I am back for my second Long and Short Review Wednesday Blog Hop. Thank you to everyone who visited last week.
Today’s topic is a book, movie or tv show that influenced your life. I can’t pick just one so I opted for books that I return to again and again because they continue to speak to the parts of me that need to listen and be heard.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Meg Murray, the heroine, made alienation cool. An outsider in her family and at school, she was my geek heroine before the word geek hit mainstream. Not only did the story itself peak my interest, but for the first time, I felt that I was not alone. I may follow my own drummer, but I needed to know that there were other one-person bands out there I might be able to connect with at some point. I still read it when I am feeling outside, and want to see in again.
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
When a writer like Calvino, who ripped convention into shreds and pushed the boundaries of creativity, penned a homage to readers, it is a tale like no other. In a feast of changing styles and narrative forms, Calvino memorialized the relationship between writer and reader in a book that had me turning pages, giggling and thinking non-stop. It is the book I have gifted the most to others over the course of my life.
No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
Yes, this book is a downer. After all it brought us the line “hell is other people.” I come back to it as a reminder that our own choices and our willingness (or unwillingness) to change ultimately determines the degree of happiness we allow in our lives. Heavy? You bet. We all have those moments, and this book captures it.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
So not to end this on a down note, my last selection is a children’s book, that I adore to this day. In few words and elegant drawings, Sendak shined a star on rebellion as a font of creativity, unconditional love as our source of strength and the need of the explorer to have a home to return to. Not to mention the importance of having fun.
What most influences you–something that makes you cry, smile, or scream?
Thanks for dropping by. You can visit all the other bloggers participating on the blog hop here. Enjoy.
A Wrinkle in Time was such a good story!
My post.
It is definitely one of my favorites.
I love Madeline L’Engle! And Where the Wild Things Are… excellent choice! My post is here if you want to come by: http://jhthomas.blogspot.com/2021/01/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge_27.html
Thanks, Judy. Funny how we can keep reading books meant for children as adults and still get a lot out of it.
My mom read Wrinkle in Time to us when I was a kid. Where the Wild Things are is a great choice, too. She read the entire Lion, Witch and Wardrobe series, too. 🙂
Great post!
My post is here: https://wendizwaduk.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/a-show-that-influenced-me-with-meganslayer-shows-tv-nightcourt/
Thanks, Megan. I love the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe but was not enamored of many of the other stories in the series. There is a reason this is the best known.
Once you’ve read No Exit it’s amazing how many TV shows and movies use the premise, others don’t get it. https://pmprescott.blogspot.com/2021/01/wc012721-book-that-most-influenced-my.html
Too true. I’ve seen the play a few times. It, like the written version, can be hard to get through.
Where the Wild Things Are was a staple in my bookshelf growing up. I wish I also read A Wrinkle in Time, but I guess it’s never too late 😉 Great post!
Its never too late. I enjoy reading it again.
A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorites. Yes, I am one of those people who drum to the beat of my own different drum. Easier as a adult than a child or teen. And yes it’s nice to know you’re not the only one. LOL Thanks for sharing. Here’s mine. https://www.tenastetler.com/a-book-movie-tv-show-that-influenced-my-life-lsrs-blogging-challenge/
Great to meet another different drummer. Thanks for dropping by.
I adore A Wrinkle In Time and have returned to it over and over. I’ve re-read the other books in the series sometimes, but none are as well done as the first. Also Where the Wild Things Are is wonderful. I read No Exit for a philosophy class in college and … I understand the whys, etc., but it’s not something I’ve ever wanted to revisit (likely partly due to it being “assigned” and I’m not a fan of being told what to do, lol).
Good choices!
I’m here if you’d like to visit: http://www.mariannearkins.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge-a-book-movie-tv-show-that-influenced-my-life/
It is hard to read the assigned books! I actually saw the play first, which helped, as it made me want to read it.
At absolute favorite of mine and my son’s: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak! Enjoyed reading your post, Shari. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Mary. Glad you could drop by.
I LOVED Sartre when I was an English major in college. I studied his works extensively, which helped me to make sense of a world that often makes no sense. He agreed with me, but somehow showed me how to keep going. And Where the Wild Things are is one of my grandson’s favorite books. I haven’t read the other two.
Funny how such disparate books have so much meaning to you, for such different reasons.
I am pretty eclectic, so I like different books. They also influenced me in different parts of my life, when I was looking for different things.