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books or movies that will change your life?

musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
edited August 2008 in All Encompassing Trip
I am in need of some life affirming art. What would you include?
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • restlesssoulrestlesssoul Posts: 6,951
    i just finished reading ISHMAEL not life changing, but a whole lot of thinking going on in the old noggin.
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  • senninsennin Posts: 2,146
    The Alchemist
  • Black DiamondBlack Diamond Posts: 25,107
    This will be a weird relply but in a lot of ways it made me realize what a father and true love means. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
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  • StateOfLoveBoatCptn.StateOfLoveBoatCptn. Posts: 904
    Big Lebowski....

    change your life in that you'll always have some good lines to use in random conversation.
  • Inhiding230Inhiding230 Posts: 362
    People told me that this was one of those books:

    The Alchemist
    by Paulo Coelho

    Maybe I am further along in my life and have already learned all the stuff in this book, but it was not life altering for me. I could see how it could be though if you were younger and were still finding your way in life.
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Book: Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

    As an impressionable, naive, opinionated, soul-searching teen, this really had an impact on me :) I still like it but I think I've outgrown it.

    Film: Too many to choose. Here are a few: Persona by Ingmar Bergman, American History X, My Own Private Idaho, Three Colours Trilogy by Kieslowski, Record of a Tenement Gentleman by Yasujiro Ozu.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Yellow LedbellyYellow Ledbelly Posts: 3,749
    The Shawshank Redemption does it for me...Morgan Freeman, by the way, was in a serious car wreck last night so keep him in your thoughts
    All I have to do is revel in the everyday....then do it again tomorrow

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  • intodeepintodeep Posts: 7,240
    American Beauty was a movie that hit home for me when i first saw it. It just made me reflect on life and lots of things in it.

    As for books.. i don't read much so that is hard for me to say.
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  • mole1985mole1985 Posts: 1,119
    Black Diamond wrote:
    This will be a weird relply but in a lot of ways it made me realize what a father and true love means. The Road - Cormac McCarthy


    Fuckin' awesome book that i'd recommend anyone to read. Hope the movie does it justice!!!!
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  • Black DiamondBlack Diamond Posts: 25,107
    mole1985 wrote:
    Fuckin' awesome book that i'd recommend anyone to read. Hope the movie does it justice!!!!
    Agree. I think Viggo will do it justice.
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  • JulienJulien Posts: 2,457
    into the wild
    dead man walking
    mystic river
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  • mertmert Posts: 167
    Ishmael bent my brain, I think! (in a good way...) ;)

    - Shake Hands With the Devil (book by Romeo Dallaire and Brent Beardsley, also a movie) - about the Rwandan genocide but written by the UN mission leader and his right hand man

    - 1984 by George Orwell, in a typical way for a teenager (in case anyone hasn't read it). Other similar books would be Brave New World by Aldous Huxely and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

    - The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

    - The Wisdom of Forgiveness by the Dalai Lama

    Trying to think of others and failing... ;) I read a lot but they aren't all necessarily life changing. Might change my point of view a bit, but not really my life... ;)

    Movies... The Motorcycle Diaries....
  • smithnicsmithnic Posts: 1,563
    change your life? Who really knows?

    Pick up a book and read it and then decide. Certainly 1984 and other classics are worth the time. Search good books in google and that'll be a start. On The Road is certainly up there... American Pastoral by Philip Roth is a good read... Confederacy of Dunces is real good.
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  • smithnicsmithnic Posts: 1,563
    mole1985 wrote:
    Fuckin' awesome book that i'd recommend anyone to read. Hope the movie does it justice!!!!


    A bit too religious in its undertones for me, but Cormac can write some gruesome scenes that's for sure. He's the minimalist of the minimalists for sure.
    Go Get 'Em Tigers!
  • he still standshe still stands Posts: 2,835
    mert wrote:
    - 1984 by George Orwell, in a typical way for a teenager (in case anyone hasn't read it). Other similar books would be Brave New World by Aldous Huxely and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

    1984, Brave New World, We. These are the 3 books that shifted my political beliefs to a quasi-Libertarian / common sense approach.

    Then,

    Skinny Legs and All, Another Roadside Attraction, Jitterbug Perfume, Still Life with Woodpecker (all by Tom Robbins) lead me to see that politics are rather secondary to the philosophy and unconscious games our culture plays.

    I feel like I'm the student and Tom is my teacher when I read his books.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • bernmodibernmodi Posts: 631
    Book: Anna Karenina/Tolstoi
    Movie: Million Dollar Baby
  • stu geestu gee Posts: 1,174
    Movie - In the Name of the Father angered me so much the first time i saw it and still boils my blood every time i watch it. It made me very aware of corruption and problems with UK law/justice system. Brillian film with excellent perfomances, never watched a more emotional film.
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  • TrixieCatTrixieCat Posts: 5,756
    Creating Sacred Space With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
    Or her other book.
    Really inspire you to get rid of all the crap you have, emotional and physical, to allow more into your life.

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig
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  • mole1985mole1985 Posts: 1,119
    stu gee wrote:
    Movie - In the Name of the Father angered me so much the first time i saw it and still boils my blood every time i watch it. It made me very aware of corruption and problems with UK law/justice system. Brillian film with excellent perfomances, never watched a more emotional film.


    Great film, not seen it in a while.
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  • One Song GloryOne Song Glory Posts: 710
    Movie: "Once" did it for me recently. Maybe it didn't go so far as to change my life, but it definitely changed my perspective of a lot of things.

    Book: "Life of Pi"...it's either something you love or you hate, but it moved me in ways I didn't think a story like this could.

    And another that I wouldn't say changed my life but definitely has been on my mind a lot lately is "The Art of Racing in the Rain", an extremely emotional and philosophical look at one man's life through the eyes of his dog, and as silly a concept as it may seem, it's an incredible read. I've never cried so much reading a book.
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  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    stu gee wrote:
    Movie - In the Name of the Father angered me so much the first time i saw it and still boils my blood every time i watch it. It made me very aware of corruption and problems with UK law/justice system. Brillian film with excellent perfomances, never watched a more emotional film.
    DDL's acting in the final court scene, though he barely says a word and is SUPPOSED to be being overshadowed by Emma Thompson by that point, is the reason why he's one of the greatest actors on the planet. Incredible.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • stu geestu gee Posts: 1,174
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    DDL's acting in the final court scene, though he barely says a word and is SUPPOSED to be being overshadowed by Emma Thompson by that point, is the reason why he's one of the greatest actors on the planet. Incredible.

    That is exactly the part ive been thinking about, so emotional, his face says it all. Ive never seen a film that made me feel such strong feelings about something and would encourage anyone to watch it, Daniel Day Lewis is superb throughout, as are Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson, but particularly Daniel Day Lewis.
    People say im paranoid. Well, they dont say it, but i know that's what they are thinking.
  • acoustic guyacoustic guy Posts: 3,770
    ALMOST FAMOUS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!
    Best music film of all time.
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  • anothercloneanotherclone Posts: 1,688
    Big Fish.
  • elmerelmer Posts: 1,683
    Jeremy1012 wrote:

    Film: Too many to choose. Here are a few: Persona by Ingmar Bergman,
    Shit. It was on Film4 last night but I'd run outta tapes recording other Bergman films they've shown the past week.
  • gleemonexgleemonex Posts: 848
    Slaughterhouse Five changed my life. So did the movies The Big Lebowski and Rushmore. Also, listen to Bill Hicks.
    “Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’” - Kurt Vonnegut
  • he still standshe still stands Posts: 2,835
    gleemonex wrote:
    Slaughterhouse Five changed my life. So did the movies The Big Lebowski and Rushmore. Also, listen to Bill Hicks.

    Slaughterhouse Five = awesome choice. Makes one see the ridiculousness of ANY war. Also like the time travel theme.

    Bill Hicks is great... i actually like his "derivative" -- Doug Stanhope -- even better.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • PJLaurPJLaur Posts: 78
    I believe the book that really affected me was titled "The Perks of Being a Wall Flower." It's a somewhat short read, but a powerful one at that.
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