Comments on: Under the influence

By: Wanda B. Ontheshelves

Wanda B. Ontheshelves — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:40:31 +0000

I respond tardily to those who chose Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra as influence. The book I would pick is about the same time period, All Quiet on the Western Front. I read it during a phase when I “wasn’t reading” – in college? – I won’t try to explain.

But there’s this tidbit from Wikipedia about Nicholas: “As head of state, he approved the Russian mobilization of August 1914, which marked the first fatal step into World War I, a war in which 3.3 million Russians would be killed,[4] thus leading to the demise of the Romanov dynasty less than three years later.”

When I was very young, I can remember going to all kinds of military museums, air shows, etc. with my family – one of them had a WWI trench exhibit, you could walk through a fake trench (indoors), and press a button (I think there was a button), and there were flashing lights and realistic sounds of explosions! And I remember thinking, why would anyone want to do this (be bombarded with flashes of light and the sounds of explosions).

So there’s a whole chain of books about WWI that I have read, The Arms of Krupp, poetry by WWI soldiers, Anna Akhmatova (“The real – not the calendar – / Twentieth Century”), other Russian poets, “lost generation of 1914″ type books, etc. But All Quiet on the Western Front was first.

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In reference to Rachel’s idea of literary mashups – I think Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Dicken’s A Christmas Carol are an obvious combo – All Quiet on the Christmas Carol (no, really, I do love these two books.)

By: Lisa Marie

Lisa Marie — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:00:16 +0000

The book that moved me the most was “The Sheltering Sky” by Paul Bowles, which I read before I first journeyed to North Africa. Bowles’ characters Kit and Port exemplify the idle American so perfectly. There are a lot of analogies that one can draw from Kit and Port’s journey and that of many people who lack true passion/conviction in their lives and try to fill it with travel, creature comforts, sex, etc. “The Sheltering Sky” made me vow to never become a “Kit.”

By: Miriam

Miriam — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:29:21 +0000

So glad I’m not alone in picking the ONE book that made me who I am. Jenni, so funny you mention NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA. I was obsessed with that book in my teens and got essentially the same message as you from it. Have stayed away from all Rasputins since.

By: Jenni Wiltz

Jenni Wiltz — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:21:04 +0000

I can’t think of a single title that changed everything…it was more of an amalgamation. When I read “Fear of Flying” in college in the late ’90s, it gave me the courage to dump a loser boyfriend and seek out something (someone) better. When I read Robert K. Massie’s “Nicholas and Alexandra,” I cried for a week, then realized the lesson was don’t let crazy-eyed mystics run your life. So many books, so many lessons, so many more waiting to be read! If I did nothing else but read, maybe I’d be wise enough to stop making mistakes.

By: Carrie-Anne

Carrie-Anne — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:05:52 +0000

The book that most influenced my life was Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf, which I read in December of 1999, shortly before I turned twenty. He’s been my second-favorite writer since I was fifteen, and two of his other books, Demian and Narcissus and Goldmund, have also had a profound impact on my life.

By: Rachel McMahon

Rachel McMahon — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:03:26 +0000

I tried to think of one, but I can’t narrow it down. To me, choosing one book is like selecting one meal from my youth and giving it credit for all the nutrition I received growing up. I can, however, name the book that influenced me most as a writer. Stephen King’s memoir. That one shook the ground enough to plant me in a new place.