Kennedy Bakircioglu Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Got the Sunday blues and need some new books / films in my life that are going to inspire. Not self help books or films as such, but just any books or films that made an impact on your life. Do these exist? Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Comedian Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 South by Ernest Shackleton. Got me a hero reading that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigC Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Almost Everything" really got me interested in science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Reekin' Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I don't know that any changed my life, but all made a big impact. Books, that I can think of just now: Catch 22, Joseph Heller. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. The Underworld USA Trilogy (American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, Blood's a Rover), James Ellroy. The LA Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz), James Ellroy. If This is a Man / The Truce / The Periodic Table / If Not Now When?, Primo Levi. A Time of Gifts / Between the Woods and the Water, Patrick Leigh Fermour. The Places In Between, Rory Stewart (written well before he became a Tory MP, thankfully...). The Missionaries, Norman Lewis (not lighthearted or happy reading, but the most powerful indictment against fundamentalist and evangelical "Christianity" I've ever read. Most of his other non-fiction books are great too - he was one of Britain's finest travel-writers and essayists). The Last Grain Race / A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, Eric Newby (most of his other books are great too). In Xanadu, William Dalrymple. Pretty much all of the non-fiction / travel books by Colin Thubron. The Sea Kingdoms / Before Scotland, Alistair Moffat. I'd have to have more of a think about films, as there have been so many that I have loved and that made a big impact at the time. I'd absolutely recommend pretty-much anything by the Coen Brothers though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Films that changed my life? I reckon unlike books any recommendations will seem trite but one that resonated with me in my late twenties was Fight Club - not so much about the story but the subtext. I reckon most blokes of a certain age would get something out of that (or the book of course). Most books that resonated are so obvious to prevent me listing them (1984 etc) but one book that transported me somewhere unexpected was The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. Doesn't seem to be the most known book but for atmosphere and ideas (it riffs from subjects such as writing to philosophy to quantum mechanics and takes in hints of Coupland, William Gibson, Kubrick, Hayao Miyazaki, Dickens, Wachowskis) yet manages to have a story with a decent dash of originality and a narrative that never feels forced yet cracks along. The protagonist is as real a modern female as you'll get in fiction, which is a rarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimpos Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Primo levi for sure, if you read that and your life doesn't change then something is wrong with you. Also a book called "a fine balance" by Rohinton Mistry is the only work of fiction I actually cried reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cigaro Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Moondust by Andrew Smith. Picked it up randomly on holiday years ago. Had the choice between that and Joe Calzaghe's autobiography. It ignited my interest in all things space and more so the Russian and American space programmes. It's now all I read about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Reekin' Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Moondust by Andrew Smith. Picked it up randomly on holiday years ago. Had the choice between that and Joe Calzaghe's autobiography. It ignited my interest in all things space and more so the Russian and American space programmes. It's now all I read about. Yeah, it's an interesting and well-written book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimUpNorth Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 My War gone by I miss it so by Antony Lloyd, thought it was a stunning book and got me interested in that area of the world. Went both times Hearts played there mainly due to that book. Another that's not changed my life as such, but I'll never forget reading and makes me think differently over mental health issues is A Life Too Short about Robert Enke. For whatever reason I bought Inferno by James Natchwey a few years ago, not really realising what it was, I've opened it once, lasted about ten pages and never looked at it again. Human suffering which the goes beyond anything we read or see in the media. Other than that, The Sopranos, purely because so much of my life has been taken up watching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmfc_liam06 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 50 Shades.....certainly changed my life for the better, she's filthy as now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandt Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Jaws had a bit of an impact on me. On hols swimming in the nice warm sea water.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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