Good Day DU (March 2, 2021)

[EarlG]

Today in History: March 2

------------------------------------

Question of the Day: What book had the most significant impact on you?

------------------------------------

Today's milestones: Congratulations to the following active DU members!

Anniversaries
Atticus (19 years), Jim__ (18 years), nuxvomica (18 years), Tribetime (13 years), FreeJoe (13 years), neeksgeek (9 years), GETTINGTIRED (9 years), dmrtndl1 (9 years), El Viejo (4 years), ndigits (1 year), BayAreaAtLast (1 year)

Posting milestones
None today

New members who posted for the first time

[ailsagirl]

1. The dictionary

I’m not being facetious. I love words 😎

[AKwannabe]

2. Silent Spring by Rachael Carson

She wrote it the year I was born. I read it on it’s 40th anniversary. Couldn’t believe I was 40 and just reading.


On edit
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold was a very close second. I used a quote from that book for many years.

"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace." ~ Aldo Leopold

[taxi]

8. +

[Lars39]

3. So many, but National Geographic popped up first.

The Family of Man, World Book Encyclopedias, Richard Scarry's books

[catrose]

4. A Separate Peace

[central scrutinizer]

5. Kerner Commission Report

Turned me from a Republican into a leftist.

[AKwannabe]

27. Hmmmmm

Gonna look that up!

Congrats!

[Pluvious]

6. Confessions of an economic hitman

Really opened up my eyes to the role our country has played in the exploitation of 3rd world countries.

[hay rick]

7. Plato's Republic.

Socrates dissed democratic rule and I have spent a significant part of my life trying to make it work.

[momta]

9. Weird, but I've forgotten the name of it.

It was a biography of Jesse Fremont. She was the daughter of Thomas Hart Benton, Missouri Senator, and the wife of John C. Fremont, the American Pathfinder. She sometimes gets lost among the famous men in her life, but she was a true force of nature.

Anyway, the book changed my life. I became an amateur historian, mostly American history, and wrote a book of my own, which I've talked about here on occasion:

State Names

As a kid and college student I used to fall asleep in history classes. Now it is my favorite kind of reading.

[yellerpup]

10. When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone

[prodem65]

11. The Fire Next Time-James Baldwin

[marble falls]

29. Good book.

[ornotna]

12. The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin
First book I encountered in High school that really made me think about gender.

Congrats to all the milestones.

[mountain grammy]

13. Grapes of Wrath

[BobTheSubgenius]

14. I think I might be confusing "impact" with "favourite" here.

I think the best novel I've ever read was Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. A fantastic read, and more than fulfilled my requirement of a book needing to engage me in 50 or 60 pages. I read the first page, and I was hooked.

An incredibly vivid portrait of Medieval life, told through the prism of building cathedrals. Far, FAR more captivating than one might think from that description.

[Cheezoholic]

15. Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Some may think it's corny but I read it when I was 13 and it pretty much set the stage for my life to this day. I've read many already mentioned but from an impact stance, not quite sure where I would've landed without the inspiration of that book at a crucial age.

[CaptainTruth]

19. I had the same experience, reading it at a young age.

It lead me to read Illusions, & for me personally, Illusions had even more impact.

[vapor2]

16. Nice question

I have to say mine was "I Will Fight No More Forever"

[CaptainTruth]

17. Illusions - by Richard Bach

It's one of the few books I've re-read a few times.


Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah is a novel by writer and pilot Richard Bach. First published in 1977, the story questions the reader's view of reality, proposing that what we call reality is merely an illusion we create for learning and enjoyment.

[dhill926]

18. "Diet for a New America," by John Robbins...

read it over 30 years ago...became a vegetarian on the spot, and I used to love my meat...(that didn't quite sound right). I think it's the main reason I'm still hale and hearty in my late 60's.

[pandr32]

20. Jean Val Jean

We were assigned to read the story condensed from the Victor Hugo classic in grade 8. I now have an embossed version of Les Miserables.

Congratulations to all milestones today!

[mtngirl47]

21. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

I read it in the early 70's after it was banned in some schools. I became an anti-war activist on that date.

[Tikki]

22. "A Tale of Two Cities"....Charles Dickens 1859

Read it in 5th grade...this story has never left my head or heart.

Tikki

[Harker]

34. I knew an elderly typewriter repairman in the 60s

named Marvin Paris.

When he read the book in school, he told me, he had a classmate whose last name was London.

[lonely bird]

23. On Revolution by Hannah Arendt

Also The Road to Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder.

[DoBotherMe]

24. The Jungle

[PatSeg]

25. There are so many

I wouldn't know where to begin. Grapes of Wrath, All the King's Men, Jane Eyre, and The Razor's Edge, but that would be an incomplete list.

It is really hard to say, as different books were significant for different reasons at a particular time in my life. Some were for literary reasons, others social justice or psychological reasons. Still it is fun to read the books other people list.

[llmart]

26. Thoreau's "Walden"

Turned me into a naturalist and minimalist years ago even before it was popular. I've remained a nature lover and minimalist my entire life.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

28. Black Like Me

[Demsrule86]

30. What a nice thing to do...thanks.

[drmeow]

31. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

[lastlib]

32. The City And The Stars (Arthur C. Clarke)

Another important one for me (there are so many!) would have to be "The Sixteenth Round," Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's biography.

[panader0]

33. 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac--been there.

[NewHendoLib]

35. A Prayer for Owen Meany

Deeply moving, just perfect (in my view!)

[Coventina]

36. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Yes, I was a kid, but reading it at that very young age has shaped my whole life.
For the better.

Yes, I'm aware of the issues of Lewis. I'm still not sorry to have been shaped to care about nature, and animals, and people who look different from me.