Favorite Books

[Received]

So what are they? What are the most influential, life-changing, or quite simply the most aesthetically pleasing works you have ever read? I'm curious because there is a great variety of intellectual taste in regards to philosophy and theology here.

Mine would be thus:

'The Sickness Unto Death' -- Kierkegaard
'King Lear' -- Shakspeare
'Hamlet' -- Shakespeare
'Pensees' -- Pascal
'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' -- Nietzsche
'The Brothers Karamazov -- Dostoevsky
'Mere Christianity' -- C.S. Lewis
'God in the Dock' -- C.S. Lewis
'The Four Loves' -- C.S. Lewis
'Ecclesiastes' -- Old Testament
'The Moviegoer' -- Walker Percy
'The Catcher in the Rye' -- J.D. Salinger

 

[Doubting Thomas]

Excellent list, Received. It appears we have some overlap. A partial list of some of my favorites would include:

"King Lear" and "Hamlet" -- Shakespeare

"Human, All-Too Human," "Daybreak," "The Gay Science" -- Nietzsche

"Letters From the Earth" -- Twain

"Meditations" -- Marcus Aurelius

Each of Dostoyevski's major novels

"Faust" -- Goethe

"Genesis," "Job" and "Ecclesiastes" -- OT

The Dhammapada

"The Apology" -- Plato

For sheer aesthetic bliss, my favorites are Chekhov, Joyce and Nabokov (sp?).

 

[Volos]

I made a quick trip to my book shelf and grabbed the following as my favorites:

“Tao Te Ching” - Lao Tzu
“Nothing Special” - Charlotte Beck
“Think” - Simon Blackburn
“Being Good” - Simon Blackburn
“Being and Nothingness” - Jean-Paul Sartre
“The Varieties of Religious Experience” – William James
“Stepping up to the Creator” Daniel Shepard
“Tao of Philosophy” - Alan Watts
“Illuminata, A Return to Prayer” – Marianne Williamson
“Black Elk Speaks “
“Golden Bough” - Sir James Frazer
“Ecstasies” – Carlos GInzburg
“The Way of the Shaman” - Michael Harner
“Shamanism” – Mircea Eliade
“The Poetic Edda”
“The Mabinogi”
“The Odyssey” – Homer
“The Iliad” – Homer
“The Hero with a Thousand Faces” – Joseph Campbell
“The Triumph of the Moon” - Ronald Hutton

 

[jon1101]

Using the word very loosely, my favorite books are:

"Paradise Lost" by Milton
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
"1984" by George Orwell
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"The Second Treatise of Government" by John Locke
"The Law" by Frederic Bastiat
"The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
"Hamlet" by Shakespeare
"Macbeth" by Shakespeare
"Henry V" by Shakespeare
"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
"Pragmatism" by William James
A variety of Poe's works
"Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaadner
"The Monk" by Matthew Lewis

 

[foolsparade]

Good topic Received. This is sort of difficult for me. There are many books that I enjoyed for mostly entertainment value, but I will mix the two, with the second being books that energized my zest for living.

in no order:
1. 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus
2. 'The Fall' by Albert Camus
3. 'The Myth of Sysiphus' by Albert Camus
4. The Skelton Crew by Stephen King
5. 'Human all too Human, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, The Anti Christ, The Twilight of The Idols, Ecce Homo, Daybreaks, The Gay Science. etc
"FN" is the most empowering writer I have ever read, he is proof that the pen is mightier than the sword.
6. 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand
7. 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand
8. For whom The Bell Tolls' by Earnest Hemimgway
9. 'The Happy Prince and other Tales' by Oscar Wilde
I don't care if he was half gay, Wilde had an imagination!
10. 'The Rebel' by Albert Camus

there are so many great books to choose from, How could I forget War and Peace by Tolstoy or D. H Lawrence, or Voltaire?

 

[Siliconaut]

Also in no particular order:
* A pale blue dot; The demon-haunted world - Carl Sagan
* Stranger in a strange land; To sail beyond the sunset; The cat who walks through walls - R.A. Heinlein
* The Brentford chainstore massacre; The sprouts of wrath - Robert Rankin
* 1984 - George Orwell
* Oratories & philosophies - Cicero
* The Illiad - Homer
* Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton

The list goes on, but those were the ones who sprang to mind immediately. I would call that influential...

 

[Reader Nilus]

The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Training in Christianity by Soren Kierkegaard
The Crucified God by Jurgen Moltmann
Encounter With God: A Theology of Christian Experience by Morton Kelsey
Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoevsky
The Idiot by Fydor Dostoevsky
Demons by Fydor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamozov by Fydor Dostoevsky
Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today by John Meyendorff
Beginning to Pray by Met ANTHONY (Bloom)
Orthodox Spirituality by a Monk of the Eastern Church

Those books had a huge impact on my life as a Christian and they brought me to the Holy Orthodox Church.
Jeff the Finn

 

[Arikay]

There seems to be some patterns Emerging.
Well, There are probably too many to list, so I will just list a few:

-Tao Te Ching
-Tao of Pooh
-Chronicles of Narnia
-1984
-Brave New World
-Animal Farm
-Journey to the Center of the Earth
-Most anything by Edgar Alan Poe

If I could ever get into it, I might also add Walden. Although its a bit to dry for me, I thought he was supposed to be living the simple life.

 

[amie]

I liked the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy...
just thought I'd share. carry on...
cultural anthropology books and science are my personal favorites.
I liked interview with an angel

 

[Magisterium]

Matthew
John
Sirach
the rest of Scripture
"The Suma Theologica" by St. Thomas Aquinas
"The Interior Castle" By Teresa of Avila
"Orthodoxy" by GK Chesterton (invaluable wealth of insight into modern thought)
"A Father who keeps his promises" by Dr Scott Hahn.
"Rome Sweet Home" also by Dr Scott Hahn.
"Curious George get's a job" H. A. Ray

 

[Lanakila]

These are in no particular order, and although not complete, these are those I think of without much thought.

The Bible, specifically the Book of Romans.
The Normal Christian Life: Watchman Nee
Left Behind series: Tim Lahaye, and Jerry Jenkins
Sacajawea: Don't remember the author
Scaling the Secular City: J. P. Moreland
Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Josh McDowell
More than a Carpenter: Josh McDowell
KJV Debate: D.A. Carson
Encyclopedia of Apologetics(Reference only) Norm Geisler
I mostly read fiction (sin, sin) and have favorite authors not books. These include: Lori Wick, Loraine Snelling, Gilbert Morris, Lynn Morris, Tim Lahaye, Jerry Jenkins, and quite a few others I can't seem to think of off hand.

 

[Marcel]

I liked the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy...
just thought I'd share. carry on...
cultural anthropology books and science are my personal favorites.
I liked interview with an angel

42, don't panick, did you bring your towel?

 

[feral]

"1984" George Orwell
"Brave New World" Aldous Huxley
"The Virgin Suicides"
"White Oleander"
"Poisonwood Bible"
"Dark History of the Christian Church" Helen Ellerbe
"Candy"
"Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" Hunter S. Thompson
"The Body Project"
The Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling
"The Hobbit" J.R.R. Tolkien

 

[Galadriel]

Hmm, favorite books?

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (my favorite book on Christianity)
Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado
The Keeper of the Ring Series by Angela Hunt
The Cheney Duvall Series by Lynn and Gilbert Morris
Surprised By Joy by C.S. Lewis
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

 

[wryan]

These books all had an effect on my thinking at one time or another.

1984 and Animal Farm Goerge Orwell
The God Who Is There/Escape from Reason/He Is There and He is Not Silent Francis Schaeffer
Understanding Power Noam Chomsky
Mere Christianity/Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter Thompson
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Orthodoxy G.K. Chesterton
Hardball Chris Mathews
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge Carlos Castanada (haven't read it in years, but definately had an effect on my thinking as a teenager.)
Songs of Innocense and of Experience William Blake
The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald

 

[Tempest]

Everything written by Anne Rice
The Harry Potter Books
Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Everything by H.P. Lovecraft
Everything by Edgar Allen Poe
Everything by George Carlin
The Whitewolf Vampire the Masquerade Books

 

[Chakotay2]

I'm unable to choose just a few favorites, but I'll try:

The Bible
The Left Behind Series (both the adults and kids)
I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction.
Gone With the Wind
Scarlett (the sequel to GWTW)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Diane_Windsor]

What are the most influential, life-changing, or quite simply the most aesthetically pleasing works you have ever read?

Breaking the Surface-Greg Louganis
That book literally saved my life and I am eternally grateful that Greg wrote it.
'Mere Christianity' -- C.S. Lewis
'The Four Loves' -- C.S. Lewis
The Bible

Diane

 

[KritterCat]

I love "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. It is amazing!!!!

 

[Brennin]

Bible (with Apocrypha)
Various extra-canonical books of the NT era
Divine Comedy
Song of Roland
Consolation of Philosophy
Longfellow's poems
Tennyson's poems
Meditations
Song of the Nibelungs
Chronicles of Prydain
To Kill A Mockingbird
Various math and chem books
Iliad and Oddyssey
Aeneid
Oresteia
The Hobbit
LOTR
Books on Late Antiquity
Books on Early Christianity