The Stories That Shaped You

[rionaleonhart]

What are the works of fiction you'd consider particularly influential in forming your tastes?

I've been wondering this because I've been rereading a fic I loved when I was fifteen, and I've realised it contains a lot of themes I've sought out or included in my writing ever since. The self-loathing protagonist has an intense, unhealthy, antagonistic, sexually tinged relationship with a duplicate of himself who may or may not be imaginary; there are so many things I love in that one sentence!

Animorphs, Life on Mars and Silent Hill 2 were also big influences on me. Characters bonding under intense adversity, characters in situations where it's hard to know what's real and what isn't, characters struggling to cope with the things they've done: all things I love in fiction, and all things that can be traced back to these canons I experienced at a formative age.

So those are the things that shaped my taste in fiction; what are yours?

Comments

[fred_mouse]

I've been pondering this question for days, and I'm no closer to any idea than I was when I read the question the first time. Like some of the other posters, I read Lord of the Rings (obsessively) as a teen, and a lot of Heinlein in my early 20s; plus a lot of Anne McCaffrey. Plus a whole pile of other authors who have shaped my library, as I've found others of their books.

But shaping my tastes? I just... got nothin.