[Tatetot22]

My English teacher gave me a choice of books to read. The list is this In Cold Blood, Catch-22, A Farewell to Arms, A Prayer for Owen Meany, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Boy's Life, The Shipping News, The Joy Luck Club/The Kitchen God's Wife, and Slaughterhouse Five.

From this list, have you read any of them? What were your thoughts? Any strong recommendations?

Aside from this, what was the most impactful, and influential book to you and your life and why? Do you think being an INFJ strongly influenced this?

I'll start. The most influential book for me was The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. My unconventional English teacher had us read it and I related strongly with one of the main characters, Alyosha. It was the first book that I'd ever read that analyzed the character's actions, thought processes, and feelings in an in depth manner that I feel I try to find in others each day. In a way, it allowed me to further realize the inner, hidden motives lying within even the most seemingly whimsical people. Therefore, certainly my choice was strongly influenced by my personality as an INFJ. Your turn! Thanks!

 

[HorribleAesthete]

Of the books on your list I have read Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Kitchen God's Wife, and Slaughterhouse-Five. In Cold Blood and The Joy Luck Club have long been on my list of books to read. I enjoyed each book. If I were to recommend just one, it would be Catch-22, easily the funniest book I have ever read (with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas coming in at a close second). I actually read it during a week of military training, in between, and sometimes during various briefing. The similarities to my actual experiences in the military (and life in general) were such that I had to stifle my laughter during the sessions. If I had to rank the other three in order it would be: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Slaughterhouse-Five and The Kitchen God's Wife.

I haven't read The Brothers Karamazov, but I did read Crime and Punishment last year and loved it.

The most influential books for me have been: Stranger in a Strange Land, 1984, Of Human Bondage, The Razor's Edge, and The Fountainhead. I am not sure how much being an INFJ influenced my enjoying these particular books, though it may have factored in there somewhere. Not all of the ideas put forth in these books may resonate in the same manner, but they were definitely influential at the time I read them, and many remain so, to varying degrees. While not particularly influential, my favorite book is probably Jane Eyre, which I read for the first time last year.

 

[Deejaz]

the books that tops the list:

Tuesdays with Morrie
Man's Search for Meaning
Chinese Cinderella

Chinese Cinderella touched my 'heart' :crying:. I love how Viktor Frankl, the author of Man's Search for Meaning continues to effectively bring the reality of the concentration camps as well share his own thoughts, psychological analysis, and bring about philosophical aspects. Tuesdays with Morrie opens a very strong and real struggle of reality, holding very important 'life-lessons'. There were times when I laughed, or wondered, or cried a bit.. maybe a lot.

 

[Antipode]

Hmm, most impact. I don't exactly read books to be "impacted." I read them to enjoy myself and escape.

However, the only book to really make me feel gut wrenching was Perks of Being a Wallflower. By the end of the book, you know Charlies so well, as if he has become your ultimate best friend, and you feel everything he is going through. The way he speaks to you feels so genuine, and your heart breaks, heals, burns, cuts, and rebreaks for him throughout the story, that by the time it is over, and you close the book, you feel as if you've lost your best friend. As if your heart is intertwined with his, and it has been severed.

That's what got to me and impacted me--not sure how, though.

---

Of your list, I really want to read Boy's Life, though.

 

[CaptainMarmalade]

I haven't read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest but I have seen the film and it is definitely one of my favorites.

Also The Brothers Karamazov is my all time favorite Dostoevsky novel. If you have time you should also read The Idiot if you haven't already.

As for books that have greatly impacted me... I'd have to say the A Wrinkle In Time Series, the Ender's Game Series and His Dark Trilogy Series. If I didn't love art so much I would have become a physicist or a philosopher; and these books definitely fostered my yearning to understand the fabric of the universe and the human condition. They just explored so many abstract concepts in a beautiful narrative structure. I was absolutely hooked. I highly recommend them for any Ni dom user.

But I would have to say that out of all of my favorite books Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass are so tightly wrapped into the core of my being I am *almost* offended by how many people have a shallow appreciation for the material (not that I'm hating- people are allowed to appreciate things to any degree they so desire). As an INFJ with an "old soul" I find that I am obsessed with the concept of the death of innocence and the dreadful inevitability of adulthood. I really connect with Lewis Carrol in this way (minus the borderline pedo behavior...) and find myself in almost a love-hate relationship with the notion of growing up. As an "old soul" I desire to be understood in a world of "babies" but I also regard innocence as the pinnacle of beauty in our world. In this way my inability to relate to typical adults drives me to find more people with the hearts of children (INFPs). But I always find myself in the position of someone looking into a beautiful snow globe they hold in their hand: I can appreciate the beauty of the world inside the tiny globe, but I will never be able to participate in it.

 

[JTHearts]

Pick Slaughterhouse-Five, it's the best out of that list, if I had to choose.

The book that has had the most impact on my life is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I think it's a beautiful representation of a teenager trapped in a society he considers morally depraved, and the fact that the book is set in the American antebellum period, which is my favorite period in history, just makes it my favorite. After that, comes either The Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Catcher in the Rye. Those two were also written about sad, angsty teenage boys like myself. I have to say, both of those books really helped my self-esteem and realize that I'm not alone in the things I go through.

 

[Dynamitetalks]

48 laws of power - I've learnt why people try to control other people, and in this process
learnt to care less about people in power while seen how insecure people are when they're out of control.

Mastery - best book ever, explains what the biggest power we as an indiviual can achieve which is mastering something.

Combining the two books and you'll learn the importance in life for mastering something to a point where every one relies on you and the power it gives you then.

But the most important piece have been Self-reliance by ralph emerson.

Another really influential book has been the war of art by steven pressfield, which will make you understand the important of overcoming your inner resistance in order to fulfill your life.

I'll recommend every book.

for now I don't read books more except for something I try to learn.
I am a firm believer of that everything you need to know is somehow inside yourself and you'll just have to follow your inner voice which will let you achieve more than you think you can by sucking up idealistic theories and ideas for self-improvement.

 

[Stavrogin]

I haven't read any of the books you listed. Honestly one of the main things that got me into trouble in school was that I refused to read assigned readings, no I would only read what I wanted to read and what interested me.

I could still pull out an A BSing book reports though. Simple formula, read a brief summery of the book, cherry pick specific events, cater to teachers' depressingly obvious political agenda.

Most influential books for me:
Dune F Herbert
Lord of the Rings JRR Tolkien
Nicholas and Alexandra R Masse
In the Balance series H Turtledove
Shannara series T Brooks
Works of Love and Either/Or Parts I & II S Kierkegaard

 

[michaelthemessiah]

Pick Slaughterhouse-Five, it's the best out of that list, if I had to choose.

The book that has had the most impact on my life is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I think it's a beautiful representation of a teenager trapped in a society he considers morally depraved, and the fact that the book is set in the American antebellum period, which is my favorite period in history, just makes it my favorite. After that, comes either The Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Catcher in the Rye. Those two were also written about sad, angsty teenage boys like myself. I have to say, both of those books really helped my self-esteem and realize that I'm not alone in the things I go through.

god catcher in the rye was what shaped my high school self ahahha I embraced his protection of the innocent and attack on superficiality. while all my class mates called Holden a "whiny bitch" to this day I find his pursuit a noble one. It remains my favorite book to this day

of that list OP, I reccomend catch 22 especially, although slaughterhouse is also good. Catch 22 was a fantastic book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I think you will as well .

The book that impacted my life the most besides catcher in the rye would definitely have to be East of Eden. This book although long, reads like a really good TV show with all kinds of twists and emotional gut punches. The inspiring message was one of my favorites and had by far the best concluding scene/sentance in any novel Ive ever read.

Sorry for the rant I cant sleep hahaha I hope you got something out of this or are encouraged to read a bit of these

 

[with water]

The Stranger and dat Robert Greene.

Actually, The Great Gatsby seemed to put me into 'live for someone' mode and The Stranger took me out of it and disengaged me from trying to make everything a meaningful crusade.

 

[JTHearts]

god catcher in the rye was what shaped my high school self ahahha I embraced his protection of the innocent and attack on superficiality. while all my class mates called Holden a "whiny bitch" to this day I find his pursuit a noble one. It remains my favorite book to this day

I know right! In high school English classes people call Holden "whiny" but then there's these dystopian books by writers like Ray Bradbury and George Orwell (those two in my opinion are WAY more whiny than Holden Caulfield) who preach at you and people think they're great, deep books! I never really understood that.

 

[Mirkwood]

There are many books which I think have their own golden nuggets.
Recent one being about shame. That is a pretty big player and driver in life, I have been reading alot that has been in very close relation or in conjunction with it, but not a book that was all about it.

If I must mention just 1... which is really hard for me.
Then it must be "Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want"
When I first saw the title I thought it sounded a little too much "how to", or just "getting what you want".
It is not, but could perhaps also be used that way.

It is about others AND oneself. Alot about perspective.
I find the author just slightly to the extroverted side. An great counterbalance, to for example "Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking", which I also think is another good book.
In "Quiet" im pretty sure it is mentioned that it is better to think a little more than too little, and in "Mindwise" better to think a little less.
And he gives good reasons why. It made me laugh also, and read it to end.

Here is what the chapters are about.

Mindwise

(Mis)Reading minds.
- An overconfident sense
Mirror, mirror
Illusions of insight
- What you can and cannot know about your own mind
Unknowing thyself
House of mind
Mindfully unaware
Why i like thee, doctor feel
Brainfully mindless
Telling more than you know
I´m okay, you´re biased

Does it have a mind?
- How we dehumanize
Disengaged
Distance makes mindless
Lesser minds
Socially unwise
- How we anthropomorphize
Gray minds
Minds from perception: If it looks, walks and talks like a mind
Minds from explaination: making sense by making sentence
Minds as connection: love makes you real
Minds in society: Too much or too little?


What state is another mind in?
- The trouble of getting over yourself
Getting over yourself
What you see: the neck problem
Larger than in life
on self-centered stage
Not as bad as you think
How you see it: the lens problem
Like me
the eyes of experts
Blankish slates, E-mail, and god
Throught the eyes of others

- The uses and abuses of stereotypes
Circleology
Reality bites
Too much from too little
Different, by definition
Why them?

- How actions can mislead
Out of sight, out of mind
Spock and a pointy rock
The offspring of error
Unhelpfully good samaritans


Trought the eyes of others
- How, and how not, to be a better mind reader
Bodies speak, in whispers
Perspective taking
Perspective getting
Getting perspective
In defence of transperency

 

[reveur]

Crime and Punishment, definitely. I was pretty much obsessed about it. I still like to re-read it sometimes.

Not so long ago: For Whom the Bell Tolls, but I have a feeling, that I've had to grow up somewhow to read Hemingway. Once I did - I've read it all.

The third book: Nineteen Eighty-Four. Society can be such a strange construct...

 

[Maidelane]

Demian - Hermann Hesse.

I've read that book several times, and I swear each time I´ve learnt something new.
I recommed this books for those that want to know themselves and their real goals in life.

 

[SmilingWriter]

But I would have to say that out of all of my favorite books Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass are so tightly wrapped into the core of my being I am *almost* offended by how many people have a shallow appreciation for the material (not that I'm hating- people are allowed to appreciate things to any degree they so desire). As an INFJ with an "old soul" I find that I am obsessed with the concept of the death of innocence and the dreadful inevitability of adulthood. I really connect with Lewis Carrol in this way (minus the borderline pedo behavior...) and find myself in almost a love-hate relationship with the notion of growing up. As an "old soul" I desire to be understood in a world of "babies" but I also regard innocence as the pinnacle of beauty in our world. In this way my inability to relate to typical adults drives me to find more people with the hearts of children (INFPs).

I understand this very well. I was almost afraid to post that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe were the most influential books I've ever read. Any book that shows innocence combined with the sense of adventure and exploring the unknown is a book I can recommend to others. A more mature version of these would be Tarzan of the Apes because Tarzan retains this childlike conception of the world into adulthood.