Are there any books that changed your perspective on reading?

Question

Sorry about being vague.

Are there any books that made you want to read more or made you hate reading? Are there any books that-because of that book- you read all the time now?

For me, that book was Gone With the Wind. Yours?

Answer 1

The book 1984 by George Orwell had a great story line, with a lot of symbolism. Literature with symbolism usually helps foreshadow events that occur later on the book. Before I read this, I never really analyzed book through symbolism. It's a great read!

Answer 2

It isnt one of my favorite books (although it is a classic and a great read), but The Great Gatsby really gave me a "second wind" to my reading.

Fitzgerald has such a way with words and I was able to decipher alot of his symbology that is all through the story.  Since then, I have been able to do the same in other books.  My reading of guys like Poe and Shakespeare was more enjoyable because I learned to look what was being said "between the lines" and how names and symbols can add true depth to a story.  It is no coincidence that my favorite books were read after The Great Gatsby and were heightened by the lessons I had learned.

Answer 3

I don't think there was any particular book that made me love reading. Stories are like food for me, really. I was born in a non-English speaking country and we were poor, so reading was not that encouraged.

Then when I was 7 we moved, and the first storybook I've ever held was Cinderella. From then on I DEVOURED every fairy tale in that book shop. It was also how I learned English. Now I'm 19 and I'm going off to university next month. I plan to major in literature, and become a writer.

Answer 4

HARRY POTTER<3

Answer 5

Yes. Primarily the Harry Potter series, and The Catcher in the Rye, for their brilliant character development.  

Answer 6

Books in which the protagonist loves to read or write spur me on to read more myself. A few that come to mind are Anne of Green Gables and Little Women.

Answer 7

yes! i didn't like to read much as a kid, but i read the harry potter series, and now i love to read. i love hp, i've read it a bunch.

Answer 8

Walter Pater's 'The Renaissance' completely changed my conceptions about art, literature, and the act of reading. His most famous claim, that artistic impressions must be perpetually re-made, was particularly mind blowing.

Answer 9

When I was in 4th grade My teacher always made us read a book a year together. The book would be Charlotte's web and frindle. Anything Andrew Clements

Answer 10

the great gilly hopkins  

Answer 11

A Child called It.  

Answer 12

I used to have a hard time reading, partly because I didn't enjoy what i was forced to read. I was reading books in class like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and could not get through it. "The Kite Runner" was the book that started it all for me. I loved it and it made me want to keep reading because i understood what it was like to finally enjoy something.  

Answer 13

teenage s*x vampire books complete with gossip girl drama. its currently the same as tv.  

Answer 14

i've read a lot of book that have added to my love of reading some of them are harry potter, a tree grows in Brooklyn, the glass castle, and lord of the flies though there are a lot more. but it was harry potter that got me into reading  

Answer 15

An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. It's a book about the Queen (of England) reading, and it's rather philosophical for something so short.

Answer 16

I've always loved reading, ever since I was about 5 years old. I rarely did, though. But when I first read the Harry Potter series, I became obsessed with reading. I went to the library atleast once a week (and I was only 7-8). Now I'm 13, and I usually read a book or 2 a week. I also write all the time, and I would love to be published with I'm older.

Answer 17

As a teenager, I really liked Tom Clancy's book Red Storm Rising.  I studied literature in college, so after college I didn't want to read anything for a while.  Now I am teaching literature!  The most recent book I read that just swept me away was Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton.  That book has such amazing insights into the deepest things in life.

I also really enjoyed Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.  Both of those books have some really funny scenes that are very easy to picture without having to watch the movie.

P.S.:  I don't know if this is because I am getting older, more educated, or video is just getting worse, but it seems to me there is no comparison now between literature and TV or between literature and movies.  Mass media is written for a very low educational level, and I fear it is written by people who also have a very low educational level!  I feel like I must read now just to guard my intellect and not let it slip into atrophy.

***  I teach Englilsh literature to honors high school kids in a non-English speaking country.  I just want to say I am really impressed with Marley and with Mrs. Blythe.  Marley, you write exceptionally well for a girl of only 13.  I am sure that comes from reading a lot.  I wish you both lots of success in life.  You are the kind of students teachers hope to have the opportunity to teach.

Answer 18

well, i never really liked to read, but one day my friend made me read twilight. I no, people are getting tired of hearing about that book, it did change my perspective on reading. Now i love to read.

Hope i helped!

Go to this website to read about it!

Answer 19

I have always loved reading.

I read a book called "A God-Shaped Hole"

It was the single best book I have ever read.

It made me want to read so much more, but nothing compares to Tiffanie Debartolo.

Answer 20

I always loved reading, but in my sophomore year I read "Slaughterhouse-5" by Kurt Vonnegut and it made me want to read everything by him.  So I did.  :D

Answer 21

It was Harry Potter, i was 10 at the time and never really considered reading, but my friend got me reading the first and i couldnt stop :) Currently The Book Theif by Marcus Kusak, its a great read... ive read heaps of books and i dont think any have really made me look at reading in a different way.. They all have made me look at life differently and made me be grateful that i can read but other than that, not really...  

Answer 22

Again: vague. Did GWTW make you hate reading or love it?

No, I've always liked reading. If a book is so horrible I can barely read it - e.g. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind - I either stop reading it or keep reading and hope it gets better. The example didn't get better, but I finished it. Either way it doesn't affect my love of reading.

Some books will affect what I want to read. In the case of non-fiction, if it's good, I'll want to read more on the subject. With fiction or non-fiction I'll look for more books by the author, but I don't think that's exactly rare.

Answer 23

I have always loved, and will always love, reading, but The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, did change the way I think about reading. It was the first book that I read first for the purpose of deciphering its meaning, with plot and writing style secondary, and I loved the experience. I am still primarily a story person, but The Chosen allowed me to enjoy the process of active, thoughtful reading for its own sake. That delightful mind game is still what draws me to poetry, Shakespeare, and other fine literature.