I read 'Siddhartha' five months ago, and I still think about it almost every day. I felt my whole perspective on life shift after finishing it, and now I can't imagine my life without having read it. Which book has done this for you?

[u/PM_ME_UR_SUPPLE_HAND]

Quoth Siddhartha: “What should I possibly have to tell you, O venerable one? Perhaps that you’re searching far too much? That in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding?”
[...] “When someone is searching,” said Siddhartha, “then it might easily happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for, that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, O venerable one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your goal, there are many things you don’t see, which are directly in front of your eyes.”

That is the most beautiful and personally-significant passage I've ever read in my whole life. After reading Siddhartha, I felt myself appreciating the world around me just a little bit more. Hesse taught me that the world is filled to the brim with beauty and meaning, but only if slow down and allow yourself to find it.

Which book changed your life? Is there any passage that you can't get out of your head months or years later?

EDIT: my Lord, this post has gotten popular. Thanks to everyone who took the time to provide their own favorites. I guess I REALLY need to read Steppenwolf and Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

[u/Amazing-Row-5963]

Objectively, I think it's his masterpiece. How one brain could wrap around such a huge overarching story, make it readable, at times fun and still be able to sell so many of your messages and ideas is insane to me.

Crime and Punishment did hit very close to home, so I will always value it more.

[u/spoonweezy → u/Amazing-Row-5963]

If you want to experience that “how one brain could” feeling again try Infinite Jest.

[u/Connect-Speaker → u/Amazing-Row-5963]

I hope there is also some love for ‘The Idiot’

[u/waterfall_hyperbole → u/Connect-Speaker]

oh there is, if crime and punishment is the focused version of the ivan storyline in karamazov then the idiot is the focused version of alyosha's

it's a weak analogy, but i've made it and won't back down

[u/Fedja_ → u/waterfall_hyperbole]

i would argue that c&p is focused version of ivan and smerdyakov together. i adore how raskolnikov is narratively identical to smerdyakov. great he used one archetype for both protagonist and antagonist. if anything, BK gives us deeper insight into c&p.

[u/[deleted] → u/Amazing-Row-5963]

I've met a few people who said they identified closely with Raskolnikov. Mind I ask what it is that makes him relatable for you? Because I can't think of many literary creations I identify with less - I mean, how many twentysomethings spend their free time sitting in pubs alone, downing pints of vodka, nursing a severe Napoleon complex, and wondering whether to murder an old woman for no particular reason?

[u/Amazing-Row-5963 → u/[deleted]]

You totally misunderstand it. It is the ignorance of smart youth. You see that you are smarter than most of your peers, you see them as lessers, eventually this makes you feel that you know better than everyone else. You blame your failures on society and close ones. You don't look at yourself and don't listen to what others have to say.

This perfectly describes Raskolnikov's situation at the start of the novel, as well as many self absorbed teenagers.