Posted on 04/29/2016 9:05:38 AM PDT by MtnClimber
e all have memories of books that have ignited our imaginations but is there one special book that has changed your life?
That's the premise behind a fascinating new collection of essays featuring contributions from writers, politicians and actors, who discuss the book that holds a special place in their hearts. Among the contributors are Sofia Coppola, Margaret Atwood, Dave Eggers and Jodi Picoult.
The entry I particularly liked was from the country music singer and songwriter Rosanne Cash, who seemed to capture what Marcel Proust said about there being no days of our childhood we live so fully as those we spend with a favourite book.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Only a few I would have selected. Atlas Shrugged made it onto the list.
80% waste of time.
There is about 20 on that list I agree with the other, eh...
#1 is the Bible which is strangely not on the list.
The Caine Mutiny.
I wished that I read AS a long time ago.
Rand was right about a lot. I have a few quibbles with some things though.
I don’t remember the name or author of a book that changed my life. When I was 15 or 16, I read a book written by a former KGB agent who became a born again Christian and who managed to emigrate out of Russia. When he was in the KGB he used to harass Baptists and Pentecostals meeting at house churches, and a young Christian woman impressed him so much and the memory of her faith stuck with him such that he eventually became a Christian (he lost touch with the woman). There was more to his story, but reading about his faith journey planted a seed that influenced me in mine.
I wish I had gotten my own copy of his book because I read it at someone else’s house while babysitting.
Agreed.
I hate it when people try to tell us what to read. No different than telling us what television bilge we should be watching. The vast majority of books in the world are complete garbage, with perhaps 0.0001% of them being worth even a cursory read.
I have read about half a dozen of this list. I would have recommended Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. That is what helped me come out of my parents shadow of being a southern democrat and into being a full throated conservative Republican. Well, that an Reagan’s speeches.
“Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.” President Reagan
She was, indeed. Her conclusions about what she was right about were, however, awfully skewed by her "objectivist" philosophy. I loved AS through most of the book, but the seemingly endless, God-hating screed of Galt near the end almost killed it for me.
[#1 is the Bible which is strangely not on the list.]
It is on the list....
#36 Tony P Hall (politician): The Holy Bible
#36 on the list, the Holy Bible. Recommended by Tony P Hall, who, I must assume, is some Brit politician.
#1 is the Bible which is strangely not on the list. ...
It seems that everything now tries to destroy Christianity and support Barbarians.
The Bible is at #36
Well I missed that, not being #1 threw me off.
The last third killed it for me. I loved the basic dystopian premise she set up in the first two thirds. But the appearance of Galt as Dagny's dream man and the endless speeches by Galt (and Francisco and other characters) really tried my patience. Also, the ridiculous sex scenes between Dagny and Rearden made me snicker. Ayn Rand sure seemed to like men who treated women roughly.
Atlas Shrugged and the Bible both belong on the list but in different ways. When my views disagree with AS, I ignore Ayn Rand. When my views disagree with the Bible, I do my best to defer to God’s infinite wisdom and accept His guidance - especially when that is hard for me.
There are few I would rate as "potentially life-changing," but Shel Silverstein? Dr. Seuss?
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