Stories That Impacted My Life

 

 

Monday, August 17, 2020 is the 75th Anniversary of George Orwell's Animal Farm. I read it on a Sunday afternoon at the laundromat and home in the mid-'70's, and it impacted me like no other fiction book. At this point, I had already read 1984  previously (and was surprised it wasn't in the Sci Fi section of the library), but it didn't leave me in shock as Animal Farm did. I'll never forget the line "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Allow me to share five other stories that also impacted me, in order of release.

And There Were None by Agatha Christie. Christie is the novelist I've read the most novels by. The library had a collection titled The Best Of Agatha Christie, and I think I read the Short Story "A Witness For The Prosecution" and The Murder Of Roger Akroyd first, but And There Were None was one that unsettled me. Excellent novel. 

 

 

If I had made the list in the order I read them, The Phantom Homer by John R. Cooper would be the first on the list (with And Then There Were None second and Animal Farm third). While the above two were more disturbing, The Phantom Homer had the opposite effect. This book and the rest of the Mel Martin Baseball series helped me love baseball and story telling.

I believe I had the honor of hearing Frank Peretti speak in person before
reading any of his books, and I believe I received the first four chapter sample of Piercing The Darkness that night, so I read book two of his series before the classic This Present Darkness. It wasn't the first Christian novel I read, but this one definitely made an impact on me (or I wouldn't be including it in the list). My favorite part was the conversation about moles and how they don't seem to know where one yard begins and the other ends.

When Amish fiction was the craze, Marcher Lord Press founder Jeff Gerke made up a mock cover titled "Vein Pursuit: The Latest Of The Amish Vampires In Space Series." Author Kerry Nietz thought some one should write the novel, but not him - his stories were dystopian and the Amish Vampires title seemed to yell "Campy!" But then, he thought of an idea that would work and 30,000 words later he let Gerke know what he was up to.

This book is serious science fiction, but what I enjoy the most is the theme of community, the scope of that community and our responsibility to the community. And if you don't think this book would be your type ... well, do you like Green Eggs And Ham, Sam I Am?

My final entry is technically not a story, and it is classified in the library as a philosophy book, but I'm including this one because it looks at Captain Americ and uses him as a focus on a book about ethics. This is not a Christian book - I've read the author's contributions to other superhero pop philosophy books and my guess is he considers himself a Taoist since two of his contributions focused on the subject. Thus, I don't agree with all he says. But I found this a very well written book on virtues.

Your turn. What books have influenced you?