I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I'm not sure there's a difference between books that affected the way I see the world and books that influenced me as a writer.
Many books have mattered enormously to my life and work. 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens would be one of several contenders for 'most influential.' I first read it at 13 and have reread it dozens of times since.
A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted. You should live several lives while reading it.
The Dumas memoirs - which I also discovered when I was a kid - had a big impact on me.
Books stay with me and have shaped me and made huge impacts on my life.
Sometimes a book influences me because it winds me up. There'll be something that gets under my skin and makes me think that I can do better.
The books of C.S. Lewis had a very profound, indirect effect on me.
My first book was the book that changed my life.
My most successful books, the ones that I feel the strongest about, are the ones that started with a premise that for me was deeply emotional.
I have resolved to pick one novel and just read it over and over again for the rest of my life, because I cannot remember anything anymore.