I can think of three books off the top of my head that have changed my life. I'll save the book that changed my life in the funniest way for last. Stay tuned.
The first book is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
The first time I heard of this book was my junior year of high school. I had American Literature I with Ms. Elizabeth Gleason (one of the most influential teachers I have ever had). One day before class started, this guy in our class named Kyle asked her what her favorite book was. She said Anna Karenina. She brought out a copy and showed it to us. She told us it was written in series installments between 1873 & 1877 in Russia. She told us why she loved it so much, but I had stopped listening. The book was a thick sucker. Add in the fact it was written in Russia (a country I knew next to nothing about) and nearly a hundred years before I was born, I lost interest very quickly. I remember thinking to myself, I am never going to read this book.
Flash-forward nearly four & a half years. I am 20 years old and living in St. Petersburg, Russia. I'm there with a volunteer program to teach children English and I'll be there for nearly five months. I had finished all of the books I had brought with me (I didn't bring that many) and had no idea how I was going to pass the time during my 45-minute metro ride commute. In my head-teacher's apartment, I stumbled upon a copy of Anna Karenina. I thought back a lifetime to that English class with Ms. Gleason and how it was her favorite book. I decided to give it a whirl.
There have been very few times in my life when a book has so thoroughly engrossed me. I could not put it down. I was immensely invested with the two stories and with the characters involved. To read this book reminded me why I love to read and why I love literature. It rekindled my love affair with classic literature and sparked my intense love of Russian literature. After I had finished reading it, I found a book store on Nevsky Prospect that sold books in English. I bought novels not only by Tolstoy, but also Dostoevsky (I've read nearly everything that man ever wrote), Pushkin, Gogol, Gorky, and others. I am still fascinated by Russian literature and with literature in general. I bought two copies of Anna Karenina--one in English and the other in Russian. In the English copy, I wrote the following on the inside:
"This copy of
Anna Karenina was purchased at "Дом книги", (House of Books) in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 15th 2008 by Kelly Cannon."
Below that, I wrote a quote that summed up my feelings toward the book:
"There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love."
-Christopher Morley
The second book that changed my life is actually a trilogy. It's
The Millennium Series, which consists of
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, &
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, all by Stieg Larson
I read this books over the summer. Okay, in all honesty I didn't
literally read them. I listened to them on my ipod. I enjoy listening to books on tape way more than music. I listen to them when I commute to school, to work, to wherever. (Yes, I am that big of a dork that not only do I read books for school and for fun at the same time, but I also listen to books while I drive. I regret nothing.) The books are insanely addictive and engrossing. I found myself truly invested and worried about the characters. Again, these were books I could not put down (or, more accurately, turn off).
How they changed my life was during the time I was listening to them, I had begun working at the UVU Review. I was in this odd place in my life where I wasn't positive what I wanted to do as a career. I was (and still am) an English major, but my desire to go to graduate school had recently diminished significantly. At the same time, I was really enjoying working on the paper and doing "journalism." In these books, one of the main characters, Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist and a publisher of his own independent magazine. His passion for writing, and writing the truth was inspiring. He never compromised his values and truly believed in exposing corruption and wrong-doing. I found myself constantly wanting to be him. These books helped me make the decision to become a writer and a journalist.
The last book that changed my life is actually a children's book. My mother bought it for me when I was quite young. Apparently, I had this tiny little problem of telling lies. My mom had tried everything to get me to stop but nothing worked. Finally, she went to the bookstore to get a copy of
The Boy Who Cried Wolf. However, while she was there, a very helpful sales associate told her about this new book that just came out that has the same moral. It's by Hilaire Belloc and is called,
Matilda, Who Told Lies & Was Burned to Death.
The American "Politically Correct" title is
Matilda, Who Told Such Dreadful Lies but the above is the original titled. It's a poem that was included in Belloc's book of
Cautionary Tales for Children. Essentially what happens is Matilda tells lies all the time. She lives with her old aunt who is shocked by her behavior. One time Matilda calls the fire brigade and says her house is on fire. The firemen come and douse her whole house with water, despite the fact nothing is on fire. As a punishment, Matilda has to stay home while her aunt goes out. But then the house actually does catch on fire and when Matilda tries to call the fire brigade, they don't believe her. She then runs to the window to solicit help, but in vain.
"For every time she shouted 'Fire!'
They only answered 'Little Liar!'"
The last line of the story/poem drives the point home:
"And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned."
Yep, you read that right. The girl BURNS TO DEATH!
Needless to say, that stopped my lying problem right quick. Even to this day, I have a strong aversion to lying, not telling the whole truth, or even bending the truth slightly. My mom's plan to stop me from telling fibs was uber effective. I still have the book and as if the poem wasn't morbid enough (which you can read the whole thing here) the drawings are in black, white and different shades of red, with the fire being brilliant shades of red and orange. If you ever stumble upon a copy, pick it up.
Love you.
Mean it.
