good Will Hunting, Return to Me, Family Man, Omega Man- I had the feeling when I watched this as a child that something like this would happen some day...yikes! (Modern day version is I Am Legend)

Blessings,

[ceeveg]

I'd forgotten the Little House books.

I love Brian Setzer, Peter Gabriel, Depeche Mode, The Beatles, etc.. And old country, like Hank Williams.

[annethcz]

In 2008, the book I read that made the biggest impact on my thinking was

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond.

[oceanbaby]

Almost everything by Anne Lamott, especially her three Thoughts on Faith books, and I am not a religious person.

[mercyrus]

Music: Kanye West's College Drop Out. When I heard it...it made me realize that a college degree doesn't necessarily mean success. Strangely, I had been resisting going back to school until that album...and then I was free. I let go of all that guilt and shame and went back. It was very liberating.

Books: Salinger's Catcher In the Rye (at 15 the book was EVERYTHING to me), Orwell's Down and Out In Paris and London (made realize that restaurants all over, no matter how many stars they have can be every bit as disgusting), Gaiman's American Gods (a good all around book about the story of America)

Movies: Albert Brook's Defending Your Life. I saw that movie as a teenager and my family happened to own a Howard Johnson's and since I didn't want to end up staying there in my afterlife - I thought that I would try to live my life to the fullest. It worked for a while, but I've been slacking lately

[poiyt]

Books: The Giver by Lois Lowry (its a young adult book/teen book but honestly- it shapes many of the beliefs I have about the world - I still think about it to his day) The Red Tent as well for me, oh and The Birthhouse.

Movies: What the Bleep Do we know....similar theme to the giver - i Never noticed.

[annjo]

Books: Middlemarch (Dorothea Brooke is the most wonderful heroine; my husband and I read this together before we were married), One Hundred Years of Solitude, anything by Alice Munro, To Kill a Mockingbird,

Lately, I've been reading lots of non fiction. Some great ones: The Secret History of the War on Cancer, lots of Bill Bryson (always fun, always kind), It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys (a fantastic book that's more zen and therapy than organization), Charlotte Joko Beck (keeps me sane!)

Movies: Has anyone seen Happy Accidents? It is one of my favorite movies but never much talked about. It's a romance with a fantastic twist--better IMO than Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but in a similar vein. Hmmm....others, Roman Holiday, High Hopes, Howard's End, A Room with a View. I really love a great romance but it's got to have a great hook. There is nothing more nauseating than a predictable Hollywood formula romance.