There are many great books out there, but a few special ones have the power to fundamentally shape our perspectives and stay with us forever. For me, three books in particular have had an enormous impact on my life and worldview.

The first is Mikail Bulgakov’s surreal masterpiece The Master and Margarita. This novel deftly blends biting political and social satire with supernatural and fantastical elements. Bulgakov’s vivid characters, dark humor, and philosophical depth left an indelible impression on me. The book illuminated the absurdities and hypocrisies of Soviet society while grappling with profound moral and metaphysical questions.

Haruki Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was another book that fundamentally altered my perception. Murakami weaves together parallel narratives that slowly converge – one set in a cyberpunk near-future, the other in a strange, dreamlike fantasy world. His seamless blending of genres, poetic prose, and exploration of the blurry line between reality and unreality captivated me. The novel is an extended meditation on consciousness, identity and the power of the unconscious mind.

Finally, few books have provoked more reflection and insight for me than Robert M. Pirsig’s philosophical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Structured around a father-son motorcycle trip, the book is really an extended examination of the nature of quality and value. Pirsig uses the trip as a vehicle (pun intended) to delve into questions of aesthetics, morality, science, and sanity. His ideas about dynamic and static quality, and his critique of subject-object dualism, resonated with me deeply and shaped my understanding of how we assign meaning and worth.

All three of these remarkable books expanded my reality, challenged my assumptions, and nurtured a deep sense of wonder. Great literature reveals the world to us anew – and these masterpieces accomplished that in spades for me. I’m forever grateful to Bulgakov, Murakami and Pirsig for the journeys of the mind their works took me on. If you haven’t read them, I can’t recommend them highly enough!

S.J Asher

Daily writing prompt

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

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