This makes me sound like an old grandfather bitching about young people while yelling at kids to get off the damn lawn but the truth of it is that a lot of younger people have no notion of the musicians and authors who influenced the music they listen to and the books they read(if they read at all) now. It took me a while to get to them but I couldn't imagine not having music like Led Zepplin or authors like Tolkien, when you talk of Lord of the Rings the majority of people only know the movie and I think it's a sad fact of life that more and more these greats are being though of as outdated and no longer relevant. Focus: If you had to pick one song and one book to show someone what would they be?
I'm going to branch off a bit and say everyone who's only played next gen RPG's needs to play Dragon Warrior IV and Final Fantasy VI. DWIV (NES version) to show how to do multiple viewpoints right and how to tie them all together, and also to show how AI doesn't need to be pants-on-head retarded, and FFVI to show how you don't need fancy graphics to tell a beautiful story. Now get off my lawn.
How the hell can you pick ONE book or ONE song (especially songs!)?! But fine, I'll play your game, but just because you're a cool guy, Bundy Bear... Song: Damage Inc. - Metallica. Book: The Stand - Stephen King
I couldn't begin to explain the fine details of a book with literally hundreds of characters in it, so I always tell people just read it and find out: The quietest and most eerie song ever made that turns into simply the loudest song ever made faultlessly: Book runner up: Spoiler Love it, or die.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqmkgSeYjI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eqmkgSeYjI</a> At least that's preferable to the way more depressing concept of having them lost to limited literacy.
I'm a little more classic than you all, I think. Even still, finding *A* song is nearly impossible. and I think someone armed with these things would be improved as a person. (And holy SHIT, Diana Damrau has impeccable pitch).
Being over 40, I've read a lot of books, but there is one that keeps popping up whenever I think of the best ones. Lots of other books were enjoyable, entertaining, and thought-provoking, but this is the only one that has actually changed the way I viewed an important issue, even though it's fiction: The song is an easy choice - Dire Straits' "Telegraph Road." If you don't have time to listen to all 14 minutes, just skip to 9:00 and listen to the last five.
The book: Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis. A message about religion, and those that use it for their means, that's just as true today as it was 80 years ago. The song: "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. Three centuries after it's first performance, it still inspires.