Which book/movie affected you the most?

[Section10]

Apart from the Bible, I'd say there have been several books. Walden for one and some by C.S. Lewis. And Leo Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God is Within You" I found fascinating. Not that I agreed with all of it since I'm no anarchist, but what greatly impressed me was the depth of spirituality and original, radical thought it contained coming from such a spiritually desolate place as czarist Russia in the late 1800s.
I can't think of any movie that has had a lasting impact on me although I really, really, like Casablanca.

 

[clevispin]

Books:

-The Genie of Sutton Place. A kids book, it taught me that books are fun and interesting and something you can wrap your conciousness into.

-The Last Gentleman/The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Pushed my buttons. Read every page with foreboding.

Movie: The Bad Lieutenant by Abel Ferrara. Stars Harvey Keitel (director's cut). Gut wrenching. Hardcore redemption.

m

 

[mysterygal]

I can't really think of a specific book since there's been a couple that have deeply impacted me.
movie: Saving Private Ryan

 

[Hemingway Jones]

"The Razor's Edge" by F. Somerset Maughm influenced me a great deal. It opened me up to other cultures and made me challenge that which I thought were the goals in life. It was a very good read for a young impressionable mind.

"John Adams" by McCullough inspired me to go back to keeping a journal.

The simple lyric beauty of "The Old Man and the Sea" crystallized that existential struggle I have always felt; that things do not necessarily work out, that ruin is a moment away, that there are forces that oppose us, but that redemption is achieved through the struggle itself.

As silly as it may sound, I will always see the world through "The Godfather." It is my "Moby Dick."

I will always identify with Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon;" one man against insurmountable odds, as funny as it may sound.

Though my life is one unending episode of "Seinfeld."

 

[Caledonia]

Erich Maria's "All Quiet On The Western Front". The desperation of war and that we all bleed the same colour.

John Seymour's "Self-sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers"

Genevieve Dariaux's "Elegance"

Films - Way too many to list.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Book: The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway. The simplicity and brilliance allowed me to realize that art can be comforting in this life. Before that, books (and art) were mere "entertainment."

Movie: That's impossible for me to figure out. Let's just say Woody Allen's Zelig, seeing as it's near impossible to be an individual.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Books: The Roads to Freedom trilogy by Jean Paul Sartre. An existensialist communist on his journey through the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Coming to terms with his own cowardice and lack of conviction (SCW) and eventual salvation through heroism (WWII). Affected my world view profoundly.

One of the few of Sartre's writings that are truly accessible. La Nausée is another great one.

Second to the above is L'Afcadio's Advenure by Andre Gide.

bk

 

[Twitch]

The book that impressed me most in life was Samurai by Saburo Sakai. After WW2 he was the leading living ace. He was an Imperial Japanese Navy pilot who went through some excruciating stuff and shot down 64 planes in the Pacific.

His narrative was probably the 1st biographical book I had other than the aircraft specification books I owned. I was probably 12 years old. From there I've collected books on WW 2 and combat avaition and many pilot accounts of historical events all my life.

 

[Novella]

Please excuse any incorrect use of affect/effect I may have made. No matter how much I study it, I always have difficulty with those words.

Me too! No matter how much I write and read I always tend to mix those two up. There aren't any movies or books that have really changed me in a drastic way, although there are a few that have led me to look at life in a different way or encouraged me to be a stronger person. These include "I Capture the Castle" (both the movie and the book by Dodie Smith), "Amelie," and "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf. (Honorable mention goes to "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell and "Marat Sade" by Peter Weiss.)

Really I feel that there are so many movies I've watched and so many books I've read that have imparted different ideas and feelings into me that it would be impossible to list them. Rather than be influenced by one in particular I think I'm amalgamation of everything I've consumed. Hmmm, did I just contradict my first paragraph? haha

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Two books that profoundly affected me:


The Painted Bird, by Jerzy Kosinski.

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov.


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[Lauren]

Books:
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Satisfied even my doubts. The book was filled with notes by the time I gave it away.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen- Fanny Price is my heroine.

Movies:
Raiders of the Lost Ark- haven't lost my sense of adventure and long to travel since.
Amelie- Helped me to begin to see the beauty in everyday life after a period of darkness.

 

[scotrace]

"The Razor's Edge" by F. Somerset Maughm influenced me a great deal. It opened me up to other cultures and made me challenge that which I thought were the goals in life. It was a very good read for a young impressionable mind.

"John Adams" by McCullough inspired me to go back to keeping a journal.

The simple lyric beauty of "The Old Man and the Sea" crystallized that existential struggle I have always felt; that things do not necessarily work out, that ruin is a moment away, that there are forces that oppose us, but that redemption is achieved through the struggle itself.

As silly as it may sound, I will always see the world through "The Godfather." It is my "Moby Dick."

Excellent list. John Adams is also among my favorites and I think of passges from it often.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

If you like C.S. Lewis (and who doesn't?), then you'll love reading the works of Reinhold Niebuhr. His masterpiece was a series of lectures compiled in a book named The Nature and Destiny of Man.

You might recognize the prayer below. It was written by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1943, and was adopted by "Alcoholics Anonymous":


God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can; and

the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right, if I surrender to His will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr

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[Lauren]

The Irony of American History lol
Definately adding that to the list of must reads. Thanks!

 

["Doc" Devereux]

If you like C.S. Lewis (and who doesn't?)...

That'll be me, then.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Group: "Yes! We're all individuals!"

One man: "I'm not."

Group: "Shhhh!"

lol

.

 

[Lincsong]

Guadalcanal Diary--book
Patton--movie

 

[Benny Holiday]

Book: "What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Phillip Yancey

Movie: "Dead Poets Society."

 

[Zach R.]

Star Wars affected the contents of my wallet the most.:eusa_doh:

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Books --

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthieson. I re-read it when there are great life changes looming.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I re-read it when I have had a great loss in my life.

Also: Fowles The French Lieutenant's Woman, Tony Morrison's Beloved, Arthur C. Clarke's anthologies of short stories, especially "The Nine Billion Names of God."

I love most of the writings of Annie Dillard, from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, to her later works, especially For the Time Being and Teaching a Stone to Talk.

Ceremonal Time by John Mitchell

Very few movies have had a great impact on me, usually it has more to do with an actor or actress. When I was young, two movies come to mind: Rebel Without a Cause and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Later, 2001: a Space Odysses. In the theatre, Equus and Agnes of God, both mind-blowers.

I could go one, but these stand out by far.

karol