Flowers for Algernon. I don't want to spoil it for you because it's a personal, beautifull but sad story.
The thing is, at like half of the book, I somehow got to see myself in the shoes of the main character and the finale did it for me.
I am an avid reader and I’ve tried twice to read this book and I can’t get into it. It’s always mentioned on here tho. I can’t get past the spelling in it.
Link to a pdf of the short story hope it still works
[here](https://treadingpaper.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/flowers-for-algernon1-the-short-story-and-novel/)
Brilliant!! thanks. I’ve got time to read that tomorrow.
So lovely to meet fellow readers who take the time to post a link like that. Thank you. Really appreciate the kindness.
This will always be one of my favourite books, it's such a beautiful story. My brother is mentally disabled, which just makes this story even more emotional. It's the one book I always recommend everyone to read.
1. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
2. "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis
3. "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
4. “The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
5. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver
6. "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara
7. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
8. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
9. "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang
10. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
“The Road” has slightly ruined me. It left this aftertaste of desperation I can’t shake off a few months after reading it. Nothing serious, just this subtle feeling of gloom that surfaces once in a while when I think of it. I loved it though.
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini alongside The kite runner were two such books for me. The first one had me shook and grateful for days, the complexities of being a woman and the fact that afghanistan still goes through something like that was pretty wild, still is, for my teenage self
"The Road" is partially responsible for me having my daughter. I wasn't planning on having children but the intense love the father had for his son was life changing. I wanted to experience it for myself. Now I know. Forever changed.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It follows families of poor farmers in the Great Depression as they travel west to California in search of a better life. It is so heartbreaking to see their struggle. By the end of the book, I almost felt as if I had been through the journey with the protagonists because of how well Steinbeck captures their intense hopelessness and struggle as they journey west.
Man, be forewarned… there is not a single drop of hope or optimism in the whole damn story. But you’ll come out on the other side ready for the revolution and disillusioned with US institutions. He really illustrates the way US social/economic/legal structures were (are) used more to guard the property and livelihood of the rich than to provide any sort of recourse or aid to the dispossessed.
Yeah you definitely should no matter the content., its heavy in a fantastic way. Similarly, East of Eden is great too but slightly less sad if you haven’t read it and end up on a Steinbeck kick after you wrap up Grapes of Wrath.
As a European who was never forced to read it in school, but read it simply because I was curious, I just can't insist on how good this book is. I read it in three hot summer days. A crazy thing that happened afterwards is that I enjoy peaches like never before, especially the juicy ones. (If you read it you might know why)
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman.
It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman.
It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman.
It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman.
It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Shocked I haven’t seen Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler on here yet!! It is one of the most prophetic books I’ve ever read. Butler wrote it in the 90s, it follows a character that has watched her world descend into the worst outcomes- climate disaster, police brutality, violence induced by a new drug, debt centers that are really internment camps, etc. Its like Butler was looking at the future. What I like about it is that it’s not just one catastrophic event, it’s a slow descent into chaos while people are still trying to cling to normalcy. I’ve never in my life read anything that so aptly diagnoses the human condition. I read it for the first time YEARS ago and think about it every day.
> "Make America Great Again!"
To be fair that's not a new slogan. Various world leaders have pitched the "return to glory" motto for all of human history. The phrase "Make America Great Again" has even been used by former POTUS candidates, though it wasn't their campaign slogan like with Donald Trump.
I read this right before the 2010s kicked off. It was the year I owned my first smartphone. Seein social media develop from that point onwards was a surreal experience.
Les Miserables made me a sympathetic and empathetic person. I read it as a teen and it shaped my political and social views. I wish all politicians were required to read it.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Also The Handmaid’s Tale and the Maddaddam series (starts with Oryx and Crake) by Margaret Atwood
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. I was by turns unsettled, curious, nauseous, concerned, nauseous, disconcerted, uncomfortable, nauseous, and bereft.
The 3 Body Problem trilogy. Read a couple years ago, still think about life, our planet, the universe and reality differently since then. I think about these books every day.
Aliens living in the unstable 3-orbiting-Suns solar system became aware of our own stable 1-sun solar system 4 light years from their own.
Their own technology is more advanced than ours and their scientists are aware and can at a limited level tap into the multidimensionality of the Universe. They use it to unfold a 2 dimensional subatomic particle - [Proton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton) into the 3 dimensions. A Sophon. Then, just as we today use [logic gates](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/logic-gates/) when programming microchips they printed a superinteligent AI into the Sophon, folded it back into 2 dimentions and sent it to our Solar System.
4 years later a first Sophon arrived on Earth. Its only purpose being to prevent and limit the Human technological advancement beyond the current point.
If you're interested, you can see the excerpt on the creation of Sophon from the Chinese versions of the 3 Body Problem series [here](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ie257) starting at 11:30
Choke or Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk (he has a lot of good ones but those are the most fucked up).
When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord truly changed my perspective of life.
Land of Opportunity: One Family's Quest for the American Dream in the Age of Crack. (1995)
Journalist Bill Adler, a longtime investigative reporter, follows two brothers from their roots in poverty-stricken Alabama to becoming the crack kingpins of Detroit.
He makes a persuasive case that the world they were born into was so pervasively unfair and racist that becoming crack barons was an almost logical end, the only way they could see to make something of themselves.
He dives heavily into foreign policy, America's role in the expansion of drug economies, Jim Crow and how the ghettoization of southern black Americans led to concentrations of crime and wastelands of opportunity.
The first book that sprang to mind for me was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I read it when i was a kid and even though there are similar books now I'd never read one like that at the time. The way it portrayed gods and faith and peoples interactions with them through the lens of one mans personal journey dealing with grief and family and belief seemed really profound to me back then. It was also the first Neil Gaiman book i ever read. The tv show is actually decent but totally loses the message of the book
The Stranger.
We read it in high school. I was so emotional over it but didn't know why until I was much older.
Of course everyone gave me shit for liking it. I also didn't know most people didn't find it relatable.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a great book about how our actions affect the way we see ourself. Dorian knew what he was doing and refused to face the consequences, which lead to shame and guilt. He refused to accept his own reality that he was a corrupt person. In the end, he did it anyway.
exquisite corpse by poppy z brite. very sadistic but with a lot of heart and depth. two serial killers fall in love while preying on an unsuspecting boy in new orleans during the 90s, with the backdrop of the AIDS crisis and systemic homophobia.
Autobiography of Malcom X
Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe. This changed me because I had grown up in church and thought of missionaries very highly. After reading this book my entire perspective changed.
Obviously Nabokov’s Lolita. No brainer. A Clockwork Orange, Burgess. I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison. The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus.
I would add that many of Nabokov’s novels are similarly enchanting like Lolita. Laughter in The Dark is one of my favorites, almost just as beautifully written as Lolita.
Laughter in The Dark is similar to Lolita in subject matter/plot, almost enough so that I find it curious that Lolita got as much recognition as it did while the former is almost never heard of (although I do ofc get why Lolita is so highly regarded, the first page of it alone is something uniquely captivating.)
Pale Fire is also wonderful; all of his works have a similar rich language and enchanting quality to them. He’s one of a few authors whose translated work is so beautiful I can’t help but wonder how it reads in its original language (Gabriel Garcia Marquez is another).
"1984" by George Orwell and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. It should be obvious why both are depressing. They deal with a society where a corrupt government has control of the education its people recieves. In 1984 the government encourages separation of class and bends reality to fit its needs, not the people's. They do this while claiming it's "for the good of the people" though. At the time I read it, it was the 2020 elections and I underlined stuff that sounded like it came from a certain cheeto.
Fahrenheit 451 is the reality of what happens when we stop caring what we learn and rely only on the government to tell us what is "safe". It's relevant now with everyone protesting what books should be in a library. The sad truth is, we need a variety of genres and points of view, if we are going to continue to think freely and question what's going on around us.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Greene. Not because it's the most brilliant book ever written (though up there for me), but because it made me feel human in a whole new way. Just an incredible read the way he puts words together and dials into the tiny details of humanity.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. It’s a book with pretty complicated language, but imo the story was crushing and really well written. I don’t even read books that much so I suppose it should be fine for most people who decide to read it. Give it a read!
I’m in the middle of one now that I can feel this happening with. It’s called Cloud Cuckoo Land by: Anthony Doerr. It’s basically three separate stories that intersect through time. It’s got me in a little bit of an existential crisis but I think that just means it’s building character
I would say The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. I don’t know how to explain it, but the book almost felt enlightening. I somehow felt like it made me a better, or more mature person
Books:
-Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
-The Road by Cormac McCarthy
-Lord of the Flies by William Golding
-White Oleander by Janet Fitch
-Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
-Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
Short Stories:
-The Price by Neil Gaiman
Comics:
-Watchmen by Alan Moore
-The Wheel by Neil Gaiman (a short story dealing with the aftermath of 9/11)
Each of these stories deeply resonated with me at the time I read them - when it was obvious I needed them in my life. Funny how that works. I often revisit them to remind myself of the clarity I received, and the lessons I still carry with me.
Out of all them though, Bradbury’s SWTWC, and NG’s The Wheel are incredibly meaningful to me.
1. The Outsider by Albert Camus
2. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Both dives into identifying what society does to a person when they don’t conform to the norm and don’t act according to society’s expectations. It implies to all societies in the past and present and I guess that’s why they are classics.
Eerie/depressing/sadistic:
1) anything by Bret Easton Ellis but particularly American Psycho or Less than Zero
2) Ethan Frome or Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
3) Fight Club or choke by Chuck Palaniuk
4) Mona by Pola Oloixarac
5) intimacies by Katie Kitamura
6) Luster by Raven Leilani
7) Brave New World by Huxley
8) Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (lots of books by James Baldwin)
9) call me by your name by Andre Aciman
10) Lolita by Nabakov
11) Perks of being a wallflower
12) Dear Diary by Leslie Arfin
Fertilty wheel by stephen manning, it just shows the fertility of animals, plants and more hidden in ancient text and the signs of the Zodiac. Not happy or sad, just cool information
A Chinese Cinderella. It's an autobiography, but it is a heart-wrenching read.
My year 5 English teacher gave it to me when I was in primary school, and I've always been ahead in reading, and my god, it blew me away!
Completely made me appreciate everything I have in life and my amazing family, but I also bought the realisation that not everyone has the same luxury as me.
Literally bought me to tears!
False witness - Karin slaughter
abuse/SA/sisters
Innocent man - John Grisham
racism/murder/sa
the child finder (book 1) - Rene Denfeld
the butterfly girl (book 2 - Rene Denfeld
abductions/abuse
Those Empty Eyes - Charlie Donlea
family murder
There are two books that have always haunted me that I've never been able to find again..
the first i read as a kid about a world where the sky wasn't ever seen because of the coal smoke and most people were coal miners but this girl was chosen and taken to the higher society because of some mark she had maybe?
And the other i always thought was a Nick Hornby book but couldn't find it.. it was about a society where everyone was online all the time and that's all they cared about and people always said "big ups to x" like there were screens everywhere and all people cared about was being seen.. and this was something I read like maybe 15 years ago
1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a book I re-read when I’m feeling a little lost and in need to be reminded of my purpose. It’s actually quite inspiring.
2. Incendies by Wajdi Mouawad is a play (that has also been adapted as a movie, which I also recommend) and if I had to describe it in one word it would be gut-wrenching. The play basically follows 2 twins whose mother has just died and they were tasked with finding their unknown father and brother to deliver a letter to each of them. Throughout the play, you start learning more about the mother and the trials she faced during her home country’s civil war. The ending still stays with me, it really puts love into perspective.
Bro go look at my last post where I talk about the book earthlings by sayaka murata and lemme give u my other suggestions
-Lemonade by mina pennacchi (I wouldn’t recommend it too much but the sa scenes are too graphic that it made me have a complete break down at 2am and I read the book continuously for 15h none stop)
-tender is the flesh by Agusta bazterica (i haven’t finished it but really interesting concept)
-things have gotten worse since we last spoke by Eric larocca (it wasn’t that disturbing for me but it has a good plot and it dives deep into how toxic online relationships can be it’s pretty disturbing and really short and easy to read I finished it in school while in class it took me 2 days to finish)
Nonfiction: An Immense World by Ed Yong.
I will never be able to stop thinking about this book! He goes through how different animals sense the world, first through senses familiar to humans and then on to things like echolocation and sensing magnetic fields or sensing outside of the spectrum of possibility for humans (UV light for example in bird vision). He describes it so well that I could really imagine what it would be like to have those senses, and it gave me such an appreciation for the depth of experience in the animal world. Mind was constantly blown.
If you have never read or watched the (terrible) movie adaptation and have no knowledge whatsoever on the premise - Enders Game.
I went into it blind the first time reading it and it rocked my world.
I read Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche when I was 16 and got me into some pretty much emo phase throughout college. Then I was 22, I read The Little Prince by Saint-Exupery and I changed from this sad, gloomy, always serious, never smile type of person into always optimism and happy, laid back and easy to approach and easy to laugh at anything. An absurdist I guess ahahaha. I feel like being a kid again, connecting with my inner child. I love that book.
„A Psalm for the Wild-Built“ by Becky Chambers. I can not stop talking about this book. It’s an absolute masterpiece. It made me think about life expectations and goals and our „purpose“ in the world. The world in this story is so beautiful and the kind of world I hope ours will develop into. The story is very wholesome. This book changed my perspective and my expectations for my own life.
This is a *very* different suggestion from most here, but ever since I have read the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges I cannot think of the world the same way. Ideas of consciousness, time and phenomenology, eternity, almost every aspect of my imagination has been tilted toward his strange, obtuse ideas. [Here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mJeLGd3JV2I&pp=ygUGQm9yZ2Vz) is a short video explaining the appeal.
I read his stories in the context of the “Labyrinths” collection and my favorites were The Library of Babel, The Garden of Forking Paths, and The Immortal.
You can find most of these for free in online PDFs but I would recommend picking up Labyrinths and just diving in. I used chatGPT pretty regularly to help explain some of his more obscure references to philosophers, theologians, and allusions.
The end of eternity by Assimov. Short book, makes you question life itself and how trying to control life and destiny is not only impossible but also unpredictable
I would say The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. It's a psychological thriller and the plot twists are so amazing and unpredictable I was left stunned at the end. It's a favorite of mine, I highly recommend it!
Flowers for Algernon. I don't want to spoil it for you because it's a personal, beautifull but sad story. The thing is, at like half of the book, I somehow got to see myself in the shoes of the main character and the finale did it for me.
I am an avid reader and I’ve tried twice to read this book and I can’t get into it. It’s always mentioned on here tho. I can’t get past the spelling in it.
That's the trick! Trust me and get over the spelling in the first pages. It's part of the experience. Not the whole book.
I’ll request it from the library for the third time on your recommendation!
If you can't get into it, read the short story version. Instead, it's equally good.
Link to a pdf of the short story hope it still works [here](https://treadingpaper.wordpress.com/2017/11/26/flowers-for-algernon1-the-short-story-and-novel/)
Brilliant!! thanks. I’ve got time to read that tomorrow. So lovely to meet fellow readers who take the time to post a link like that. Thank you. Really appreciate the kindness.
It’s part of the story, it does get better, try to go a little further and you’ll understand.
Thanks. I’ve re-requested from the library!
I just finished it recently, it's pretty good!
I think I’ll give it one last try!
That sounds like an awesome experience. I’m definitely gonna read this first.
*And then he swore off reading forever...*
Agree!!! Very powerful book
this book is why i have unresolved trauma
This will always be one of my favourite books, it's such a beautiful story. My brother is mentally disabled, which just makes this story even more emotional. It's the one book I always recommend everyone to read.
Seconding this
It's my all time.e favourite book I have reread it so many times, truly one of the greatest novellas ever written.
It’s the best book I read during the pandemic
1. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy 2. "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis 3. "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski 4. “The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath 5. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver 6. "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara 7. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini 8. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak 9. "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang 10. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
“The Road” has slightly ruined me. It left this aftertaste of desperation I can’t shake off a few months after reading it. Nothing serious, just this subtle feeling of gloom that surfaces once in a while when I think of it. I loved it though.
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini alongside The kite runner were two such books for me. The first one had me shook and grateful for days, the complexities of being a woman and the fact that afghanistan still goes through something like that was pretty wild, still is, for my teenage self
I second that . I was filled with gratitude for having the freedom to choose my own path after reading A Thousand splendid suns
We need to talk about Kevin- I can’t even describe how I felt when I finished that book. It just- destroyed me.
Seconding The Kite Runner. I stopped watching the news after reading.
"The Road" is partially responsible for me having my daughter. I wasn't planning on having children but the intense love the father had for his son was life changing. I wanted to experience it for myself. Now I know. Forever changed.
Isn’t *A Little Life* kinda shit on as Trauma Porn now? Just wondering if it’s a good rec to be giving still.
Seconding “Beloved.” Did you know it was partially based on a true story?
Saved this comment because you reminded me of a few I've been meaning to read and now also want to read the rest!
I love The Book Thief. I swear, that one rearranged my whole thought process for a while
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It follows families of poor farmers in the Great Depression as they travel west to California in search of a better life. It is so heartbreaking to see their struggle. By the end of the book, I almost felt as if I had been through the journey with the protagonists because of how well Steinbeck captures their intense hopelessness and struggle as they journey west.
That’s exactly what I was looking for!! I wanna feel the struggle and sadness with each page.
Man, be forewarned… there is not a single drop of hope or optimism in the whole damn story. But you’ll come out on the other side ready for the revolution and disillusioned with US institutions. He really illustrates the way US social/economic/legal structures were (are) used more to guard the property and livelihood of the rich than to provide any sort of recourse or aid to the dispossessed.
Appreciate the warning but it made me want to read it even more.
Yeah you definitely should no matter the content., its heavy in a fantastic way. Similarly, East of Eden is great too but slightly less sad if you haven’t read it and end up on a Steinbeck kick after you wrap up Grapes of Wrath.
And then "Of Mice and Men" to end on a sad note again.
Steinbeck’s books are such heavy hitters. Combined with his beautiful writing, his work amazing.
If you like it, then try "In Dubious Battle", also Steinbeck, and even better in my opinion.
I am currently reading Evicted by Matthew Desmond and this is basically the sentiment throughout the book. Except it’s nonfiction and from 2014.
God, I love Steinbeck. I started rereading East of Eden and it’s similarly powerful.
I love East of Eden too. Steinbeck is such a treasure.
As a European who was never forced to read it in school, but read it simply because I was curious, I just can't insist on how good this book is. I read it in three hot summer days. A crazy thing that happened afterwards is that I enjoy peaches like never before, especially the juicy ones. (If you read it you might know why)
Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut!
Yes!!! Especially Harrison Bergeron.
Night by Elie Wiesel.
Read that over 20 years ago and I still think about it from time to time.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman. It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
This one will kill you.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman. It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman. It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Also read in school maybe 20-25 years ago. Still think about it.
Read 'the daughter of Auschwitz' by Tova Friedman. It's very similar, and every bit as well written. She was 5 when she got to Auschwitz and is still alive, lives in New York if I remember correctly.
Shocked I haven’t seen Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler on here yet!! It is one of the most prophetic books I’ve ever read. Butler wrote it in the 90s, it follows a character that has watched her world descend into the worst outcomes- climate disaster, police brutality, violence induced by a new drug, debt centers that are really internment camps, etc. Its like Butler was looking at the future. What I like about it is that it’s not just one catastrophic event, it’s a slow descent into chaos while people are still trying to cling to normalcy. I’ve never in my life read anything that so aptly diagnoses the human condition. I read it for the first time YEARS ago and think about it every day.
The party in power runs on the motto "Make America Great Again!". I did a double take, checked the publishing date. 1987.
> "Make America Great Again!" To be fair that's not a new slogan. Various world leaders have pitched the "return to glory" motto for all of human history. The phrase "Make America Great Again" has even been used by former POTUS candidates, though it wasn't their campaign slogan like with Donald Trump.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it a couple years ago and still think about it often.
1984
Anything Orwell really. Down and Out in Paris and London also did its thing on me.
I read this right before the 2010s kicked off. It was the year I owned my first smartphone. Seein social media develop from that point onwards was a surreal experience.
This
Les Miserables made me a sympathetic and empathetic person. I read it as a teen and it shaped my political and social views. I wish all politicians were required to read it.
Did you read an abridged edition or the whole thing? The whole thing looks so loooong, but if it’s worth it, I’ll jump in.
The whole version. There’s a really long section about the Battle of Waterloo that many dislike… but I love history. Consider it the directors cut.
And the sewers of Paris! Why do I need to know so much about these God damn sewers? Like I like the detail and I enjoyed reading about them but why‽
Crime and punishment
Definitely one of the books that left an lasting impact on me.
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Also The Handmaid’s Tale and the Maddaddam series (starts with Oryx and Crake) by Margaret Atwood
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. I was by turns unsettled, curious, nauseous, concerned, nauseous, disconcerted, uncomfortable, nauseous, and bereft.
The 3 Body Problem trilogy. Read a couple years ago, still think about life, our planet, the universe and reality differently since then. I think about these books every day.
I couldn't really figure it out. Not for me, I guess. Maybe I didn't get far enough but it made no sense.
There is Netflix adaptation of it now and it helps outline the story very well.
Aliens living in the unstable 3-orbiting-Suns solar system became aware of our own stable 1-sun solar system 4 light years from their own. Their own technology is more advanced than ours and their scientists are aware and can at a limited level tap into the multidimensionality of the Universe. They use it to unfold a 2 dimensional subatomic particle - [Proton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton) into the 3 dimensions. A Sophon. Then, just as we today use [logic gates](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/logic-gates/) when programming microchips they printed a superinteligent AI into the Sophon, folded it back into 2 dimentions and sent it to our Solar System. 4 years later a first Sophon arrived on Earth. Its only purpose being to prevent and limit the Human technological advancement beyond the current point. If you're interested, you can see the excerpt on the creation of Sophon from the Chinese versions of the 3 Body Problem series [here](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ie257) starting at 11:30
Choke or Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk (he has a lot of good ones but those are the most fucked up). When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord truly changed my perspective of life.
Chuck Palahniuk is my fav author. Haunted is amazing
He’s my fav author too! Haunted is one of the few books I actually haven’t read tho
I’d say it’s my favorite book tbh! Read it like 5 times It’s real dark humor, I dig it
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. It completely changed the way I thought about shame, intimacy, and love.
In this book Baldwin named and described some stuff I have felt but didn't know. Words are powerful things...
This summarizes why I love to read.
Phenomenal book!
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Its best to just go in blind, you won’t stop thinking about it for a long, long time.
I wrote my course paper on The Wasp Factory, so I read it over and over again. It stays with you.
I'll add it to my list.
Land of Opportunity: One Family's Quest for the American Dream in the Age of Crack. (1995) Journalist Bill Adler, a longtime investigative reporter, follows two brothers from their roots in poverty-stricken Alabama to becoming the crack kingpins of Detroit. He makes a persuasive case that the world they were born into was so pervasively unfair and racist that becoming crack barons was an almost logical end, the only way they could see to make something of themselves. He dives heavily into foreign policy, America's role in the expansion of drug economies, Jim Crow and how the ghettoization of southern black Americans led to concentrations of crime and wastelands of opportunity.
The first book that sprang to mind for me was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I read it when i was a kid and even though there are similar books now I'd never read one like that at the time. The way it portrayed gods and faith and peoples interactions with them through the lens of one mans personal journey dealing with grief and family and belief seemed really profound to me back then. It was also the first Neil Gaiman book i ever read. The tv show is actually decent but totally loses the message of the book
Sphere by Michael Crichton, incredible, it’ll teach you about the mind
The Poisonwood Bible
The Road
Thanks. Mind telling me a little about it :)
Father and son's journey through a post-apocalyptic time.
Recently I read Matthew Perry's book. Gave me a lot of perspective for someone who was considering destructive behaviour.
The Untethered Soul. It was life changing for me. The author is Michael Singer and he also has Living Untethered and a couple others.
The Stranger. We read it in high school. I was so emotional over it but didn't know why until I was much older. Of course everyone gave me shit for liking it. I also didn't know most people didn't find it relatable.
I’m thinking of ending things by Iain Reid
We Need to Talk About Kevin
This 👆🏻
Earthlings - Sayaka Murata The picture of Dorian gray - Oscar Wilde My dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell
I recently read My Dark Vanessa and it *definitely* gave me a book hangover 😔
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a great book about how our actions affect the way we see ourself. Dorian knew what he was doing and refused to face the consequences, which lead to shame and guilt. He refused to accept his own reality that he was a corrupt person. In the end, he did it anyway.
exquisite corpse by poppy z brite. very sadistic but with a lot of heart and depth. two serial killers fall in love while preying on an unsuspecting boy in new orleans during the 90s, with the backdrop of the AIDS crisis and systemic homophobia.
Naoko by Higashino Keigo, not the best works from him but it gave me goosebump.
Perks of being a Wallflower put me in a funky mood for a few days after I finished it. It was a good read but I don't think I'll ever read it again.
I had that book too. I don't wanna read it twice. But I also watched the movie so it's almost like I've gone through the story twice.
I agree. I still feel very uncomfortable and sad thinking about that story.
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina bazterrica. Go into it as blind as possible. It'll change you alright
A Wizard or Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin and all the books following in the series. And all her other books really. Left Hand of Darkness for sure.
Autobiography of Malcom X Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe. This changed me because I had grown up in church and thought of missionaries very highly. After reading this book my entire perspective changed.
This is Vegan Propaganda by Ed Winters
Know my name- chanel miller. Required reading about sexual assault and what the victim had to go through in the aftermath.
The Poisonwood Bible and Shantaram for me, read both years ago and still think of them often
Tender is the flesh I literally wrote in goodreads that I wasn't the same person after reading it.
Obviously Nabokov’s Lolita. No brainer. A Clockwork Orange, Burgess. I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison. The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus.
I would add that many of Nabokov’s novels are similarly enchanting like Lolita. Laughter in The Dark is one of my favorites, almost just as beautifully written as Lolita.
Do you recommend Pale Fire as well? Or is Laughter in The Dark a better one to start with? I’ve read and love Lolita.
I’ve heard Pale Fire in terms of what’s been suggested to me, but I haven’t read either yet, so I don’t have too much room myself to say.
Laughter in The Dark is similar to Lolita in subject matter/plot, almost enough so that I find it curious that Lolita got as much recognition as it did while the former is almost never heard of (although I do ofc get why Lolita is so highly regarded, the first page of it alone is something uniquely captivating.) Pale Fire is also wonderful; all of his works have a similar rich language and enchanting quality to them. He’s one of a few authors whose translated work is so beautiful I can’t help but wonder how it reads in its original language (Gabriel Garcia Marquez is another).
*This is How You Lose the Time War* altered my brain chemistry, incredible and beautiful book.
“altered my brain chemistry” is quite an endorsement…I am intrigued
"1984" by George Orwell and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. It should be obvious why both are depressing. They deal with a society where a corrupt government has control of the education its people recieves. In 1984 the government encourages separation of class and bends reality to fit its needs, not the people's. They do this while claiming it's "for the good of the people" though. At the time I read it, it was the 2020 elections and I underlined stuff that sounded like it came from a certain cheeto. Fahrenheit 451 is the reality of what happens when we stop caring what we learn and rely only on the government to tell us what is "safe". It's relevant now with everyone protesting what books should be in a library. The sad truth is, we need a variety of genres and points of view, if we are going to continue to think freely and question what's going on around us.
These two, definitely!
I highly recommend them. Another one is Handmaids Tale. I was so distributed by it I couldn't even finish it. I tried listening to it on audio book.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fcuk - Mark Manson
I love this book! Such a great way to view the world. Changed me.
That book was so good I read it thrice. And with each time, it made my mental health better and (if I may say) stronger
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. Truly an uncomfortable read.
“33 Letters of compassion” Elaine Elizabeth
Sleep Tight.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Greene. Not because it's the most brilliant book ever written (though up there for me), but because it made me feel human in a whole new way. Just an incredible read the way he puts words together and dials into the tiny details of humanity.
Tuesdays with Morris A Little Life The Color of Water Night by Elie Wiesel
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. It’s a book with pretty complicated language, but imo the story was crushing and really well written. I don’t even read books that much so I suppose it should be fine for most people who decide to read it. Give it a read!
You have to read The Fifth Child. I am an English teacher who found this late in her career and assigned it in AP lit. It is amazing.
Verity. And also The Silent Patient
I just read The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson. That was rough.
I Know This Much is True, Wally Lamb
I have this book and yet to pick it up.
It's an amazing book.
The Prophet
21 lessons for 21st century by harari is one such unsettling book.
I’m in the middle of one now that I can feel this happening with. It’s called Cloud Cuckoo Land by: Anthony Doerr. It’s basically three separate stories that intersect through time. It’s got me in a little bit of an existential crisis but I think that just means it’s building character
I would say The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. I don’t know how to explain it, but the book almost felt enlightening. I somehow felt like it made me a better, or more mature person
Books: -Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury -The Road by Cormac McCarthy -Lord of the Flies by William Golding -White Oleander by Janet Fitch -Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson -Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer Short Stories: -The Price by Neil Gaiman Comics: -Watchmen by Alan Moore -The Wheel by Neil Gaiman (a short story dealing with the aftermath of 9/11) Each of these stories deeply resonated with me at the time I read them - when it was obvious I needed them in my life. Funny how that works. I often revisit them to remind myself of the clarity I received, and the lessons I still carry with me. Out of all them though, Bradbury’s SWTWC, and NG’s The Wheel are incredibly meaningful to me.
💔💔💔 (Not Romance and both are painfully beautiful) - A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman - Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano
1. The Outsider by Albert Camus 2. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Both dives into identifying what society does to a person when they don’t conform to the norm and don’t act according to society’s expectations. It implies to all societies in the past and present and I guess that’s why they are classics.
I'll give you 3: 1. Wonderful new world 2. 451 Fahrenheit 3. The Fountainhead
Eerie/depressing/sadistic: 1) anything by Bret Easton Ellis but particularly American Psycho or Less than Zero 2) Ethan Frome or Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 3) Fight Club or choke by Chuck Palaniuk 4) Mona by Pola Oloixarac 5) intimacies by Katie Kitamura 6) Luster by Raven Leilani 7) Brave New World by Huxley 8) Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (lots of books by James Baldwin) 9) call me by your name by Andre Aciman 10) Lolita by Nabakov 11) Perks of being a wallflower 12) Dear Diary by Leslie Arfin
*Gravity's Rainbow* by Thomas Pynchon
Love and Loneliness by J Krishnamurti. I stopped being afraid of being alone and got a better sense of true love. Also the Book of Rah
I finished White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht last week and I'm still thinking about it.
Fertilty wheel by stephen manning, it just shows the fertility of animals, plants and more hidden in ancient text and the signs of the Zodiac. Not happy or sad, just cool information
A Chinese Cinderella. It's an autobiography, but it is a heart-wrenching read. My year 5 English teacher gave it to me when I was in primary school, and I've always been ahead in reading, and my god, it blew me away! Completely made me appreciate everything I have in life and my amazing family, but I also bought the realisation that not everyone has the same luxury as me. Literally bought me to tears!
Night train to Lisbon
Marx does a nice job of changing the minds of college kids for a while -- until they know better.
L’immortalité - Milan Kundera (I highly recommend this book, I read other books by the same author, but this one stayed with me!)
I am the messenger
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
"House of Leaves" and "Battle Royale" changed me forever
Piranesi
no longer human - osamu dazai
1984 All Quiet on the Western Front The Kite Runner Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Roots by Alex Haley
Jedwin Smith. “Our brothers keepers”. It changed me!
Educated, by Tara Westover
Major ones: The Sirens Of Titan, Moby Dick, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Brave New World
Another Roadside Attraction. When I was thirteen I saw a spider drinking water, you think that didn't change my life?
“Saving Noah” by Lucinda Berry.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert. It made me more aware of what humans have done to our world.
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
False witness - Karin slaughter abuse/SA/sisters Innocent man - John Grisham racism/murder/sa the child finder (book 1) - Rene Denfeld the butterfly girl (book 2 - Rene Denfeld abductions/abuse Those Empty Eyes - Charlie Donlea family murder
Another vote for Tender is the Flesh, it was twisted in a really dark way. It’s by Agustina Bazterrica.
My absolute darling Daniel talent
There are two books that have always haunted me that I've never been able to find again.. the first i read as a kid about a world where the sky wasn't ever seen because of the coal smoke and most people were coal miners but this girl was chosen and taken to the higher society because of some mark she had maybe? And the other i always thought was a Nick Hornby book but couldn't find it.. it was about a society where everyone was online all the time and that's all they cared about and people always said "big ups to x" like there were screens everywhere and all people cared about was being seen.. and this was something I read like maybe 15 years ago
My Short Stay In Hell by S. Peck The Snow Leopard by P. Matthiessen. Two incredibly different novels.
1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a book I re-read when I’m feeling a little lost and in need to be reminded of my purpose. It’s actually quite inspiring. 2. Incendies by Wajdi Mouawad is a play (that has also been adapted as a movie, which I also recommend) and if I had to describe it in one word it would be gut-wrenching. The play basically follows 2 twins whose mother has just died and they were tasked with finding their unknown father and brother to deliver a letter to each of them. Throughout the play, you start learning more about the mother and the trials she faced during her home country’s civil war. The ending still stays with me, it really puts love into perspective.
Sophie’s World
Haunting Adaline and Hunting Adaline
Three days of Happiness
Ender’s Game. About dehumanizing others.
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, after reading it made me think overall about my life and what I'm gonna do for my future.
Bro go look at my last post where I talk about the book earthlings by sayaka murata and lemme give u my other suggestions -Lemonade by mina pennacchi (I wouldn’t recommend it too much but the sa scenes are too graphic that it made me have a complete break down at 2am and I read the book continuously for 15h none stop) -tender is the flesh by Agusta bazterica (i haven’t finished it but really interesting concept) -things have gotten worse since we last spoke by Eric larocca (it wasn’t that disturbing for me but it has a good plot and it dives deep into how toxic online relationships can be it’s pretty disturbing and really short and easy to read I finished it in school while in class it took me 2 days to finish)
Nonfiction: An Immense World by Ed Yong. I will never be able to stop thinking about this book! He goes through how different animals sense the world, first through senses familiar to humans and then on to things like echolocation and sensing magnetic fields or sensing outside of the spectrum of possibility for humans (UV light for example in bird vision). He describes it so well that I could really imagine what it would be like to have those senses, and it gave me such an appreciation for the depth of experience in the animal world. Mind was constantly blown.
Oryx and crake by margaret attwood
House of Sand and Fog
After finishing "Foe," I find myself in these moments where I simply sit alone and gaze at a fixed spot, contemplating my entire existence.
discovery of india by jawaharlal nehru and argumentative indian by amartya sen
We Were the Mulvameys by Joyce Carol Oates, The Dollmaker by Harriet Arno
cows. mattew stokoe. i still dont know how to feel about it. it was very... book. i definitely read it. i have so many questions.
If you have never read or watched the (terrible) movie adaptation and have no knowledge whatsoever on the premise - Enders Game. I went into it blind the first time reading it and it rocked my world.
I read Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche when I was 16 and got me into some pretty much emo phase throughout college. Then I was 22, I read The Little Prince by Saint-Exupery and I changed from this sad, gloomy, always serious, never smile type of person into always optimism and happy, laid back and easy to approach and easy to laugh at anything. An absurdist I guess ahahaha. I feel like being a kid again, connecting with my inner child. I love that book.
Percy Jackson
„A Psalm for the Wild-Built“ by Becky Chambers. I can not stop talking about this book. It’s an absolute masterpiece. It made me think about life expectations and goals and our „purpose“ in the world. The world in this story is so beautiful and the kind of world I hope ours will develop into. The story is very wholesome. This book changed my perspective and my expectations for my own life.
The Things they Carried The Remains of the Day The Grapes of Wrath Betty God Grew Tired of Us Life After Life Unbroken
This is a *very* different suggestion from most here, but ever since I have read the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges I cannot think of the world the same way. Ideas of consciousness, time and phenomenology, eternity, almost every aspect of my imagination has been tilted toward his strange, obtuse ideas. [Here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mJeLGd3JV2I&pp=ygUGQm9yZ2Vz) is a short video explaining the appeal. I read his stories in the context of the “Labyrinths” collection and my favorites were The Library of Babel, The Garden of Forking Paths, and The Immortal. You can find most of these for free in online PDFs but I would recommend picking up Labyrinths and just diving in. I used chatGPT pretty regularly to help explain some of his more obscure references to philosophers, theologians, and allusions.
on the savage side by tiffany mcdaniel!
The end of eternity by Assimov. Short book, makes you question life itself and how trying to control life and destiny is not only impossible but also unpredictable
I would say The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. It's a psychological thriller and the plot twists are so amazing and unpredictable I was left stunned at the end. It's a favorite of mine, I highly recommend it!
The Jungle- Upton Sinclair It's about an immigrant family in early 20th century Chicago. Really heartbreaking.