#dailyprompt-1958 — Public Fediverse posts

This question is pandering to the religious folks, right? 95% of the responses are going to be the bible. I know it. You know it. We all know it. Insert my frustrated sigh here.

Three books… I don’t know if I can narrow it down to three. They’ve all had an effect on me to some extent or another, even the crappy books.

Okay, the first one we’ll go with came from my school days. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. I was born in the 1970’s and came of age in the 1980’s. The cold war had a big influence on who I was. I don’t think all of my friends were obsessed with imminent nuclear annihilation, but I sure as hell was. We lived close enough to a major city and, more frighteningly, a couple of air force bases and one army base that the chances of me and my family surviving a nuclear conflict was pretty much zero. When you’re 13 years old and have a vivid imagination and a bit of a dark side… well… that leads to quite a bit of near panicked fear. Alas, Babylon was written in 1959 and it tells the story of a town in Florida trying to survive the aftermath of world war iii. I was both terrified and fascinated by it. I forget what grade we were in when we had to read it for English class but I loved the book and didn’t sleep for weeks after I read it. I knew that the situation described in the book were not accurate by 1980’s nuclear capabilities (the bombs described in the book were wimpy by comparison) and it ignored the whole nuclear winter thing. Still, it made me want to read more post-nuclear fiction in some weird attempt to prepare myself for the inevitable.

On to book number two. This one also goes back to my school days. 8th grade, if I remember correctly, but it could be earlier than that. Hot Rod by Henry Gregor Felsen. This one hit me hard because there is an extremely graphic and violent twist in it. It was bloody and gory and I couldn’t believe we were asked to read it in school. At that point in my young, innocent, sheltered life I was not allowed to watch R rated movies. This type of violence was not something I was used to. The book was written in 1950 and was about teenagers driving souped up cars way too fast. You can probably guess what the graphic, violent twist entailed. This book clued me into the idea that a novel didn’t have to be PG rated. There was more to life than that, and books could give me a glimpse.

The third book I am going to go with is Weaveworld by Clive Barker. In my last year in high school I was exposed to the horror genre through a movie written and directed by Clive Barker called Hellraiser. It scared the every loving shit out of me. I was terrified, I was grossed out, and I was instantly obsessed with the genre. When I found out that Clive Barker was better known for writing short stories and novels I checked him out. I can’t remember if Weaveworld was the first of his books that I read. It might have been The Damnation Game, or one of the Books of Blood collection. I’m going with Weaveworld because it was the best of them all, by far. My new horror movie fandom morphed into a horror fiction fandom almost instantly. I tore through everything Barker had written up to that point. Weaveworld is amazing. It’s not really scary, though there’s some gore to be found. It’s actually more of a fantasy novel, I think. Really… it’s just a Barker novel. It’s a little of everything thrown into one super imaginative setting that no one else could have ever come up with. It’s very hard to explain. There’s one other item of note here. When I ran out of Barker books to read I needed to find someone else to hold me over until more books were released. That’s when I started dipping my toes into Stephen King. Yeah… we’re still drowning in that particular literary pool today. Talk about a master, right?

Okay, there’s three books. I could have mentioned 1000 others, and none of them are about a guy who is his own father.

https://robertjames1971.blog/2024/06/03/books/

#bookReview #bookReviews #books #cliveBarker #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1958 #horror

3 Impactful Books? ….. Let’s see… I have shelves and shelves of books, all half-read. I find it very difficult to finish reading books and often take years to complete one. So, managing to finish a book in itself is an accomplishment that can change my life.

Pictorial Books:

If it’s a pictorial book or a comic book, I finish it very quickly. While growing up, Archie’s, Tinkle, Panchatantra, Walt Disney books, Readers Digest children’s collections, Noddy, Tintin, and Asterix were my favorite books among many such colorful collections. These books, with their vibrant illustrations and engaging stories, sparked my love for reading and storytelling.

Text based books:

The three text-based books that have significantly impacted my life are notable because I managed to finish them faster than usual, and they left a lasting impression on me. It’s a vastly varied list:

• Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling: The writing in this series is so engaging that it sparked off my imagination. Without pictures to guide me, I could vividly imagine magical worlds and the creatures that inhabited them. During my teens, these books helped me get through sleepless nights and tough times. The adventures of Harry, Hermione, and Ron transported me to a world where friendship and courage always triumphed over evil.
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: This timeless classic has been the inspiration for countless love stories. The plot of boy meets girl, they don’t like each other, and then finally fall in love has been replayed in various forms many times. Elizabeth Bennet’s journey, despite being seen as different, kept my hope for finding true love one day while growing up.
• Bhagavad Gita: For me, this has been the most wisdom-filled book on how to live your life. Sometimes, things don’t make sense at first but start making sense later in life. The more my thoughts mature, the more I understand the depth of this book.
• An Important Yet Unread Book: There is one more important book that has changed my life….. It’s however one that I am yet to read….. The Constitution of India… the book that has ensured to uphold all the rights and freedom we have today in our vastly culturally diverse country.

Conclusion:

Books have the power to shape our thoughts, inspire us, and provide comfort during tough times. These books represent.. Wisdom, Justice, Love and Magic. Things I have always seeked out in life… . And while there are still many books left to read, I am grateful for the ones that have already enriched my journey. What books have had a profound impact on your life?

Talking of books, I just published my book recently. Please do check it out here!

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