influential media

[salixbabylon]

For uinendolothen who asked: What book/film/song (or top two or three if one is too limiting!) has impacted your life the most? Not necessarily that it's your most favorite but that it has a deeper meaning for you - that something about it just speaks to your soul.

I'm going to stick with books, just to narrow the field a little bit.

Madeline L'Engle's "Wrinkle in Time" and two sequels were enormously influential in getting me to think about science and life and spirituality, and how they all intersect, rather than religion. That was a very big thing for me, growing up Catholic, and the lessons I learned from it have lasted forever.

Harvey Firestein's "Torch Song Trilogy" came to me at a time when the town I lived in was very much of the "AIDS is God's punishment to queers" mentality. It made me stop and think, to see *people* rather than *Others*. It also struck a chord in me of feeling like an outsider and being lonely for want of love. In 9th grade I knew nothing about queer culture or issues, and it was a very gut-wrenching book/movie/play for me.

I could go on and on, of course. Others that spring to mind for spiritual development are "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and "The Kin of Ata Are Waiting for You." Anne Rice's first two vampire books got me interested in European history. "The Hitchiker's Guide" introduced me to witty humor. Those are all books I remember from 7-10th grade that got me thinking in new ways. :)

Comments

[uinendolothen.livejournal.com]

The only book I've ever read completely in L'Engle's Time series is Many Waters. I really ought to revisit the entire series at some point!

I may also have to pick up some of those other books ... a good start to next summer's reading list! :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

They are surprisingly good reads for adults, too, I've found. I reread them all when she passed away a few years ago.

Enjoy! :)