Oh boy, a whole lot. Vonnegut was a big one. Like AlderaanDuran, I loved Sirens of Titan. I also read and re-read the Dune series by Frank Herbert as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide series by Douglas Adams. I think Vonnegut and Adams helped to reassure me that in fact, many adults do not know what they're talking about and that there's a funny side to everything. Herbert taught me all kinds of things, especially about looking at things on different scales of time and influence. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and I think that really helped to develop my natural curiosity about things too. When people ask me for recommendations for books, I generally tell them to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I read it when I was about 20 and it really helped me see things in a different way. Essentially, the book pits the arguments of living lightly, taking it as a given we only live once and therefore there are no consequences or living with weight, that is, everything we do matters.
Holy shit. Short of Sirens of Titan, I've read and felt the same way about everything you've mentioned. Ha. >The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I read it when I was about 20 and it really helped me see things in a different way. Funny story. I first read Unbearable Lightness of Being when I was 16 years old, the fall of my junior year in high school.. most of it went over my head. I could sense that there was a lot I wasn't getting. About 4 years years later, I happened to ask kleinbl00 what his favorite piece of literature was. He responded, What kind of cretin would I be with only one favorite book? ;-) and told me to start with some Kundera. Upon finding my old copy from high school, I spent that next day reading the whole thing. One of my favorite texts, and favorite reading experiences.