Brenton
10 Life changing Books and Films
November 22nd 2007 09:40
1. Marabou Stork Nightmares – Irvine Welsh – Book.
Marabou Stork Nightmare is a rare thing. It’s a brilliantly written piece of fiction from the author of Trainspotting (which for the record, I despised with passion). The novel’s protagonist is in hospital, in a long term coma, fluctuating between three levels of consciousness. When he’s close to the surface he is aware of his family speaking to him by his bedside. To avoid this awareness he tries to sink deeper into a fantasy world, where he and a friend are hunting the evil Marabou Stork. However to reach these deep recesses of his mind he must first pass through his memory, where the story of how he came to be lying in his coma slowly, shockingly unravels.
It’s an explicit, shocking and somehow touching exploration of what creates and constitutes evil, the nature of emotional pain, and offers an explanation to the eternal question of ‘how can people do such terrible things to each other?’.
2. Dogwood – Movie.
Dogwood is another classic example of hammering a point and being successful at it. The film is shot in classic Brechtian style and features a very unhappy looking Nicole Kidman. It’s another moral tale, this time telling a parable warning against sympathy for one’s aggressors. It’s a moral that warns us against the arrogance of our temptation to forgive everything done by those we wish to help. It's almost preachy, but instead but it packages it up in a way that makes the concepts so simple you just want to sidle up to your TV and say ‘teach me forever.’
3. Life of Pi. Book.
This is a story that will make you believe in God. Not my claim – the suggestion is made at the start of the book, in the author’s introduction. While the claim is certainly exaggerated, there is every possibility that the book will change the way you interpret and interact with faith.
4. Children of Men – Movie.
Children of Men is much more than just my most favourite movie ever. It’s a startling observation of Government corruption, the power of fear and racial discrimination. But far more than that, it is a stunning acknowledgement of the position of children in shaping a healthy meaningful society.
5. A Clockwork Orange – Book.
If you’ve seen the Movie, good for you. However, it’s the book that’s interesting in this regard. Few people realise that the movie was based on the original American version of the novel – published with it’s final chapter omitted. The book is, like the movie, a fascinating analysis of the nature, value and danger of free will, and the repression thereof. What’s truly striking though is Burgess’ conclusion- calm and collected, and with an air of wisdom. Read it, and it may change the way you feel about youth crime.
6. AdBusters – Magazine.
If you’ve been reading Adbusters for quite a while, and are thinking I’m about to tell you to go back to it because it’s not actually saying the same thing over and over again? Sadly, no. If you’re familiar with AdBusters then you know what you’re in for. If you’re not familiar with it though, there’s a lot of value in having a peek. If you’re like most people, you’ll discover an alternative view that has potential to influence the way you see the world. Also, have a look at their shoes... ironic, yet awesome, in a bid to bring down Nike.
7. Hero – Movie
The movie is so good looking and tasty that the message, as with many of the others, just kind of creeps up without you noticing. The message again is one that I ultimately disagree with, but it’s worthwhile to give a bit of pondering time to the interpretation of militarism it portrays.
8. Non Fiction – Chuck Palahniuk
It took a while to pick out a Chuck Palahniuk book. Fight Club is the easy answer, but thinking about it, Non Fiction is the real winner for potential life change. This series of essays observes many of the themes found in Palahniuk’s wider publications. Influential articles include the experience of discovering visual prejudice for the first time, using steroroids, discovering a ghost, attending a sex show, along with such goodies as an interview with Marylyn Manson. However, the real impact of the book lies in the reoccurring theme of Community. Palahniuk proposed that all his books have been connected by one strand – they provide frameworks for communities. Fight Club was men coming together to fight, Lullaby to destroy poetry, Haunted to write. An inspiring look at why and how people come together.
9. The Game – Neil Strauss – Book.
This is more one for men than ladies. The Game is a book on how to pick up girls. However, in a way it is also more than that. It’s a book that can give every man on Earth the advice to survive in society – how to think, act and interact to achieve social competency, if not success. Of course there will be some who go mad with it all and become insane pick up artists. However, most people will choose not to take it word for word, but instead gain a greater appreciations on what rules the world of social convention, and how you can use it to your advantage in life. I would give a copy of this to every awkward grade nine in the world and I assure you we’d have a better society.
10. The Yes Man – Danny Wallis – Book.
Say yes more. That’s the moral of the story. However, this book, unlike many other ‘inspirational’ novels, stays with you, as it illustrates it’s moral with a down to Earth sensibility and an occasionally tweaked sense of humour (at one point, our protagonist meets with a bully who used to punch the kid in wheelchair in one arm to give him a dead arm, because he liked to see him go in circles). It’s a true story (no doubt one with some considerable creative licence going on) and focuses on Danny Wallace, a man whose chance encounter with an old man on a bus gives him the inspiration to ‘say yes to everything’. From then on he ends up trying to tickle the moon in Amsterdam, attempting to anger a Buddhist Monk and proposing his own TV show. It’s brilliant.
So there you have it. Why are you waiting? Go get inspired!
Marabou Stork Nightmare is a rare thing. It’s a brilliantly written piece of fiction from the author of Trainspotting (which for the record, I despised with passion). The novel’s protagonist is in hospital, in a long term coma, fluctuating between three levels of consciousness. When he’s close to the surface he is aware of his family speaking to him by his bedside. To avoid this awareness he tries to sink deeper into a fantasy world, where he and a friend are hunting the evil Marabou Stork. However to reach these deep recesses of his mind he must first pass through his memory, where the story of how he came to be lying in his coma slowly, shockingly unravels.
2. Dogwood – Movie.
Dogwood is another classic example of hammering a point and being successful at it. The film is shot in classic Brechtian style and features a very unhappy looking Nicole Kidman. It’s another moral tale, this time telling a parable warning against sympathy for one’s aggressors. It’s a moral that warns us against the arrogance of our temptation to forgive everything done by those we wish to help. It's almost preachy, but instead but it packages it up in a way that makes the concepts so simple you just want to sidle up to your TV and say ‘teach me forever.’
3. Life of Pi. Book.
This is a story that will make you believe in God. Not my claim – the suggestion is made at the start of the book, in the author’s introduction. While the claim is certainly exaggerated, there is every possibility that the book will change the way you interpret and interact with faith.
4. Children of Men – Movie.
Children of Men is much more than just my most favourite movie ever. It’s a startling observation of Government corruption, the power of fear and racial discrimination. But far more than that, it is a stunning acknowledgement of the position of children in shaping a healthy meaningful society.
5. A Clockwork Orange – Book.
If you’ve seen the Movie, good for you. However, it’s the book that’s interesting in this regard. Few people realise that the movie was based on the original American version of the novel – published with it’s final chapter omitted. The book is, like the movie, a fascinating analysis of the nature, value and danger of free will, and the repression thereof. What’s truly striking though is Burgess’ conclusion- calm and collected, and with an air of wisdom. Read it, and it may change the way you feel about youth crime.
6. AdBusters – Magazine.
If you’ve been reading Adbusters for quite a while, and are thinking I’m about to tell you to go back to it because it’s not actually saying the same thing over and over again? Sadly, no. If you’re familiar with AdBusters then you know what you’re in for. If you’re not familiar with it though, there’s a lot of value in having a peek. If you’re like most people, you’ll discover an alternative view that has potential to influence the way you see the world. Also, have a look at their shoes... ironic, yet awesome, in a bid to bring down Nike.
A Billboard from Adbusters
7. Hero – Movie
The movie is so good looking and tasty that the message, as with many of the others, just kind of creeps up without you noticing. The message again is one that I ultimately disagree with, but it’s worthwhile to give a bit of pondering time to the interpretation of militarism it portrays.
8. Non Fiction – Chuck Palahniuk
It took a while to pick out a Chuck Palahniuk book. Fight Club is the easy answer, but thinking about it, Non Fiction is the real winner for potential life change. This series of essays observes many of the themes found in Palahniuk’s wider publications. Influential articles include the experience of discovering visual prejudice for the first time, using steroroids, discovering a ghost, attending a sex show, along with such goodies as an interview with Marylyn Manson. However, the real impact of the book lies in the reoccurring theme of Community. Palahniuk proposed that all his books have been connected by one strand – they provide frameworks for communities. Fight Club was men coming together to fight, Lullaby to destroy poetry, Haunted to write. An inspiring look at why and how people come together.
Non-Fiction, American Version
9. The Game – Neil Strauss – Book.
This is more one for men than ladies. The Game is a book on how to pick up girls. However, in a way it is also more than that. It’s a book that can give every man on Earth the advice to survive in society – how to think, act and interact to achieve social competency, if not success. Of course there will be some who go mad with it all and become insane pick up artists. However, most people will choose not to take it word for word, but instead gain a greater appreciations on what rules the world of social convention, and how you can use it to your advantage in life. I would give a copy of this to every awkward grade nine in the world and I assure you we’d have a better society.
10. The Yes Man – Danny Wallis – Book.
Say yes more. That’s the moral of the story. However, this book, unlike many other ‘inspirational’ novels, stays with you, as it illustrates it’s moral with a down to Earth sensibility and an occasionally tweaked sense of humour (at one point, our protagonist meets with a bully who used to punch the kid in wheelchair in one arm to give him a dead arm, because he liked to see him go in circles). It’s a true story (no doubt one with some considerable creative licence going on) and focuses on Danny Wallace, a man whose chance encounter with an old man on a bus gives him the inspiration to ‘say yes to everything’. From then on he ends up trying to tickle the moon in Amsterdam, attempting to anger a Buddhist Monk and proposing his own TV show. It’s brilliant.
So there you have it. Why are you waiting? Go get inspired!
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