Yeh! I'm excited for this Substack. My Christian faith informs a lot of my media choices and how I view the world, but I find what forces me to understand the whole context of humanity from someone else's viewpoint is reading books that are not expressly faith based. I guess the ones I gravitate toward involve characters thrown into extreme duress when faced with their end. I Am Legend, The Day of the Triffids, The Mist (novella), Phantoms... in some sense all apocalyptic, although I'm not necessarily looking for that. Oddly enough I don't have a favorite book that changed my life 🤔
The books of Carlos Castaneda sent me on a path that I both continue on and diverge from to this day. I haven't read all his works, but I did devour his early books when I was in my twenties.
Books that affected my writing life are probably too numerous to mention, but For Whom The Bell Tolls, Heart of Darkness, and The Grapes of Wrath stand out.
CS Lewis has greatly influenced my life regarding Christian reading-Mere Christianity and many of his other works provide wisdom and reflections to take to heart. JRR Tolkien has brought about amazing landscapes, friendships and heartache in his works. More recently “Introvert Power “ by Laurie Helgoe and “Quiet”by Susan Cain have helped me understand myself a lot better which has allowed me to enjoy reading and deep thinking in a more comprehensive way.
Leon Uris “Redemption” was by far the most illustrative novel I’d read in years when I devoured it in ‘99. Might have been the fact that I actually read it in New Zealand and could quite simply look to the horizon to imagine the scenes.
Garth Stein “the Art of Racing in the Rain” stunned me with its simple storytelling in the voice of a wise dog.
The big book of AA, from which I read my own story in the voices of others.
I bought Mystery & Manners at your recommendation! I haven't gone through it yet, but it's sitting nearby with my copy of LOTR which I've cracked but not explored deeply.
It's hard to list influences comprehensively, but honestly Phillip Pullman's Novella (adjacent to his more famous series), "Once upon a time in the North", was a major influence on me. Lee Scoresby represented the archetype of the "Gentleman Adventurer" and I have always always always wanted to write a character like that. I've tried, but not published. I have some notes for a Western-themed story that I was world building about but haven't written anything.
It's influential because it just showed me how a well written character can really make the story. That Novella was fun and it's really all because I got to go hang out with my good friend Lee Scoresby and his rabbit. I don't remember much of anything about the plot. But the dialogue and the characters really made it for me.
Yeh! I'm excited for this Substack. My Christian faith informs a lot of my media choices and how I view the world, but I find what forces me to understand the whole context of humanity from someone else's viewpoint is reading books that are not expressly faith based. I guess the ones I gravitate toward involve characters thrown into extreme duress when faced with their end. I Am Legend, The Day of the Triffids, The Mist (novella), Phantoms... in some sense all apocalyptic, although I'm not necessarily looking for that. Oddly enough I don't have a favorite book that changed my life 🤔
The books of Carlos Castaneda sent me on a path that I both continue on and diverge from to this day. I haven't read all his works, but I did devour his early books when I was in my twenties.
Books that affected my writing life are probably too numerous to mention, but For Whom The Bell Tolls, Heart of Darkness, and The Grapes of Wrath stand out.
p.s. I can't believe I didn't mention One Hundred Years of Solitude. Certainly one of top 5 favorite books!
CS Lewis has greatly influenced my life regarding Christian reading-Mere Christianity and many of his other works provide wisdom and reflections to take to heart. JRR Tolkien has brought about amazing landscapes, friendships and heartache in his works. More recently “Introvert Power “ by Laurie Helgoe and “Quiet”by Susan Cain have helped me understand myself a lot better which has allowed me to enjoy reading and deep thinking in a more comprehensive way.
Leon Uris “Redemption” was by far the most illustrative novel I’d read in years when I devoured it in ‘99. Might have been the fact that I actually read it in New Zealand and could quite simply look to the horizon to imagine the scenes.
Garth Stein “the Art of Racing in the Rain” stunned me with its simple storytelling in the voice of a wise dog.
The big book of AA, from which I read my own story in the voices of others.
That’s a start 🤷🏻♂️
I bought Mystery & Manners at your recommendation! I haven't gone through it yet, but it's sitting nearby with my copy of LOTR which I've cracked but not explored deeply.
It's hard to list influences comprehensively, but honestly Phillip Pullman's Novella (adjacent to his more famous series), "Once upon a time in the North", was a major influence on me. Lee Scoresby represented the archetype of the "Gentleman Adventurer" and I have always always always wanted to write a character like that. I've tried, but not published. I have some notes for a Western-themed story that I was world building about but haven't written anything.
It's influential because it just showed me how a well written character can really make the story. That Novella was fun and it's really all because I got to go hang out with my good friend Lee Scoresby and his rabbit. I don't remember much of anything about the plot. But the dialogue and the characters really made it for me.
Thanks for publishing.