Books That Have Changed Me

The first time I heard the lyrics to the Wicked song "For Good," I found myself confused.  "Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  But because I knew you, I have been changed for good."  At first, I equated "I have been changed for good" with "my association with you has brought about good changes."  But that's not really what the lyric is saying.  It's saying that, at the point in time, neither of them are sure if they have changed for the better--but they know their association with each other has caused permanent changes.  (And, of course, when you examine the subtext-- you know that both of them feel they have been changed for the better)

 

Likewise, with this list of books--I don't know if I can say they've changed me for the better.  But I know they've changed me for good.  So without further ado, here is a list of books that changed me.  And change, whether large or small, is still change.

 

And since I already mentioned the musical, one of the first books that changed me was Wicked.  Gregory Maguire is the master of the twist.  Not the dance move, mind you, but he's insanely good at taking a story and completely turning it on its head.  By the end of his novels, you find yourself questioning just about everything.  Wicked opened my mind to the idea that there are always multiple ways to think about a story.  Even a story that nobody has taken the time to re-write.  It led me to question everything I read.  Not in a bad way, but in a good way.  To evaluate stories from different angles.  And most importantly, it taught me empathy.  It's always possible to empathize with the villain.  Because sometimes the villain is only the villain because the narrator said so.

 

In addition, books have incredible teaching power.  I learned a lot about politics and judgment and all sorts of dynamics from Wicked.  But interestingly enough, I think some of the books that taught me best about Christianity were C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I think it would be possible to devote a whole Institute class to what we can learn about Christianity from reading those novels.  Lewis has a unique talent for writing allegory. 

 

Fathers and Sons drastically changed the way I view interaction with my family.  In short, after reading it, I found myself quite grateful for the way I interact with both of my parents. 

 

Lord of the Rings taught me a lot about friendship.  And whether Tolkien wanted it to be an allegory or not, it ended up that way despite his intentions.  These books caused me to question my own loyalties.  And if I lived up to them.  If I had a life mission and if I pursued it that doggedly.  In short, it cause me to re-examine myself.

 

Lolita helped me to question authors and narrators themselves.  You don't have to trust them.  In fact, if you completely trust Humbert Humbert, I would say that you're missing a good part of what you can learn from the book.  But it's definitely not a book for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

 

The Brothers Karamazov taught me a lot about the kind of person I want to be.  And it also taught me that good people are also flawed.  Sometimes the flaws aren't overwhelming.  Sometimes they are.  And sometimes, it only matters whether or not we let ourselves be ruled and defined by our flaws.  It reassured me that even good people are still human.  And even faithful people question their faith.

 

1984  caused such a strong reaction that I immediately vowed to never cave in to anything just because everyone else had.  Because I was incredibly angry at Winston.  Yes.  I was furious with a fictional character.

 

Muggie Maggie made me want to learn cursive.  Then not want to learn cursive.  Then want to learn cursive again.  Also, it was the first chapter book I ever owned.

 

The BFG helped me to understand it was okay to let your imagination run wild.  The Twits made my ten-year-old self laugh so hard I fell off a chair.

 

Harry Potter as a series--and you can agree with me or disagree with me, I don't care--brought readers and non-readers together with an engaging story.  Back in the day, I owned a "Quidditch" shirt and I made more friends by wearing that shirt than I could have under my own power.  When it comes to reading, the Harry Potter books act as a great equalizer.  They put all readers on common ground. 

 

I could mention more, but I'm battling a migraine.  And that's the short list of novels that have changed me.  It will continue at some point.  Later.  When my head doesn't hurt.  But the next round of this will be preceded by a round of non-fiction books that changed me.