What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you?
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, turned me on to travel, philosophy. I was about 14 when it came out.
@uc @bookstodon It was one of my dad's favourite books! I read his old copy when I was in high school. I loved it then but I'm sure would read it different now (not worse, just very differently).
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon @alicemcalicepants Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter convinced me to start an Open University degree in my 40s which led to me switching jobs and being a lot happier!
@satsuma @alicemcalicepants That is amazing, Neil. Bravo!
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon Thicker Than Water by Leonore Davidoff, which I read ahead of a colloquium with the author at the beginning of my Master's in 2012, when I was 23.
It's a monograph about siblings in history that's super engaging because it's such an interesting, human topic and she wrote it in such an accessible way. Not only did it open my eyes to the fact historians are 'allowed' to write like that, but it made me think 'what about only children?' – giving me a topic for my PhD!
@alicemcalicepants Wow! That's amazing, Alice.
I find it inspiring and terrifying in equal measure to consider the random events that can go on to shape a life.
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What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you? At what point in your life did you read it?
Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook: however you define "book" for yourself is fine with me.
@bookstodon @ShaulaEvans There are several, but I'll offer up two:
Jean Merrill, The Pushcart War (1964)
Read in the sixth grade of elementary school. It taught me the positive power of subversion, and the importance of solidarity in the face of corruption.
Donald Knuth, The TeXbook (1984)
Read while working as an early-career legal academic. It unlocked in me a passion for, or obsession with, grasping programming logic and putting it to use.
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@kgjengedal @bookstodon I believe that earns you an honorary Canadian passport!
(I can say that: I'm Canadian.) 🍁
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon Ooh! That makes me unreasonably proud :-D
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon @alicemcalicepants also an honourable mention for Lord of the Rings which gave me a lifelong appreciation for tabletop role playing games and also started me on the path to studying historical swordsmanship which I now teach
@satsuma @alicemcalicepants I used to know people in historical swordsmanship circles! I wonder if you've ever come across Brad Waller?
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon Watership Down, which I tried to read for the first time in around 4th grade (on my own, not assigned for school or anything). about halfway through I made the conscious decision that I was missing a lot, that I would probably understand it more fully when I was older, and put it aside. read it again all the way through... not sure exactly when but definitely before or in high school, because that was when I started compiling a Lapine (rabbit language) dictionary. over the years I read multiple copies often enough that the paperback would fall apart, and I'd get another copy and do it again. I have no idea how many times I've re-read it, but I have large chunks of it basically memorized.
it was possibly the first book that showed me what a written masterpiece was, and the fact that it was about rabbits, *from the perspective of rabbits*, made it deeply precious to me. (cont)
@troodon Bravo to 4th grade you for that wisdom and awareness!
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon spell of the Sensuous by David Abrams. Most of the book is about the origination of language and how our environments shape our sounds. It helped me open to the possibilities found in relating to my environment, to keep me open to hearing new forms of language, to keep me listening for song lines from the Earth.
@MamaLake This sounds like an amazing book!
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon it's always been very difficult for me to "see myself" in media, for whatever reason--I just don't identify with protagonists very easily, most of the time--and Watership Down's non-human focus showed me that it was possible to write something beautiful, that could be taken seriously by the general population, that didn't center a "normal" human perspective.
over the years, I've come to appreciate it like an exquisitely well-made piece of furniture. I know the grand arcs and the fine details like the smooth sweep of polished woodgrain under my fingertips. I've examined its construction, seen how the parts are fitted together, the craftsmanship that connects each piece to the others. I don't know if I will ever be able to make something so beautiful or enduring in my life, but it's the high mark I will always aspire to.
@troodon Thank you for this reply. My heart is glowing at your connection with this book.
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@alicemcalicepants Wow! That's amazing, Alice.
I find it inspiring and terrifying in equal measure to consider the random events that can go on to shape a life.
@ShaulaEvans thanks, and same – my main finding was that other factors were more instrumental than being an only child in itself! Eg. Family circumstances/parental attitudes, individual personality, class, where they lived, when they lived, gender...
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@bookstodon @ShaulaEvans There are several, but I'll offer up two:
Jean Merrill, The Pushcart War (1964)
Read in the sixth grade of elementary school. It taught me the positive power of subversion, and the importance of solidarity in the face of corruption.
Donald Knuth, The TeXbook (1984)
Read while working as an early-career legal academic. It unlocked in me a passion for, or obsession with, grasping programming logic and putting it to use.
@fgbjr How wonderful in both cases.
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@ShaulaEvans thanks, and same – my main finding was that other factors were more instrumental than being an only child in itself! Eg. Family circumstances/parental attitudes, individual personality, class, where they lived, when they lived, gender...
@alicemcalicepants Ooh, that's very interesting!
I love research that investigates received wisdom!
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@urlyman @ShaulaEvans @bookstodon makes sense there are wonderful books on the wonderful journey of a wonderful man.
literally Textbook Schofield! 🤌
@falcennial that’s so incredibly generous. (Blushing) I’m super-flawed as anyone who knows me personally can attest
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon Ooh! That makes me unreasonably proud :-D
There is a lovely new edition of Anne of Green Gables out, with hand drawn ephemera which while it doesn't change the text one bit, it is a delightfully self indulgent gift to self if you enjoy the book.
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@alicemcalicepants Ooh, that's very interesting!
I love research that investigates received wisdom!
@ShaulaEvans so many people I studied were like 'I was lonely because I was an only child' or even 'I don't remember being lonely, but I must have been because I was an only child' because they imbibed the stereotype, but looking closer, eg. living a long way from other kids, emotionally-distant parents, enjoying their own company were better explanations (plus, having siblings was no guarantee of companionship!).
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@mouseless How did you first come across the book?
Strangely, I think.
Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen (the historian & nordic animism guy) was very on my radar at the time- back then I was digging for meaning in fairly reconstructionist norse pagan circles, and that was a whole journey in itself that's beside the point. Anyway, he was on Tyson's podcast for an episode, and while I don't think I ever actually listened to it, it was enough for me to see what his deal was, and investigate my local library.
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What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you? At what point in your life did you read it?
Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook: however you define "book" for yourself is fine with me.
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon
Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson. How to deal with the unthinkable while remaining true to yourself.
Be more Moominmamma. -
What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you? At what point in your life did you read it?
Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook: however you define "book" for yourself is fine with me.
As a child: King's From A Buick 8. There was a scene where a man is walking around in the rain, with his long black coat billowing out behind him. To a young teen living a very constrained, small-town English life it evoked an sense of unknown freedom that I wanted to chase.
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@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon
Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson. How to deal with the unthinkable while remaining true to yourself.
Be more Moominmamma.@bearnecessities I know of the Moomin books but didn't grow up around them. Clearly I need to read them!
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As a child: King's From A Buick 8. There was a scene where a man is walking around in the rain, with his long black coat billowing out behind him. To a young teen living a very constrained, small-town English life it evoked an sense of unknown freedom that I wanted to chase.
As a young adult: Anna Politkovskaya — A Small Corner of Hell. I was still finding my feet in Russia and while I understood how repressive it was, my vague idea of of Chechnya was largely through Russia's lens. This flipped my understanding, and while horrifying in many ways, also provided hope that bravery and pursuit of truth in the face of that was possible there.
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