Rhonwyn Newson: Five life-changing books

Herald online

30 Sep, 2014 04:00 AM3 mins to read

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There's one of those Facebook "chain letters" going on at the moment (when isn't there?!) It's a nomination list that you complete and forward on - this time about books that changed your life.

Coming up with books wasn't difficult - I love books. Narrowing my list down to only five was far trickier. But here goes, my five life-changing reads.

1. The Life of Pi

Before Ang Lee's spectacular cinematic interpretation, I read Yann Martel's book nearly a decade ago, and knew then I would never look at the world the same way. It's not a book about making you believe in a particular religion - rather it encourages the reader to have faith. In yourself, the strength of the human spirit, a higher power, the world, the universe - whatever really - just the strength to survive insurmountable challenges. A must-read, over and over.

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2. The Power of One

Bryce Courtenay's brilliant novel is set in South Africa during the 1930s and 1940s. For me, growing up during the transition of a country ruled by apartheid to a democracy, I was faced with conflicting views from adults about how to treat others. My family was liberal and anti-apartheid - but the same couldn't be said for some of my teachers and friends' parents. This book shows how, in a world full of hate, to have faith in the goodness of people and how to show strength through self-preservation. A big read, but an important one.

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3. The Alchemist

The message behind Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is similar to, but far less naff than, The Secret that was popular a few years ago. It's the story of a shepherd and his journey to find treasure in Egypt. Perhaps the book's most poignant quote is, "When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true."

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4. We Need To Talk About Kevin

Lionel Shriver's novel explores the nature vs nurture debate in a series of letters written by a teen murderer's mother - Eva - to her husband. Kevin is responsible for a school massacre, and killing his sister and father. Eva admits she is not maternal and never showed Kevin affection. All the way through the novel I questioned whether Kevin was born a sociopath, or became that way due to his upbringing.

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5. Popcorn

I studied this novel by Ben Elton in my final year of school. It has similar themes to Natural Born Killers and Pulp Fiction. The story is of a movie director taken hostage, along with others from the industry, by two murderers who want him to publicly announce that his films encourage violence and killing, and he is responsible for their crimes. During the siege, which is broadcast on live TV, one of the captors holds a ratings monitor and announces that the hostages would be spared if everyone stops watching - which, of course, doesn't happen. Some are killed, but the survivors use different legal pathways to escape any responsibility. The underlying message - we live in a blameless society.