What Books Changed You?
- I, Reader: A Nod to Asimov’s I, Robot
- Robots and Readers: A Tight Coupling of Container and Content
- Does Technology only Extend Thought? Does It also Supplant It?
- Machine Life: The Final Prejudice
- RB-34 Prefers Slushy Novels
- Creative Reading: A Golden String
- Creative Reading by anemone achtnich
- Creative Reading: The Art of Self
- Creative Reading: Thinking with Other Minds
- Creative Reading: The Art of Self, Take 2
- Creative Reading: The Discovery of Other (Thinking with the Minds of Others, Take 2)
- Creative Reading: The Mathematics of Self, Other and Extension
- What Books Changed You?
- I’ve always admired people who, in a pinch, are better than their principles
- Every Extension Breaks a Rule
- The Trajectory of Reading: Creative Contribution
- I Read, Therefore I Write
- What Readers Write May Not Be Literature, But It Might Become So
- “Narrow it down to … the upper left-hand brick”: Phaedrus
- “No one that he knew had ever written a whole metaphysics before”: Phaedrus
- Using a Blog to Draft a Book Idea: 9 Observations
- From Reading to Writing to Publishing with Digital Media
- Birth of the Reader-Writer
- To Read a Book is to Ignore 4000 Others
- Quantity has a Quality all its Own
- The Web is Re-Wiring My Brain
- How the Web Works for Readers: Thin Connections Lead to Rich Connections
- The Accidental Programmer
- Definitions of Hacking
- Ways of the Reader-Hacker
- Ways of the Reader-Hacker II: Breaking the Rules
- Ways of the Reader Hacker III: Two Bright Ideas
- A Hacker’s Reading List
- Ones and Zeros, On and Off Switches, All Sane Systems Require Downtime
- The Information Race and Pushing the Button
- How to Make an Elephant Statue
- Every Story Deserves a Good Ending
- Expressions of Offworld
- “Would I start to resemble a book myself?”
- Myth of the Reader-Hero
- Print is Digital
- Am I Still Chasing that First Reading High?
- Do Robots Read? Yes I Do (Conclusion to “I, Reader”)
- I, Reader: A Book Outline
- Reading List for Next Draft of I, Reader
50 Books that Changed Me, Pt. 1, Youth
I want to lighten the series up and talk more directly about reading with this new theme, ‘50 Books that Changed Me’. It will be four or five posts, briefly describing a selection of books that changed me in ways that are reflected in this “I, Reader” series. I would be delighted to hear about books that changed you; leave a comment.
Farm Animals. Author unknown. Books on farm animals are a first for many children. For me it was a book aptly called Farm Animals, a big red book. I recall a picture of a serious dog, the text cautioning children that farm dogs might not want to play. I am too serious too often and should play more. The theme of farming returns later in my life.
The Chronicles of Narnia. A set of seven children’s book by C.S. Lewis, starting with the well known title, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The chronicles are an allegory of the Bible, but to me it was just great fantasy. On some level, it provided a transition from the literal interpretation of the Bible that I was given to something more imaginative and creative. I read all seven books seven times.
The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien defined the fantasy genre. The interplay of mythology with the real world is a powerful literary and psychological dynamic. In a biography by Carpenter, Tolkien persuades C.S. Lewis toward Christianity with his argument of religion as a mythology that literally happened. At moments, that almost makes sense to me. The trilogy was my first foray into more mature literature and dark symbolism. I read the trilogy to my kids when they were young.
The Bible. My Dutch immigrant parents were Christian Reformed, a relatively strict group that forbade drinking, dancing, movies or working on Sundays. Bible reading was a staple at meals, school, church and weekly church events. My father read the Bible at every meal. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but having a parent read anything to their family at each meal is a rare and precious thing. The Bible knowledge came in handy in later years. In high school English class, studying A Separate Peace by John Knowles, I knew that the Garden of Eden was said to have been located between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Listening to the Bible forged my original interest in philosophy.
14 books
*** Of course, of course, I get it now. There is a wonderful dual play on the theme of books that changed you. It’s not just the reading that changes the reader, i.e., the book as constant, but also the changing nature of the book with technology that is changing the identity of the reader. This comes out much more clearer in my 44th post, the book outline
Leave your response!