Hi Maximus,
I've noted that posters as well as yourself have mentioned books that deal with different stuff than the books that impressed me the most.
You said:
: I'm going to ask your help in this thread. What book or books have you read that have really enlightened or intrigued you? And could you comment on what you gleaned from them? A long list of names and titles is easy; kernels of truth are more rare. Aim for the latter.
"Games People Play" by Dr. Eric Berne
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand: life is full of dickheads and people who are great and unacknowledged
"Democracy in America" by Alex De Toqueville
"Initiation" by Elisabeth Haich: explains the Bible better than anything I've seen so far.
"Winning Through Intimidation" by Robert Ringer: people will screw you. Get used to it.
"Looking Out for Number One" by Robert Ringer: self-love is not bad. It's actually healthy. As a former dub, I loved this one. Former dubs can understand why.
"Megatrends" by Tom Peters (not sure he wrote this one)
"Chariots of the Gods" by Eric Von Donekan (sp?) Showed me a lot about crackpots and what they can get away with while spouting crap.
"Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichten: Showed me that great writing can arise from spoof and fun. And I loved the surprise at the end!
"The Dialogues" by Plato: this showed me that Sacrates could mess up anyone who presented a bad argument, stick his tongue out at them, smile the whole time, treat them like gentlemen and still make their arguments and themselves look like total idiots. I should re-read this one and soon.
Any and everything by Lawerence Saunders: showed me that fiction is not so bad after all. It can be very engrossing when well-written.
"My Young Years" by Arthur Rubenstein: showed me that incredible talent and even genius is not devoid of human foibles and screw-ups. Also showed me that true greatness is admitting follies and mistakes and then moving on to more greatness. I dearly miss that man and his music.
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu: showed me that war, business and even everyday life have so much in common that it is scary.
"Tao Te Ching" by Lao-tse (and many others, no doubt): showed me that life is much simpler than I had ever imagined it could be. I keep forgetting that part.
"Shogun" by James Clavell: this was a big epiphany for me. It showed me that our Western way of looking at life and death was only ONE way of looking at life and death. My eyes were probably opened more out of reading that book than they did out of reading a thousand Watchtowers and Awakes!.
"Hawaii" by James A. Michner: awesome history and very revealing about man's inhumanity to man in the name of religion and in the name of God and Christ. Showed me that compassion and forgiveness can come from "pagans" and "heathens" and in fact is more likely to come from them than from those "Christians" who are trying to "save" their happy lives and functioning cultures. As someone who has spent many trips and many months in Hawaii and who has studied their language and culture, this book was very important in my life.
"Carribean" by James A. Michner: showed me that even great authors shoud know when to quit.
There are many more, Max. I've just mentioned a few. The collected works of Alfred E. Neumann should also be mentioned. He was very wise, too. Also, I'm very fond of the collected works of Fred Hall. He alone helps keep me to have some semblance of sanity, or at least to know that if I'm crazy, there are a whole lot worse people out there. Kudos to You Know in that area, too.
Oh, the book "From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained" was a very important book in my life, too, but for much different reasons than the ones I just mentioned.
Farkel