Books shape our personalities.

Throughout our lives, we encounter ideas that twist our minds, play with our preconceived notions, and send us on our way. Changed. Different. A well-executed idea across the landscape of a fictional novel can have a special type of impact.

Here are 4 books that radically repositioned me at key chapters of my life.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig

A book about a man and his son traveling across the country on a motorcycle with another couple.

The man experiences life through a classical mindset. He needs to understand how things work. He can't enjoy the right unless he's operating and maintaining the motorcycle.

The couple is a pair of romantics. They value the aesthetic. Their experience is layered on top of the motorcycle.

We all experience life differently.

The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.

Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut

A man unstuck from time. He relives every moment in his life over and over. Nothing ever-changing.

Kidnapped by absurd aliens that keep him in a zoo with a famous movie star. He learns to live the absurdity of life. All experiences are equal in beauty and despair.

And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

A man replies to a classified ad seeking knowledge. His teacher: a 500 pound gorilla in an empty room.

He learns of hunters and gatherers. Those two motivations define every individual. Can we save a planet that's being abused?

“You’re captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live.”

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

A man dies throughout his life. An existential graphic novel. Beautiful, mysterious, and heartbreaking.

What happens if today was his last day? We learn through chapters of vignettes how differently a life lived looks as we accumulate more life. This somber reflection on death strikes chords on the fragility of life.

“Life is like a book son. And every book has an end. No matter how much you like that book you will get to the last page and it will end. No book is complete without its end. And once you get there, only when you read the last words, will you see how good the book is.”

There are countless more books that have touched me, but these 4 felt poignant.

What books of fiction have touched you?