Books that changed me.

So far, we already know that we are created not only by contexts and circumstances but also by what we mentally absorb. We are created by those we collude with, and influenced by what we consume.

Some books were with me as escape formulas and big vision influencers. During my 14 to 18 years, while my opinions were so confused, my books even with the fiction stories served as mind guides for me. And of course, there are a lot of books that changed some of my visions before and after these three which I will write about today, but those books are such a good example of how to see reading as more than just a way to run away from your real life.

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

I believe that it is important to think about books more than just storytelling, and for me, this started with The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. It tells us the story of two teenagers, Hazel and Augustus. Hazel is a terminally ill patient who meets Augustus, or Gus, at a support group meeting she grudgingly attended. The romance between the two is developed in a fun and at the same time reflective way.

This book changed my perception about books written for teenagers, at the time I was exploring books with children’s plots, mainly focused on fantasy, heroes and good characters who somehow always come out on top. John Green’s book brought characters who suffer from the way the real world works, characters who would like to be remembered. Unlike the script of characters who just wanted to help, The Fault in Our Stars shows us ordinary people living lives full of explosions of sadness, just like in the real world.

And despite this being a juvenile book, The Fault in Our Stars addresses topics like cancer and depression, almost in a detailed way, describing moments and creating very serious reflections, teaching us to look for this reality of children with cancer or other types of chronic illnesses, with sensitivity and attention.

“I went to a Support Group for the same reason that I’d once allowed nurses with a mere eighteen months of graduate education to poison me with exotically named chemicals: I wanted to make my parents happy. There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you’re sixteen, and that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer.”

I remember writing eight pages about every topic the book made me reflect on or want to discuss. I remember being involved in poems and literary references that were far from others I had experienced and I remember being moved while reading. A different way of reading, because that time I was seeing a perspective beyond the pages.

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

This is my favorite book of my entire life, and the first that taught me how to think critically about history. The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger, has the story narrated by death, during the Second World War and some small periods before and after. In the reality of a very poor German community, and non-Nazi adoptive parents to whom she was sent alone after losing her brother, Liesel finds comfort and refuge in books, at a time when everyone was burning them.

As I read, I was shocked and enveloped by the sad and cruel reality of a character who had so much love for words and books. I was able to understand and see for the first time the topic of World War II in a more sensitive and realistic way, beyond how they taught it at school. And for the first time, my view of history would have become critical.

“It’s the leftover humans.

The survivors.

They’re the ones I can’t stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.”

With this book I realized the importance of communication, that words could change us as people. I realized that the magic of books is far beyond taking us to distant places when reality screams frustrating in our mind. I learned that they could deepen my historical perception, beyond being a hobby. I could also write a text to talk just about the many noteworthy things that this book covers, but that’s for another time.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

When I started reading “Pride and Prejudice”, I didn’t think it would inspire me so much. I was still exploring the classics, reading for the first time many famous works I didn’t even know. The first book that made me want to explore the classics was Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

Pride and Prejudice addresses the succession of a family with 5 sisters, without an heir to take care of their assets. Focusing on Elizabeth Bennet, a brave, intelligent and daring woman and her somewhat complicated romance with a lord, Mr Darcy. This book brought the perception of women and their role in bourgeois society in the 18th century. Her approach, so intelligent and critical, that I am honestly perplexed to this day by the vision of Jane Austen, a woman who was an expert on love, even if there were, and perhaps there are, many who said otherwise.

“Pride,” observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her reflections, “is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some qual- ity or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of our- selves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

Once again, this book changed the way I saw women in literature. Books written in certain historical times can teach us about society’s behavior, self-knowledge and historical consciousness. Extremely important for not only getting to know literary classics, but also for exploring other societies and cultural differences.

Of course, books continue to change me as a person, they continue to be important and open my eyes to the immensity of things I still don’t know. Those were just three books, among many others, telling invented moments, but which bring beautiful messages about reality, whether to increase your perception or to learn something from the past.

They were books that I am grateful to have read before I was 18, as they introduced me to knowledge that I would use to this day and indefinitely.