Which book has truly changed your life and why?

[poodlepusher]

Mine was probably non-fiction; Rhian Malan's MY TRAITOR'S HEART. Set in South Africa's Apartheid and written by a white SA journalist. It was an utter revelation about the country and its people as well as the human propensity to judge and be fearful and forgive and eventually find a way out of racism.

I'd be interested to know what books, fiction or otherwise had changed others lives, perspectives, ways of living?

Ooh Yes The Secret. Have you seen the DVD , solo?

Primo Levi 'If this is a man'.

The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort. Whole group of us dug it out from under a parental bed aged 10 I think, and had a lengthy read. It was the beard and the make up on the various participants.... the first idea I'd had that sex could be, I don't know, informal and fun, something you didn't have to scrub up for.

Oh yes and Primo Levi!! Finally a book thread I can relate to!

The Kite Runner for me. Definitely a book I will not forget in a long time.

No Shiney... but my friend is going to lend it to me. She said she fell asleep whilst watching it, but somehow took in every word...she reckons it hypnotized her! What are your thoughts on it?

I feel asleep too!!! But I was VERY tired. It's ducumentary-style.. and same as the book pretty much word for word but yes very good and quite hypnotic, I agree.

'Roots' and the 'Black Tower'series by Stephen King. I loved those books. Roots made me want to find out more about where I came from.

The Female Eunuch. I find Germaine Greer a bit bonkers sometimes these days, but this book was an 'aha' moment for me, and made sense of so many things I'd noticed but didn't have a conceptual framework for.

Two books - "The Women's Room" by Marilyn French (on the cover 'This book will change your life' - and it did!), which I read at 17. It's a bit lurid and pot-boilerish, but it turned me into a feminist.

The other book was Gabrielle Palmer's "The Politics of Breastfeeding" which also had the effect of radicalising me. I'd always had strong feelings about this issue, but they'd been personal. After reading this book I started to see this as being about more than just individual preferences, but as a wider social issue to do with inequality, economics and power. It's a really good read too - very digestible!

oooh, 'the politics of breastfeeding' is great as is 'no logo' and 'there's no such thing as a free lunch', all which helped me understand the world i live in.

'the cottage' by James Herbert, changed my perception of the horror genre, as supposidly Stephen King is well King, but i always found him quite unaccessable. James Herbert writes soo well and so 'of this time', he is brilliant.

Also, 'Fahrenheit 451' - i was horrified - a world without books...

I love sci-fi can you tell?

The very hungry caterpillar

Also, 'The Killing Fields', a truly amazing story.

MyMummy - I know that book of by heart! I had to recite it to DD2 at a resturant one time as she started crying her head off for fries and it was the only thing that calmed her down.

MyMummy - I know that book off by heart! I had to recite it to DD2 at a resturant one time as she started crying her head off for fries and it was the only thing that calmed her down.

Ffyona Campbell's On Foot Throughout Africa.

I read it when I was 18 and it inspired me to get more active - I started hill walking which led to rock climbing. I met dh through a climbing club so I think if it wasn't for this book I wouldn't have met him or had dd.

Lord of the Rings. In fact when I started reading it my then boyfriend said to read it all at once and it would change my life. It did from the point of view that in any world there is good and evil and you have to take it upon yourself to try to make a difference and live by the good path. I read it a long time ago back in the early 80s when everything was going materialistic and yuppyish.

Another vote here for Marilyn French's The Women's Room . Read it in my teens, and forced it upon friends at university too. Made me realise that equality can only go so far, and made me think about the expectations of society

Watership Down. My first forray into more adult themes, think I was 11. Also Clan Of The Cave Bear gave me s stupendous girl Power kick

wuthering heights - spiritual and romantic and so so english

the Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers. captured the isolation as a teenager as well as the unrequited "love" perfectly

Heinrich Böll's 'Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum' (The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum' - it's a very dry and satirical look at collusion between the state and the sensationalist right-wing press. And to think I used to enjoy reading The Daily Mail...........

currently? I hope to get some kind of change from reading "Eat, pray, love", found it to be fantastic.