Top five books that have left an impact on me
May 30th, 2008
This is obviously going to be a very personal list, which in reality, apart from all of the tough scientific testing I usually do is the case for all of these lists. I wanted to get a little away from the movies and comics and cartoons that usually dominate the Friday Top Five and look at other areas of popular culture starting with literature.
Now I’m not a book snob, obviously there are genres that I am less keen on than others but I honestly recognise popular literature over classically high class literature. I love most books equally.
These five books certainly may not be the best novels ever written but they each have left an imprint on me and my life.
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson taught me that a book didn’t have to be like a normal reading experience. If there was any doubt in your mind at all, after finishing Fear and Loathing you know that Hunter hit up the pharmaceuticals rather hard, there’s no way this book could have been written otherwise. The novel reads like a literature equivalent of jazz as the narrative pops on highs and lows throughout as we follow Raoul Duke on his quest for the lost American dream. I almost replaced this with The Rum Diary also by Thompson, written much earlier in his life and I often find myself thinking about it.
- The Wind in the Willows - this extraordinary novel written in 1908 made its author Kenneth Grahame enough money that he was able to quit his day job which he hated (he was a banker) and was able to spend his time messing around in boats. I love the pacing in the book that is often described as too slow but I think it suits the characters. The biggest reason though that this book is in this list is that it was the very first book I read.
- Fight Club - You never really know yourself until you hit rock bottom, something that I really appreciate and has stuck with me since reading this novel. It’s disturbing and violent but also discusses issues about a man’s place in society or how we define ourselves through commercialism. If you’ve only ever seen the movie you make time to read the book.
- The Return - well a Star Trek book had to make the list but this one is pretty much my favourite Trek novel as it is a bit of a fanboy session, you have all the Star Trek series up to this stage crossing over and of course Kirk comes back to life after that stupid death. There is a great connection made between V’Ger and the Borg - ok you have to be a Trek geek to get that. Oh and Shatner wrote it.
- Skymaze - This one may not be as well known outside of Australia it is the sequel to Space Demons written by Gillian Rubinstein. It’s a science fiction books aimed at teens and deals with the themes of growing up, think Degrassi meets Tron, as it is about a computer game that you literally get sucked into and play for real. Skymaze was I think a more well rounded story line and I read it when I was the same age as the kids in the book. The third one wasn’t as good if I remember because the author seemed obsessed with Japanese culture and focused on it more than the story. I can tell you though if she were to write another one where the teens are now middle aged I’d grab it in a second.
There are plenty of other books that could make the list, my first movie-tie-in novel Ghostbusters for example or The Never-ending Story, The Odyssey, the Rama novels, The Time Machine… it could go on.
So what books have made an imprint on you?
Next week we’re looking at music.
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Categories: Top five | Tags: fear and loathing in las vegas, Fight Club, Friday top five, hunter s thompson, kenneth grahame, raoul duke, Shatner, Skymaze, Space Demons, The Return, The Rum Diary, Top five, wind in the willows
Top spelling mistake in blog post titles that had an impact on me: “Top five books that have left an inpact on me”
Note to self: Post a completely unnecessary smart-ass nitpick on someone’s blog. Check.
(I’ll come back with my book list later.)
Jeffs last blog post..Double Review: Narnian royalty return to take down Indiana Jones
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fight club is definitely a great one.
sir jorges last blog post..I Really Hate My Job Dvd Review
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I never used to be a reader. Up until about 5 years ago I NEVER read books. Only magazines. I could go through stacks of magazines in a night, short stories would only keep my attention. Then I had surgery and was out of work for 6 weeks and read my first book (Queen Noor of Jordan). I have a friend who is a writer and she pushed me to start reading. Now I love it. I enjoy reading non fiction about the middle east mostly and biographies. I am reading Barbara Walters right now. I love it when a book has an impact on me. Mostly what I read just makes me more aware of our world. Sometimes, I feel I am very shelterd here in my life in the good ‘ole USA. Wouldnt change it a thing about living here, but strive to learn more about the rest of our world and the people in it.
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The book that got me into reading more than 1 or 2 a year was Legend by David Gemmel (I hope I spelt his name correctly). This Military Fantasy novel kept me entranced all the time I was reading it and left me with an urge to find out more about the world David had created when I’d finished.
I read as many other David Gemmel novels as I could find after that (none were as good as the first one), and have now branshed out to other authors, but I’ll never forget what started it all.
Cheers David.
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Jeff - all fixed
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Sir Jorge - I’m torn over whether I prefer the book to the film though, the book really imprinted itself on me but then so did the film. I’ve yet to read any of Chuck’s other novels though I’ve been meaning to!
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Joanna (or do you prefer Luckysnap whilst online?) The best non fiction book that really loved and very nearly made this list is a book called simply ‘Salt’ it is the history of salt and it is surprisingly interesting. I haven’t actually heard of Queen Noor of Jordan before so I should give it a look, although non fiction can drag for me.
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Ian - I think I own one of his books but haven’t read it, but I’ve certainly seen his books at the bookstore and considered them so one day I’m certain I’ll read one.
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of course the phonebook when somebody hit me with it ..oh wait..you mean not litteraly.
- LotR…can’t go around it.
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel
- Sink the Bismarck
- the Kushiel trilogy
- a 5-part series from James Clemens this is part 1
It’s not a 1-5..just a top 5 for now.
Arjans last blog post..Transformers OST
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Legend is indeed fantastic. the first quarter is a little by the numbers but when it gets going it really gets going. It is even better when you learn that the author was battling cancer at the time he wrote it and there are many subtle parallels to his own struggle.
wind in the willows is great, especially with the original illustrations. As a child I loved the magic pudding - an unknown book over here. my mother is australian and brought it with her when she moved to england. I bought it for Amy and Evan and had to import it from oz.
I am actually sending you through the post one of my all time favorite books, although I just re-read it and it wasn’t quite as good as I remembered. Maybe I grew up a litttle.
My top five books though would probably all be PG Wodehouse. The man was a god damn genius.
Dans last blog post..Donuts or Doughnuts
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Hi Lee, Nope, Joanna is fine. I should take that off the name section….I just put LuckySnap there cause thats what everyone knew me as before. Thats funny that non fiction drags for you….I feel the same way about fiction. For some reason, I like to know about the true story of things. To each thier own
Joannas last blog post..We Did It!
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Thanks… I feel better now.
Okay here are the top 5 off the top of my head. Subject to change on a whim.
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
Merlin (from the Pendragon Cycle) - Stephen Lawhead
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Brotherhood of the Rose - David Morrell (I ended up reading every book he had written for years after that one. Great stuff.)
Bonus entries:
Dark Force Rising - Timothy Zahn (started an obsession with all post-RotJ novels)
Vendetta - I have no idea who the author is, and I’m too lazy to look it up, but it was the only Star Trek book I truly enjoyed. It got me to read a bunch of others, but none were as good.
Jeffs last blog post..Double Review: Narnian royalty return to take down Indiana Jones
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Arjan - I must admit I had trouble getting through the amount of LotR that I did. I dunno I just am not a fan of his style of writing though I just picked up that new one and I’ll see if I can get into it and return to the other books.
Tracey is reading Jonathan Strange right now (as I type in fact!!) and I may look at it after she’s done.
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Dan - Wind in the Willows original artwork is simply magical and I hope you’ve supplied Amy and Evan a copy of that as well!
The Magic Pudding!!! Wow there’s a book I haven’t thought of in literally years! Very good to see your Australian genes fighting fit!
Cool cool cool cool I will stalk the mail-man (who am I kidding I was doing that anyway)
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Joanna - I’m definitely trying to read some more non-fiction I’ve got a book on Edward Lear that I want to read but now I’ve just picked up the new James Bond book…
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Mmmmmm Jeff if I could go back and bump one of them on the list it would be for Hitchhikers. The whole trilogy in five parts (giggle).
Simply brilliant. The second one was the first book that made me cry with laughter.
I’ve also scheduled time someday to return to Narnia and complete reading the series. I think I need to be washed up on a desert island with a crate of books *sigh*
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I tried to pick the single books that got me hooked, but in each of my five entries (actually, six of the seven) the book is part of a series that I loved - I just chose the first, in most cases. The exception is Merlin. That book just floored me in a couple spots and really stands out from an awesome series. The Pendragon Cycle is the only series that I read from start to finish multiple times in just a couple years.
I also considered including Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency or The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, but Hitchhiker’s was really my introduction to Adams’ humor and just barely beat Dirk out.
Jeffs last blog post..MTV Yearbook - where does it take you?
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Jeff in most cases I’ll class the franchise or series as represented, Shatner’s other Trek books are all fairly good (well earlier on they were) for example so by including The Return they all get a bit of a look in, except for the absolute latest which I doubt I’ll even read.
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Great idea for a list! I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what would be in my top 5 list (fight club would be one of them).
swollenpickless last blog post..May 2008 goal update
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It’s a really hard list to think of, I’ve already thought about alternates for the list!!
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The return was definately awesome, Shatner is the man, to bad they dissed him when he wanted o be in the new star trek movie.
Books that really made an impact on me,
the first one was A Wrinkle in Time. I stll read it about once every two years
next was the dragonlance trilogy
,got me hooke on fantasy
The Robert Jordan Wheel of Time Series. It was started in 1992 and the author died before he could finish the last book!
The Hyperion and Endymion series by Dan Simmons, by far the best Science Fiction I have ever read.
cheers!
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Hey mate,
Just found your blog via the aussie bloggers forum. Some great posts here.
As for top 5 books, I’ve only read two on that list.
I made the mistake of watching the Fear and Loathing movie before the book, for some reason it made it harder to read.
I agree with your take on Fight Club, there’s a lot of hidden meaning there. If you haven’t already, you should read ‘Choke’ by the same author. It’s about a con artist who tricks people into thinking they saved his life then asks them to borrow money.
The other books that have made an impact on me in the last few months are a couple of titles by Ben Elton - Chart Throb and Popcorn. The first is a hilarious p*sstake of the various ‘Idol’, and the latter is a chicken and egg satire about violence and movies.
Matt
Matts last blog post..Unemployed Again
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Sketch - I’m a huge shatner fan but I can live without him in the film.
Tracey is a reader of the Wheel of Time series, I think she thought they were pretty good. I wonder if he left enough notes for someone to finish the series?
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Hi Matt, Welcome to this little corner of the interwebs. With Fear and Loathing I of course read it before seeing the movie and felt the movie was a good representation of it but I don’t know what I would’ve thought reversed.
I’ve got to read some more Chuck so I might give Choke a look, I tried another one which was about time travel or something (I didn’t actually read it, I only flicked through it).
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’ve yet to read any Ben Elton!!!
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