Good example, because I thought it was a terrible book, utterly pedestrian and pseudo-deep.

I had this experience with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I am sure I read it at the wrong time in my life.

For me The Fountainhead was life changing precisely because I was an insecure and overly-mothered boy that needed to read about pursuing one’s own ends to the exclusion of all expectations otherwise. Today I’m a father and would find it uselessly myopic.

One man's pedestrian book is another man's lifechanging literature. Everything depends on whether the words that one is reading are what, when, and how they need to read.

That's why reading a ton of books, and re-reading old ones, are both decent ideas. Something is gonna stick, even if purely via application of statistics.

I was guessing that would come up. If it's not the most recommended book to me as a "will change your life" book, it's near the top.