We've compiled a list of 25 insightful books about peace, society, politics, fiction, history, and human possibility that have stood the test of time.
Next time you're looking for a compelling read, check out this list.
"1984", George Orwell
George Orwell's dystopian novel, first published in 1949, has become a timeless classic of the dystopian genre.
In this book, for the first time, the idea of the existence of “Big Brother” and a totalitarian regime appears, which remains relevant today, as at the time of writing.
Orwell presents readers with his vision of the world, captivating from beginning to end.
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
In this powerful science fiction masterpiece, Huxley's "world controllers" create an ideal society.
Most people are content with a world based on genetic engineering, brainwashing and strict caste divisions. But there is always someone who longs to break free.
Huxley's captivating story takes readers through a frightening and thought-provoking fictional world imbued with the hallmarks of modern society.
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley
This is a novel by an English writer about the scientist Victor Frankenstein, who achieves his goal and creates a living creature from inanimate matter, but it turns out to be so terrifying that the doctor gets scared and runs out of the laboratory in disgust.
Tortured and isolated, the innocent creation will come to hate its creator. The plot then unfolds in the spirit of a gothic thriller that touches the hearts of readers and provokes reflection on the dangers of scientific research and human judgment.
"The Trial", Franz Kafka
Kafka wrote the novel “The Trial” from 1914 to 1915, but it was published only in 1925, after the writer’s death. This is a unique story about a bank employee, Josef K., who is arrested for an unknown reason and struggles to find out what he is accused of.
Kafka wanted to burn the novel, but the writer's friend Max Brod prepared the manuscript for publication, organizing the scattered chapters of the work after the author's death.
Neuromancer, William Gibson
The science fiction novel in the cyberpunk style Neuromancer became the first work in its genre to receive three prestigious awards - the Nebula (1984), the Hugo (1985) and the Philip K. Dick Prize.
This book contains the definition of the matrix, as well as the ideas of cyberspace, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the worldwide computer network, which subsequently attracted the close attention of both writers and readers.
"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
The Things They Carried is a groundbreaking reflection and powerful narrative of war, memory and imagination.
Tim O'Brien uses many metaphors to weave an insightful exploration of the condition of men in war, based on his own experiences in the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1970.
With his "semi-autobiographical" characters, O'Brien creates a style that blurs the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction.
Slaughterhouse-Five or the Children's Crusade by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse-Five is one of the world's greatest anti-war books. This is the story of the bombing of Dresden, seen through the eyes of Billy Pilgrim, a man abducted by aliens.
The narrative is woven from different phases of the pilgrim's life, showing the heartbreaking events seen by the hero and based on the writer's own impressions, who, as an American prisoner of war, was in Dresden at the time of the Allied bombing.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 is a frighteningly prophetic novel about a dystopian future where there are no books.
To the main character, Guy Montag, all this seems normal until he gains insight into the past and joins an underground group of misfits.
The book surprisingly draws readers into its fictional world with a gripping plot and compelling characters.
"A Conspiracy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The book's key character is Ignatius J. Reilly, a 30-year-old man living with his mother in New Orleans. This is a hero who has no analogues in world literature. He is an intellectual and an ideologist, a glutton and a quitter. Toole perfectly combined the comic nature of Reilly with deep melancholy.
"In Cold Blood" ("Ordinary Murder"), Truman Capote
“In Cold Blood” is a novel based on a true event that occurred in 1959, when four members of the Clutter family were murdered in Holcomb, Kansas.
The motives for the crime and evidence were practically absent. Capote, interviewing local residents and investigators, collected a huge amount of information and wrote his story in the style of “new journalism.”
This work by Truman Capote has received many positive reviews for its eloquence, high level of detail and layered storytelling.
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
William Golding's allegorical novel Lord of the Flies became a bestseller and was required reading at some colleges and universities in the 1960s. This is a story about a group of boys stranded on a desert island. When problems arise, the cruel traits of human nature immediately begin to appear.
This book has always been perceived ambiguously. In 2005, Time magazine included it among the 100 best novels written in English since 1923. Although the American Library Association included it in its list of the 100 most controversial books.
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
A story of self-discovery and an inspiring tale of an Andalusian shepherd who wants to find the world's treasures. But his desire leads him to wealth that he never imagined.
A motivational story filled with wisdom about how following your dreams can lead to the discovery of great miracles.
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie is the touching story of Mitch Albom and his mentor Morrie Schwartz.
Many of us become separated from our mentors and their ideas slowly fade from our memory. But Mitch gets a second chance to meet his sociology professor, who has only months to live. And he starts visiting him every Tuesday.
This non-fiction book is one of the most read memoirs of all time. It was composed of basic life lessons that became the theme of weekly meetings.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray", Oscar Wilde
Wilde's philosophical novel originally appeared as a short story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in July 1890. Moreover, the editors, fearing an “inappropriate” reaction from readers, removed part of the text before publication.
In response, the writer revised, expanded and published his work as an intellectual novel in a decadent style.
This is a story about a man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. The book provoked a scandal in society and sharp criticism, but never ceases to arouse public interest and has been filmed more than 30 times.
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange is a classic nightmare where the future is filled with criminals roaming the streets after dark. A frightening tale of good and evil and what it means to be free.
The novel's central character, Alex, was named the 10th greatest movie villain by the American Film Institute (AFI).
Stanley Kubrick's cult dystopian film of the same name, released in 1971, is based on this novel by Anthony Burgess.
"Think slow...decide fast" by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman's decades of research in psychology led him to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 "for his application of psychological techniques to economic science."
He delved into the two systems that control our thinking: system #1 or fast and emotional thinking; system No. 2 or slow and logical thinking. Kahneman exposed the flaws and biases of some thought processes.
The book challenges readers by examining our abilities to control our reactions, judgments, and choices.
"The Name of the Rose", Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco's first novel quickly became an international sensation. The Name of the Rose has sold 50 million copies worldwide.
This is a historical novel, a detective story, and a philosophical and cultural reflection, where the action takes place in 1327. The plot centers on a character named William of Baskerville, who is investigating a murder. He uses Aristotle's logic, the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and the ideas of Roger Bacon to decipher secret symbols and manuscripts.
"The Stranger" (or "The Stranger"), Albert Camus
The Stranger explores what Camus called "the nakedness of man in the face of the absurd" through the story of a man accused of murder.
This story by Albert Camus takes first place in the list of “100 books of the century according to Le Monde”. The writer raises complex questions in it that resonate in existential philosophy; explores themes of alienation, fear, spiritual doubt and the qualities that underlie human character.
"Geniuses and Outsiders" ("Outliers"), Malcolm Gladwell
In the book “Geniuses and Outsiders: Why do some have everything and others have nothing?” Malcolm Gladwell explores the world of the brightest, most successful and famous people on the planet, and also answers the question of how they differ from others.
We pay too little attention to successful parenting. The author discovers certain patterns that explain the secrets to the success of software billionaires; reveals what it takes to become a great footballer; why Asian students excel in math; which allowed the Beatles to become the greatest rock band.
"Ender's Game" Orson Scott Card
In the militarized reality of Orson Scott Card's sci-fi universe, a group of children are trained in a special program, preparing to fight insectoid aliens. One of the future commanders, Andrew Wiggin, suffers from the isolation, competition, pressure and fear that exist in this community of young soldiers. But it is he who combines the qualities that allowed him to become the tactical genius of the group.
"Catch-22", (Catch-22), Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller's classic story of the loss of faith and sanity as bureaucratic power grows.
The key character, Captain Yossarian, serves in Italy in a bomber regiment during World War II. But his main enemy is not the Nazis, but the army in which he serves. The bombardier finds himself in a bind due to a Catch-22 that prevents him from leaving the service.
Catch-22 is ranked 11th on the BBC's 200 Best Books and 7th on the New Library's 100 Best Novels.
Animal Farm, George Orwell
“Animal Farm” is another book by George Orwell, which became a brilliant political satire on the theme of rotten ideals, class conflicts, the revolution of 1917 and subsequent events in Russia.
The farm animals rise up to overthrow human rule and take matters into their own hands, but over time they realize that things are not going as they expected.
This satirical story-parable is actually endowed with deep meaning.
“Einstein walks on the moon. The Science and Art of Memory by Joshua Foer
Einstein Walks on the Moon is the story of Joshua Foer's quest to improve his memory. His experiments continued for a year. The author addressed cutting-edge research, the history of memorization methods and mnemonics.
He studied the ancient methods used by medieval scientists to memorize entire books and other techniques to unlock the potential and greatly improve his memory.
This fascinating book will not only help improve your memory, but also remind you how much our memories affect us.
Watchmen (Sentinels), Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (illustrator)
Many critics call Watchmen the greatest graphic novel in history. He received a number of awards, including a Hugo Award.
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What is the meaning of life? Will a person be able to accomplish anything important in his life? How to find a goal, get satisfaction from life and achieve everything you want? These and many other questions arise before each individual when, growing up, he moves from the reflexive stage of development to the human one, where his intellect begins to dominate in determining general behavior and lifestyle.
The theme of the meaning of life and existence was of interest to many Russian writers. They sought to answer the most difficult questions of existence: about the Motherland, about love, about happiness, about the laws of the eternal Universe and God.
For example, A. Blok believed that those who understand what the meaning of life is will comprehend a lot. If a person discovers that the meaning of life is worry, also anxiety, then he will cease to be a simple man in the street.
A. S. Griboedov also reflects the eternal problem of finding the meaning of life, the problem of children and fathers in his numerous works, the most striking of which is “Woe from Wit.” Its main character, A. Chatsky, protests against all the old orders that have long been rooted in society. He actively fights for freedom, new life, patriotism and culture.
Another no less famous writer of the last century, I.S. Turgenev, also touches on the eternal question of finding the meaning of life. His famous novel “Fathers and Sons” solves in a slightly different way the eternal problem of relationships between different generations. Using the example of his main character, Turgenev shows that if you build something new without the desire, and do it under pressure, nothing will work out. We must strive for continuity of generations, the value of the culture of our ancestors. Turgenev once again proves in his works that one must live in complete harmony, responsibility and gradualism.
What about A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin?” It also touches on timeless themes. These are themes of love, the meaning of life, relationships, freedom of choice, the role of morality in our lives.
The desire for complete harmony with the world and with oneself distinguishes another famous hero of 19th century literature - Raskolnikov. This person, in search of such harmony, conducts an experiment on himself. He breaks the law and kills the old woman. What was Raskolnikov looking for? Harmony, freedom, happiness and independence? Aren’t these values the meaning of life for many of us? However, it should be remembered that if you take the wrong path to achieve your goals, the retribution will be too severe.
The heroes of Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace” are also constantly searching for themselves, harmony, and their own path. For example, Pierre Bezukhov, after overcoming numerous painful mistakes and disappointments, eventually finds the meaning of his life. He strives for truth, dignity and light. Isn't this the meaning of our existence?
In conclusion, I would like to say that all literature of the 19th century and not only can be called the literature of an active search for the meaning of life, a search for a Hero. Many writers have strived to see in heroes people who are able to serve the Motherland, respect others, bring benefit to the Fatherland with their actions and thoughts and simply be happy, develop, be in harmony with themselves and move forward.
Each of the Russian writers solves the problem of the meaning of life in their own way, but the constant desire to move forward remains unchanged for Russian classics.
“So many books, so little time” - those who cannot imagine a day without a book see a part of themselves in this phrase. In the book world you can find answers to many questions that trouble your soul. There are ones that make you think, that are a kind of light, thereby helping you look at the world with different eyes, reconsider your values and life guidelines.
List of books that make you think
- “The Catcher in the Rye”, J. Salinger. This work will help its reader understand what is worth living and fighting for. The book tells you about a young man from New York who is forced to come face to face with hypocrisy and human falsehood every day.
- « Empire of Angels”, B. Verber. A slightly fantastic story in which, after his death, the hero becomes a guardian angel of three individuals, accompanying them throughout their lives.
- “A Seagull Called Jonathan Livingston”, R. Bach. Jonathan is a seagull, but it just so happens that the flock has turned away from him. And, despite feelings of spiritual bitterness, he does not focus on failures, but chooses freedom and a life full of adventures.
- “I would choose life”, T. Cohen. Because Jeremy was rejected by his other half, he decided to commit suicide. True, 2 years later he wakes up with the same beloved girl in the same bed and does not even suspect what lesson and tests the Universe is teaching him.
- "The Alchemist", P. Coelho. So many simple truths in a small work. Santiago goes on a journey not only to find treasures, but also to understand what the meaning of life is.
- “100 Years of Solitude”, G.G. Marquez. This book, which makes you think about life, is written about how colorful the life path of each of us is.
- “Self-Knowledge”, N. Berdyaev. Here you will find a series of thoughts on inspiration, creativity, God, the search for meaning and an unconventional vision of the world.
- “Bury me behind the plinth”, P. Sanaev. Family relationships. The despotism of the grandmother, who, due to the lack of her wisdom, ruined the lives of many. The autobiographical story was recently filmed.
- “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Stop Cafe,” F. Flagg. Having opened the books, from the very first pages you will be enveloped in an atmosphere of love, mutual understanding and kindness. There is no place here for hypocrisy, evil, etc.
- “Fahrenheit 451”, R. Bradbury. One of the best thought-provoking books. After all, not only does it show how stupid the world is without books, it helps to open our eyes to strong personalities, those who, without thinking, are ready to give their lives in the name of all humanity.
Psychology books that make you think
These books are not entertaining reading, but you can't always remain carefree. Reflections on the meaning of life, goals, consequences of actions or inactions visit each of us. Perhaps you will find hints in one of the books.
You've just figured out what's what in this life, grown wiser and wiser, when someone from above suddenly decides that it's time to go out - to where no one has returned from. Everyone ever asks the question: why success, love, suffering, if you still have to die? Perhaps one of the books listed will answer this question.
1. Mark Williams, Denny Penman “Mindfulness. How to find harmony in our crazy world"
The authors of this book are Doctor of Biochemistry and science journalist Danny Penman and Professor of Psychology at Oxford University Mark Williams. Both of them deal with the issues of mindful meditation as an effective way to prevent and combat suicidal tendencies.
People become depressed because they are no longer the main characters in their own lives. They are constantly running somewhere, busy with something, owing something to someone. Their life resembles the endless running of a squirrel in a wheel from which there is no way out. They miss themselves.
The authors call for breaking the system - “breaking patterns”, stopping mechanically following, getting out of the routine, and offer an eight-week course in mastering mindful meditation for different occasions and themselves as mentors. “Your mind will calm down and become smooth like the mirror surface of a lake. …Let life lead you by the hand,” they write.
2. Bernard Werber “Empire of Angels”
Bernard Verber is a French writer and philosopher. The novel “Empire of Angels” (2000) is the second part of the novel “The Thanatonautes”.
The main character of the novel, Michel Panson, goes to heaven after a disaster and becomes an angel. As befits angels, now he will protect the souls of three “clients”. Michelle chooses a reflective, emotional Frenchman, a young American woman dreaming of the Miss Universe title, and a Russian guy abandoned by his parents, who served in a colony and served in a hot spot. The angel’s task is, with the help of clues in the form of dreams, to allow the souls of “clients” to be reborn and reach a new level of development in order to become angels themselves. The angel has one more goal: to find out who controls him and what awaits him in the future.
Opinions about the book are divided, but most find it fascinating and inspiring. It touches on eternal questions about yourself and your place in life, about what will happen next - questions that all people who come into this world ask themselves. Recommended reading when feeling depressed.
The plot of "Empire of Angels" echoes the plot of Richard Bach's novella "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."
3. Richard Bach “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”
This philosophical novel by the American pilot, stunt pilot and flight instructor Richard Bach, whose main place in his life was the sky, brought him worldwide fame. Writing books was Richard Bach's second hobby, which gradually overshadowed the first. It is not surprising that the main theme of his books is flight.
Richard Bach's spiritual life was influenced by the mystical writers Aleister Crowley and Carlos Castaneda, most notably in Jonathan Livingston Seagull. This novella, written in 1970 and immediately becoming a bestseller, is an allegorical parable. Richard Bach once mentioned that her idea came to him suddenly, as if dictated by a voice from above.
The hero of the novel is the young Seagull Jonathan Livingston, named after the pilot whom Richard Bach admired. The seagull lives in the Flock. For the Pack, the meaning of life is food. When it’s time to feed, the seagulls gather in a crowd, and each one wants to grab a fatter piece.
Jonathan is not like that. He loves flying and speed. He wants to know the limits of his capabilities. “Be like everyone else,” his mother tells him. And Jonathan honestly tries, but he can’t. For experimenting with speed, he is expelled from the Pack. Now he is lonely, hungry and... happy.
His loneliness is broken by two shining seagulls: they take him to a more perfect world, where Jonathan meets people like himself - seagulls for whom the meaning of life is in flight. Here he learns: consciousness is not a prisoner of the body, the possibilities for self-improvement are limitless. He goes to Earth to pass on this knowledge to other seagulls expelled from the Flock for their passion for flying. They will have to return to the Flock and talk about the wonderful world, about the sublime feelings that exist outside the limited world in which the Flock lives.
Whether he succeeded will be known to those who read this parable, written in wonderful language, thanks to which it can be read in one breath. Everyone will certainly find something useful for themselves in it.
The main idea of the parable: the meaning of life is in the pursuit of...
4. Shunryu Suzuki “Zen Consciousness, Beginner’s Consciousness”
Anyone who was interested in the biography of the famous founder knows that Steve Jobs was a Buddhist and visited India to know himself and find the truth. The ideas of Zen Buddhism captured Jobs after he read the book “Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind,” which is a collection of conversations between Shunryu Suzuki and his American students.
Shunryu Suzuki headed the Soto school, the most popular and influential branch of Japanese Buddhism. The book “Zen Consciousness” can be called a practical guide to Zen meditation. But this does not mean that it will be of interest only to those who intend to master this practice.
Every person sooner or later wonders why he came into this world. But obsessive thoughts, the internal dialogue that he conducts with himself, do not allow him to concentrate. Finding the answer is possible only by achieving a special state - insight, the best way to which is Zen meditation.
The book allows you to look at the world, at yourself, at your life in a new way.
5. Dominic Loro “The art of living simply. How to get rid of unnecessary things and enrich your life"
Many of us do not realize that living in harmony with ourselves is not difficult. Dominique Loro offers his own recipe: you just need to get rid of the clutter in your thoughts and in your home. Destructive thoughts, prejudices, far-fetched rules and restrictions complicate our lives, serve as a source of energy, take away our health and time, and prevent us from focusing on the main thing.
We must filter reality to make room for what we really need. The epigraph to the book is the lines of a poem by the Japanese poet Issa Kobayashi, written in haiku style:
“This spring is my hut. Completely empty, completely full."
The author of the book is a French woman who travels the world in search of an ideal lifestyle. Canada, Mexico, Central America - everything is wrong. And finally she settled in Japan, where she found what she was looking for: “To live comfortably, in harmony with your consciousness, you need to live simply.” Possessing little allows you to comprehend the main thing - the essence of things.
Dominic warns that getting rid of excess is a painful process, but it is worth it: “The less of everything you have, the more free and fulfilled you feel.” Abundance corrupts the soul and takes it captive.
6. Nick Vujicic “Life Without Borders”
This is the first book by Australian Nick Vujicic, whose name is hardly familiar to most. And in vain. We, healthy people, allow ourselves to whine and become depressed over trifles. We need to constantly push ourselves so as not to stop in our development. And someone who was born without arms and legs also manages to encourage others. He, who as a child, realizing that he was not like everyone else, wanted to die, now travels all over the world giving speeches and writes books, inspiring millions of people.
Nick Vujicic is married and has two healthy children.
He talks about his rules of life, about what gives him the strength to live and help desperate people in the book “Life without Borders. The path to an amazingly happy life." “Your life should be wonderful,” he says. “And I will help you find your own.” One of Nick Vujicic’s rules is to find joy in any difficulties. It took him several years to understand this. After all, as Nick says, one of the main difficulties is to understand yourself.
Those lucky enough to meet Nick thank him for changing their lives.
7. Ken Kesey "Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
The idea for the novel came to Ken Kesey while he was working as an assistant psychiatrist in one of the American hospitals. Despite the fact that the novel was written in 1962, it is still one of the most reprinted and read. “If anyone ever wants to feel the pulse of our time, let them read Kesey,” newspapers wrote after the novel was published. Many people are familiar with its film adaptation called “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
The action takes place in a psychiatric clinic. (By the way, the English word cuckoo is translated not only as “cuckoo”, but also as “crazy”, “crazy”, “out of my mind”). The story is told on behalf of one of the patients - an Indian who pretended to be deaf and dumb. The main character of the novel is Patrick McMurphy. And if the hospital symbolizes society, and the orders that exist in it - the system, then McMurphy is a rebel, a fighter against the system.
Ken Kesey himself did not consider the people who ended up in the clinic to be abnormal. They simply did not fit into the generally accepted framework of decency, so they were considered people with mental disabilities. Some of them hid in a hospital from life's circumstances and eked out a miserable existence here. With the advent of McMurphy, they felt the taste of life and the will for it.
8. Fannie Flagg “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Polustanok Cafe”
This novel, written in 1987, spent almost a year on the bestseller list. What is he talking about? That life is beautiful, no matter how old you are and no matter how your life circumstances turn out.
One of the main characters, housewife Evelyn, is going through a mental crisis: there is no relationship with her husband, the children have their own families, the meaning of life has been lost. She is haunted by thoughts of loneliness and death. A trip to a nursing home to visit her mother-in-law, with whom she has always had a difficult relationship, does not add optimism.
However, here she meets an elderly woman with an incredibly sad fate, who turned Evelyn’s inner world upside down. The void that formed in her soul was filled with warmth and love.
“A good, sincere book from which the soul opens up and radiates light” - this is the opinion that most readers have about this novel. It is worth reading during the season when tomatoes are ripening: the temptation is very great to immediately prepare dishes from fried green tomatoes, which were prepared in the Polustanok cafe and the recipe for which can be found at the end of the book. Once you try them, “you’ll feel like you’re already in heaven!” - the author promises.
By the way, this novel has an equally successful film adaptation.
9. Francis Mayes “Italy. Under the Tuscan sun"
A teacher from San Francisco bought an abandoned house in Tuscany, surrounded by a landscape of incredible beauty: picturesque hills and valleys, olive trees and vineyards, flowers and herbs conducive to thinking about the beauty of life and eternity.
But the main character didn’t come here to dream: she wants to learn to live differently than she lived before. Repairing and equipping a house with a plot, tidying up neglected trees and a vineyard, exploring the surrounding area, cooking Italian cuisine unfamiliar to her and finding a connection between food and culture brings her sincere joy and pleasure. “Burying a shoot of a vine and thereby giving it a new birth is a clear metaphor for how you need to change your life from time to time if you want to advance in your development,” writes Francis Mayes.
10. Cheryl Strayed “Wild.” A dangerous journey as a way to find yourself"
This book was translated into 29, and after its publication in 2012, it occupied the top spot on the bestseller list for quite some time.
The book is written in the form of memoirs. They are based on the difficult and dangerous journey of the writer Cheryl Strayed, which she embarked on in the hope of numbing her mental pain with physical difficulties. The death of her mother, divorce from her husband, drugs, many promiscuous relationships, and - she was haunted by despair, threatening to end in suicide. And she tried to save herself, to get away from the thoughts that were tormenting and destroying her soul.
Cheryl hiked 1,100 miles alone along a well-known route only experienced by experienced hikers. This is the Pacific Crest Trail, or Pacific Crest Trail, which runs along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Canada. The route is located far from populated areas - there is only picturesque nature around, and not a soul. On the way of travelers there is a scorching desert, snow-capped peaks, and narrow paths at an altitude of over 2 thousand meters above sea level. Cheryl overcame herself, found spiritual harmony and changed her life.
Based on the book, the movie “Wild” was shot in Hollywood, after which the number of people wishing to walk along the trail increased sharply. True, not everyone manages to go the whole way.
Some time ago, a quote from Thomas Carlyle was published in our VKontakte community: “The best thing a book can do for a person is to make him act.” Along with it, readers were asked what books inspire them. We have collected some answers in this article, added (or used the reader’s) small descriptions to the named works and are sharing them with you.
Jack London "Martin Eden"
The novel by the American writer undoubtedly deserves to be on such a list. A book about achievement, loyalty to the intended path, strong character, overcoming oneself, external conditions and circumstances. And also about working on yourself, development and aspirations. We are not specifically talking about the plot - you definitely need to read the work yourself. Everyone will take something different from it, but one thing is for sure - “Martin Eden” is probably able to give even more to everyone who is interested in numerous issues of self-development than many non-fiction books on this topic.
Bible
The Bible does not need long introductions, so we will give only an excerpt from the answers of our readers. According to them, the Book of Books inspires because it opens up a person and teaches him deep spiritual and moral values, allowing him to be useful and real. She can transform lives like no one else can. And it can be a daily guide to action and decision making.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead
Wikipedia, citing a public opinion poll conducted in 1991 by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club, operates with the following fact: in the United States "Atlas Shrugged" is the second book after the Bible that led to changes in the lives of American readers. According to adherents of Rand's work, this work is about the role of personality, individuality, inviolability of beliefs, and abilities. Critics are confident that the plot is based on hyperbolization, the poles of opposition are too sharp and exaggerated, and the book glorifies selfishness and unregulated capitalism. This alone, without going into assessments, should be enough to read Atlas Shrugged and form your own opinion.
Talking about "Source", Ayn Rand noted that its main theme is: “the contrast between individualism and collectivism, not in politics, but in the human soul.” In addition, this book is about aspirations, the strength to go against conventional wisdom and pursue goals.
Richard Branson "To hell with everything! Take it and do it!”
This book by a British entrepreneur is about perseverance and working on yourself to unlock your potential, regardless of external conditions and innate characteristics. It is seasoned with personal experience and flavored with tips and recommendations that are designed to help you achieve your goals. And make dreams come true.
What is typical for evaluations of such books is that they are diametrically opposed. For some, it is a banal work about success and the general things associated with it. For others, it’s a first-hand story, something of a formula, as well as a motivating reminder of what’s really important. As you know, there is no arguing about tastes. Therefore, the matter of forming an impression of the book is entirely yours.
Robert Kiyosaki "Rich Dad Poor Dad"
Dale Carnegie described the work as follows: “If you want excellent advice on how to treat people, manage yourself and improve your personal qualities, read the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - one of the most fascinating stories of life.”
The list is in random order and is not a ranking. Supplement the article with your own book options and share your thoughts on the topic in the comments.