Which book/movie affected you the most?

[Dixon Cannon]

Next: Same author - two books

Leonard E. Read

-Elements of Libertarian Leadership

-Anything That's Peaceful

-dixon cannon

 

[Cacklewack]

Books: The Holy Bible, The Sovereignty of God, The Works of Jonathan Edwards

Movies: Band of Brothers

Matt

 

[boomerchop]

Interesting,

Many books and films I'm not familiar with.

My books:
On the Beach. By the end I was completely involved in the story and felt that the end of the world was fast approaching. Totally absorbing.
Shogun. Read in college and I found myself developing Japanese thought patterns by the end, wanting to apologize to everyone for my actions, etc.

Movies:
In a bad way: The Stepford Wives and Sleeping With the Enemy. Both chilling statements on marital relations gone bad.
Good movies: Das Boot, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc.

Plays: 1776; I always get choked up as the bell tolls at the end, with thunder in the background, with the reading of the names and signing of the document.

 

[Etienne]

Without question, the Bible is number one. The impact of this book has altered my worldview, my life, my relationships and my heart. Grace Walk, and Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air would round out my top three. Band of Brothers would be my pick for movies, with Anne of Green Gables for my second spot. The story, the incredible photography, the depth of the characters was phenomenal in both these pics.

 

[LolitaHaze]

Lolita

Both the book and the movie. I saw the 97 version of Lolita first and was instantly attracted to it... I then was reading the book while I saw the 62 version. I really must read it again... but it changed my life and gave me a better understanding about the bratty spoiled child I am and also gave me a persona that has carried over into my career. Now I have debated with others about this and how could I possibly be a Lolita at age 27. Well first of all the word known as Lolita is in fact a mistake. The word people want to use is Nymphet. Lolita was a person... a nymphet... Not the other way around. Anyway... still how could I consider myself a Lolita after the way the book ended. In my little world... had the book ended differently I could see her being 27 doing what I am doing now. I am the Nymphet of Burlesque... wah... you can't be... you're too old! Now this statement is true, but I just say it is a play on words from the book. Now I don't think this story (book and movies) have changed my life for better or for worse, but it definately made an impact that has helped me focus on myself.

I am sure this is all too much information for all you, but I just thought I would add my story to everyone else's.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I'm not good at picking just one, so, all of these helped shape my outlook...

As a kid: Grimm's Fairy Tales
Teens: JD Salinger, Catcher in the Rye.
In my 20's: Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead.
In my 30's: Charles Dickens Great Expectations & David Copperfield.
Currently*: Anything by Margaret Sangster, William Alcott as well as numerous Victorian Era religious books.

Movies: It's a Wonderful Life, The Elephant Man, A Christmas Carol (older versions).

*Hm, I'm still in my thirties. I think I feel old today!

 

[nightandthecity]

we're not talking actual favourites, right?

For films I think I was very affected by all those 1950s British war movies like the Dam Busters, Reach for the Sky, Carve her Name with Pride…... I soaked them up. Poor old dad had to take me, though I should think the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of the war.

In my teens I was similarly affected by classic American gangster movies like White Heat, High Sierra etc. so its no wonder people say I’m complex (or is that schizoid?)

Books? George Orwell, especially 1984 and Homage to Catalonia.
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World.

People think 1984 is about Communism but it isn't, it's about everywhere.
People also think it's about the future, but it is about the present. The title is a pun on 1948, the year it was written....

 

[Nathan Dodge]

and Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air would round out my top three.

Great title, and it sums up that disastrous philosophy. I'm on my way to read it...

 

[Etienne]

Terrific! If you don't already have it, the author's name is Greg Koukl and he is with an organization called Stand to Reason. Greg is highly intelligent, consumately articulate, exceedingly well-reasoned. Enjoy! (BTW, his website is www.str.org)

 

[Mojave Jack]

Franny and Zooey, by J. D. Salinger, has got to be the book that means the most to me. Not the greatest influence perhaps, or even the best book I have ever read, but it is iconographic to me in that it marks a moment of metamophosis in my life. That battered, secondhand book is my most prized possession.

 

[nightandthecity]

when I was a kid I devoured WW2 books as well as films. One book that has stayed with me is MAQUIS by George Millar. Millar was a British SOE agent and the book is about his experiences with the maquis in central France during 1944.

For some reason I seem to read it in times of crisis, such as when dying of the flu or a broken heart.

It is very evocative of the time and place, and very well written too, but I have never really been able to pin down quite why it has had such an impact on me or why i find it so strangely comforting.

 

[PA Dancer]

Another Great Thread

During the winter months I will tear through books at least one every two weeks.

Some of the books that I read that had the greatest impact were:
1. Illusions by Richard Bach
2. Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (warning: the movie will make you cry uncontrollably.

The one movie that comes to mind that I thought was a great concept was "Pay It Forward"

 

[Foofoogal]

1. The Bible for sure.
2. The Grapes of Wrath and most anything by John Steinbeck.
3. Its a Wonderful Life.

Lolita, I see the late Tammy Faye Bakker as a Lolita for some reason.

 

[Smithy]

"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach.

 

[PA Dancer]

"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach.

Another one of my favorites.

 

[Diamondback]

Me too! No matter how much I write and read I always tend to mix those two up.

Helpful hint: Effect=noun, Affect=verb.

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.

I guess I gotta declare myself to be in about the same boat. Although Tom Clancy's "Mr. Clark" character across various books and Ludlum's Bourne trilogy were both extremely influential, there's so much other stuff that's been tossed into the mix... You might call me "an intellectual blender permanently set on frappe." lol

 

[Hawkcigar]

The book that stays with me is Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. I love the road less traveled anyway and from the first time I read this book my dream vacation has been to travel the backroads of this country. I can't get it out of my mind.

There are two movies that stay with me. They are It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.

 

[Rooster]

Frank Herbert's DUNE series. Read the first one in high school in the early 70's. Been fascinated with each new volume. I've read the original series probably 1/2 dozen times.

 

[Harp]

Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning.
The power of love amidst the Holocaust.

 

[Story]

I read the books first...

RL Stevenson's Treasure Island

Heinlein's Starship Troopers

King's The Stand

HSThompson's Fear & Loathing on the Road to Las Vegas

Heller's Catch - 22 (you'd be surprised how nothing really changes in the military)