What's the most influential book you read in college?

[sibyline]

That's what Slate asked a number of influential people in this article. What's your answer?

Mine would have to be Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, which exposed me to a much broader range of possibilities in fiction that I had before. I hated it the first time I read it. I thought it was pretentious and unnecessarily difficult. But on second

Comments

book comment for book comment

[blainerunner]

in college, where i read virtually nothing, i'd say either 'the crying of lot 49' or 'lipstick traces'. the former, turned me on to a host of things, not least of which were meaning and its reckless imputation (i love 'mythologies' for a similar reason). the latter confirmed my conviction about the subversive authority of music, and it introduced to me the twin notions of spectacle and ideology. however, it was 'the magic mountain', read my last semester in college, that seduced me into applying to grad school. i very much wanted to get used to not getting used to things. then, mann's lucidity was quite appealing.

in grad school, 'remembrance of things past', hands down. it totally altered the way i smoked pot and how i conceived of the projective element of intimacy (best post-break-up book eva).

i'm so happy to hear people discussing 'the waves'. what a naked book.

is miller as buff as he appears to be in his jacket photo?

Re: book comment for book comment

[sibyline]

i'm ashamed to say that i haven't read pynchon, though i feel that i must now read "lot 49" at least since two of you have listed it. proust is quite monumental, i agree. i read "swann's way" and "sodom and gomorrah" in college, but didn't read the whole thing until after. one of the reasons i would want to have clout as a writer is to be able to tackle something as ambitious as that and be able to publish it.

and yes, david is that buff, or at least he was when i took his class.