One of my friends on Facebook was challenged to the test that is my title for today's blog, and my cheeky comment to her was "I could only get the list down to 10 if allowed to use series as a single book".
I've been thinking about it. My cheeky, off-the-cuff immediate response was absolutely correct.
Take the "book" that I think influenced me the most: "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. The singular tale itself is quite powerful, with a message that I think was well captured in Peter Jackson's film when when Galadriel says " Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
But therein begins the dilemma. If I count the next books that influenced me the most, it would have to be the three books of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. That removes the first four slots quite handily, but.....
There are also all of these books:
The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (3 main books and many offshoots)
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (7 main books and one offshoot - so far)
"King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henty
The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley (20 of them)
"Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (7 more books)
365 Bedtime Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year by Nan Gilbert (because I NEEDED a short story every day about the kids on What A Jolly Street)
As I sit and try to type a name for a book - just one at a time - onto the list, other books crowd up, wanting to make sure to be mentioned, as there are so many with such memorable characters: Tigger and Winnie-the-Pooh, the Mad Hatter & the Cheshire Cat, Horse Badorties from William Kotzwinkle's "The Fan Man", Walter the Farting Dog.....the list goes on and on....
And, of course, the classics that we were "forced" to read in class also influenced me greatly. I once fought the idea of becoming a published writer because I didn't want to end up like Captain Ahab, endlessly chasing the "white whale" of a pipe dream, for example...
I guess the best way for me to state this is simply: I gain a little something from all the books I read, whether it be simple entertainment that touches something inside to make it memorable or a life's lesson, as those old tales that used to end "and the moral of the story is...."
My life is and always has been surrounded and influenced by the books I've read, the places I've gone, whether actual places or just figments of the author's imagination. Parts of every book stay with me to come out at the oddest times - such as sitting in an outhouse in the middle of the North Maine Woods and, seeing a bright light, suddenly remembering a scene from Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher" involving a toilet and an alien being.........
Yes indeed. Some books influence me by being thought provoking. Some influence me by giving me a great sense of humor. And some influence me by making me freak out in the middle of nowhere because of imagined terrors......
*gives an evil grin as the light fades*
I've been thinking about it. My cheeky, off-the-cuff immediate response was absolutely correct.
Take the "book" that I think influenced me the most: "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. The singular tale itself is quite powerful, with a message that I think was well captured in Peter Jackson's film when when Galadriel says " Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
But therein begins the dilemma. If I count the next books that influenced me the most, it would have to be the three books of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. That removes the first four slots quite handily, but.....
There are also all of these books:
The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey (3 main books and many offshoots)
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (7 main books and one offshoot - so far)
"King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henty
The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley (20 of them)
"Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (7 more books)
365 Bedtime Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year by Nan Gilbert (because I NEEDED a short story every day about the kids on What A Jolly Street)
As I sit and try to type a name for a book - just one at a time - onto the list, other books crowd up, wanting to make sure to be mentioned, as there are so many with such memorable characters: Tigger and Winnie-the-Pooh, the Mad Hatter & the Cheshire Cat, Horse Badorties from William Kotzwinkle's "The Fan Man", Walter the Farting Dog.....the list goes on and on....
And, of course, the classics that we were "forced" to read in class also influenced me greatly. I once fought the idea of becoming a published writer because I didn't want to end up like Captain Ahab, endlessly chasing the "white whale" of a pipe dream, for example...
I guess the best way for me to state this is simply: I gain a little something from all the books I read, whether it be simple entertainment that touches something inside to make it memorable or a life's lesson, as those old tales that used to end "and the moral of the story is...."
My life is and always has been surrounded and influenced by the books I've read, the places I've gone, whether actual places or just figments of the author's imagination. Parts of every book stay with me to come out at the oddest times - such as sitting in an outhouse in the middle of the North Maine Woods and, seeing a bright light, suddenly remembering a scene from Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher" involving a toilet and an alien being.........
Yes indeed. Some books influence me by being thought provoking. Some influence me by giving me a great sense of humor. And some influence me by making me freak out in the middle of nowhere because of imagined terrors......
*gives an evil grin as the light fades*
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