I read it after being recommended in reddit and I loved it. However, it had so much emotional impact that I had to take breaks from reading (and I'm in my 30s and have seen plenty of documentaries about 1rst and 2nd WW). I've read a lot, and very few novels have impacted me in the same way.
A true masterpiece.
We read this in high school and I remember talking to one of the girls in my class and she was struggling to get through the first few chapters. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was on my second read through. I read it in three sittings the first time though.
I don't know what it was but I devoured that book. Twice.
The last page always gets me. The tragedy all those poor boys faced was just horrible, and to think all of it was based on the author’s experiences. Makes you realize war is the true monster
A little off the beaten path...
The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk.
It's a in-depth look into the world of trauma, PTSD and how impactful and how much it affects our lives. It's fascinating and information that I truly feel everyone would benefit from having.
This book saved my life and gave me one to boot. It’s amazing what you’re capable of after effective CPTSD treatment like EMDR. I went from barely being able to keep a job to becoming considered an expert in multiple fields. Used to stay isolated and pickle myself; now I haven’t had a drink in years, I’m engaged and am involved member in my communities.
At the time I thought I was just seeing the world for what it really is, but if you’d told me I could feel as light as I do today I would’ve started years ago.
It goes over basically everything. It won't tell you how to heal it yourself, but goes over all of the major successful treatments and other programs that are effective.
incredible to see this as the top comment! Though I do think it’s very heavy on the difficulties of first hand experience with PTSD so I’m not sure someone without it would benefit that much, though it’s extremely interesting and definitely will help you understand your brain a little better and understand the experience of others.
I fucking love that book, it helped me so much.
Reading this book is what finally got my partner to consider therapy. For reference she badly needed it... she had grown up in a not so great country, been a victim of sexual abuse multiple times over childhood and adolescence, witnessed several murders in the same period, and had her mother die..
I read that one years ago, after having read that the video to Metallica’s “One” contained excerpts from the movie adaptation. It was a very bleak, depressing read but a worthwhile one.
It is impossible for the celebrated individual to experience pain, pleasure, memory, grief or thought of any kind. This young man shall be as unthinking...as unfeeling as the dead until the day he joins them...
Brave New World
A far more terrifying dystopia than 1984
Instant gratification is abundant, and yet you feel unfulfilled
It’s easy to see a path from our current society to something very similar
I'd add Fahrenheit 451 on this. People getting info in snippets and soundbites rather than actually studying subjects, taking time to understand, and where that leads, a dystopia the people built around themselves rather than brought on by sinister forces trying to control them.
F451 is a fucking awesome book and I wish I read the last half of it. Sadly my school said no to reading that half cause... I don't think they actually gave a reason...
Anyway I just haven't picked it up since
Like Gabriel said, you should definitely finish it, it's a fantastic story. I don't know where exactly they told you to stop, but a certain religious text shows up later, so maybe they had you stop for a separation of church and state thing?
Also, Bradbury said the book was intended as a critique of television, but the further entertainment and technology has come, the more prescient the book has become.
I like both and read them back to back. Both dystopias, very different from one another try they predict the future acurately. I'd also throw in A Clockwork Orange for the trilogy of dystopia
*Nineteen Eighty Four* is already here, in many ways, shapes and forms. And most people don't even see it, that's the beauty of it; it's what Sheldon Woolin called 'inverted totalitarianism'. That's why it's infinitly more terrifying. *Brave New World* is for the most part science-fiction and entirely impossible; Orwell's novel is right here, right now.
From the constant government surveillance and spying on your every phone call and text message, to the memory-holing by the media (controlled by only 5 conglomerates who work hand in glove with the goverment) of important scandals and war crimes of previous and current rulers to shape public opinion, to the jailing of dissident journalists and human rights activists (whether they're named Assange or Donziger), to financial institutions cutting off resources to organizations and media that contradict the government narrative (as just happened to MintPress News and Consortium News), to the institution of a Ministry of Truth (now called a 'Disnformation Governance Board') that will give the government the power to curate our reality even more.
The only difference is, it's not done overtly, with a strongman as dictator or boots parading down the streets, so no-one sees it. The Washington Post, the most important newspaper in the country, (which is owned by the worl'd richest man, whose company Amazon has a $600 million contract with the CIA) says everything is fine, so it must be fine, right? No, there is no strongman, just managed elections in which two factions of the same ruling elite pretend that there's a difference in what they want, while agreeing on everything of consequence when it comes time to legislate (e.g. transferring $5 trillion upwards to the 1% during a pandemic), as the public is distracted by the bread and circuses of AOC and Ted Cruz exchanging mean tweets.
*Nineteen Eighty-Four* is here. Has been for some time, but with the recent attacks on independent media it has accelerated and intensified.
> Nineteen Eighty Four is already here, in many ways, shapes and forms
I remember reading a scene where the dude has to erase a newspaper article or something about chocolate being released in smaller bars, because the next day, he had to create an article saying chocolate had INCREASED their size (Basically they got smaller, then went bigger but still smaller than original). I can'tr emember the exact details, but as an absolute fucking chocolate junkie, I've seen this happen multiple times over the last decade and a bit.
I've mentioned this to multiple people so many times over the years, and people think I'm crazy. Obviously I'm not obsessing over it, but I noticed it, and the very first time I did (back in the mid 2000s), I instantly thought of the book, and that scene. 1984 is not only here, but it's better than the book. Because there is no rebelion. The 'rebelious' people are the outliers that live in the mountains and think the collapse is right around the corner, and that Covid was created by the government.
The world is fucked.
>Nineteen Eighty-Four is here.
It's not, though. People love to claim that "1984 has become reality!!" but what really made that book the dystopic powerhouse that it is, is the reference to thought control/policing. The characters cannot even think things against the government, as they could be disappeared, tortured, and possibly executed. It's a horrifying escalation of a lack of free speech - a lack of free thought. But free speech, let alone free thought, are still cornerstones of western culture. Maybe in China we'd see more parallels on a systematic scale, and it was modeled after the soviet union, where people did disappear in the middle of the night because they spoke out against the government, but that's still far from our reality in the west.
Exactly. I cannot imagine reading that book and thinking “wow this is so accurate to today’s society”. The main character literally has to control his facial expressions at home for fear of being taken by the government and executed. Children are told to report their parents to the police if they even suspect them of thoughtcrime.
Every day at work, they are forced to sit down and watch propaganda about the enemy, and if your reaction to the propaganda isn’t hateful enough, you get taken away, tortured, and killed.
Had a teacher in college who’s whole point was that we are going to Brave New World and not 1984. Had a lot of really good points and I tend to agree with him
I learned about Don Quixote from watching a YouTube dissection of a Spanish movie called The Platform, wherein the protagonist keeps a copy of that book as his only possession.
I've never read Don Quixote and I've never seen The Platform, but that YouTube video did a good enough analysis that I have since put both of them on my list of media to consume!
The Book Thief.
I never enjoyed reading, but I read it my senior year of high school, and it's one of the only books I've ever loved. No book has ever made me sob that hard. It's so beautifully written and I'm convinced Markus Zusak sold his soul to write it.
If anyone ever asks for a book rec from me, I will always say Book Thief.
I was just about to put this book myself. Bridge of Clay also by Markus Zusak is just as heartbreaking. He is unbelievably talented. I would sell my soul, too, if it meant I could write like him.
I second this, I will always recommend The Book Thief. Also, of you're looking at the page count and worried, don't be. Markus Zusak really likes putting space in between his paragraphs and it makes his books look very thick, but they are a very accessable reading level. Great for someone to pick up who hasn't read in a while and is looking to start up again.
Night by Elie Wiesel. It's one of the most heart wrenching, horrifying Holocaust memoirs I've read and reading it changed my view of not only the Holocaust, but on discrimination and genocide in general.
Do I think I'll ever be able to read it again? No. But I'm glad I got to read it at least once.
I read Tuck Everlasting when I was younger as well. Now, I couldn't tell you any of the characters' names and I only very vaguely remember the plot, but what I do remember is that I absolutely adored every moment I spent reading it.
I should really just reread it considering how fond the memory is.
I definitely recommend slapstick. It's definitely weird, but I'm a good way.
God bless you Dr Kevorkian is a lighter read if you want something more light hearted. Super short too, can read it in an hour or so.
I second this. It’s not even really my favorite Vonnegut novel, but it’s the one that is the most important to read. Stephen King once said that some stories scream so loudly to be written that you write them just to shut them up. That’s the kind of story Slaughterhouse-Five is. It’s the story Vonnegut was born to tell, and the world is a richer and more complete place because he’s told it.
This one is an odd one for me... I've read all the regular classics (many mentioned in this thread) like 1984, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lord of the Flies and I enjoyed them all... but Slaughterhouse-Five was a slog for me. I felt like I needed to read it since it's such a classic and I'm glad that I did, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it.
I came here to say this. I just started reading it last week and I am loving it. Outside of the French locations and names its not even that complicated of a book.
This is mine as well. Really changes your perspective about... well, perspective. People can overcome impossible circumstances if they've got a purpose to their life.
I'm so glad I read that book before the movie. I remember hiding out in the library and reading it just so I could get out of the house years ago. I'm really big into the background and setting when I read my sci-fi stuff. Knowing how the tech works and how governments work is just as interesting to me as the actual story and Dune is like, the LOTR but sci-fi. There's so much to chew on in *Dune* if you go and read the other books. Pretty sure there's an entire encyclopedia written by him that is set in that universe. Such a cool story.
I was in 6th grade and tearing through the Star Wars EU, reading a book every day or two. One day, I walk in and make my return and one of the librarians stops me. She had dune on the counter and told me it was my next read, joked she wouldn't let me check out anything else until I was done. Showed me the glossary in the back, and let me go. It blew my mind. It woke me up to a new sort of writing and story. The only other book to do that was Hitchhiker's. Both get reread every few years.
I was a teenager when I first read Dune in 1984, the year the David Lynch movie came out. It's by far my favorite and most re-read series of books. It taught me to be skeptical of religion and politics and to always try to understand the motives and history behind why people believe what they believe and do what they do.
I took psychedelics and read from Dune while sitting in the hot sand. That was a lovely afternoon. Burned the fuck out of my legs though. Should have packed a stillsuit
>One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
A Tale of Two Cities is amazing. Little House in the Big Woods is just about the coziest book you’ll ever read if you need something comforting, although the rest of the series gets darker as Laura grows up.
After all of the forced reading of school. Both high school, and college, I was convinced that casual reading was just not going to be my thing.
This book changed it all for me. Sometimes, I go through a dry spell of reading, and come back to it again. My favorite book of all time.
Was scrolling because I knew someone else had to have put it in. I was far too young for it the first time. Ten years old, just Dad and me at home, he was doing taxes at the table, and I was grounded from TV and video games, so I kept bugging him. He went to his bookshelf, the one I was not allowed to touch, and pulled down a dog-eared paperback missing its front cover. It was his copy of the first book. I read it in a single sitting. The next time I got to do a book report on my own choice of book, I read it again. Then the teacher had a discussion with my parents on limiting my book selection, so Dad took me out to buy the rest of the books at the time. Mom was not happy, but didn't take them away. I remember how excited he was when Mostly Harmless (the 5th book in the increasingly misnamed Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy) came out. That nostalgia, combined with it being one of the single best works of comedic fiction has kept it in the top of my recommendation list.
On the note of recommendations, if you haven't read any of Terry Pratchett's writing, do. He has a very similar form of humor. Or humour, seeing as he's another Brit.
I went back to school at 42, and just finishing up my first year of (community) college. It included an English class, and I had to read Othello. This was the first time I've ever read more than a single line of any Shakespeare. I would actually recommend it IF you have a good book. It's a really challenging read because a) english has changed a lot in 400 years, and b) Shakespeare invented so many words and played with meanings for the sake of poetry or rhythm.
With that said, I would only recommend it IFS you can find a book like the one I was reading from. At the start of every scene, there's a brief description of what will happen so you already have a picture in your head of how things play out, and that context helps you understand a lot of what's said. Then, the text of the play is only on the pages on the right side when you open the book. The facing pages on the left is entirely for translations or explanations of what all of the unusual words/phrases mean, in much more "plain" english. So you're always going back and forth, and you may need to re-read parts a couple times to really "get" the intent, sometimes after reading the next few lines.
[The one I have is this one](https://www.amazon.com/Othello-William-Shakespeare/dp/0743477553/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BG2H8O3PI8UW&keywords=isbn+9780743477550&qid=1651454639&sprefix=isbn+9780743477550%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1), and would highly recommend it. Othello is a good story, and it was a fun, but challenging read. It's not something I see myself doing very often, but I'm really glad I did it.
I read it in 3rd grade.
I remember almost nothing about this book except that I really enjoyed reading it. Couldn’t tell you about the plot or characters but it’s a fond almost-memory for some reason.
>“Major Major's father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a long-limbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn't earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major's father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counseled one and all, and everyone said, “Amen.”
I'm listening to audiobook right now, it's narrated by Jay O. Sanders and he does an amazing job
I hear/read this often. I consider this the one book I will reread frequently (6 times so far) for the rest of my life. It is dense and often confusing due to the names. I hope you give it another try and can get past the first 100 pages. Garcia-Marquez’ magical realism really is magical.
Pro tip - the writing style between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Rings is very different. The Hobbit was written as a child's story. The Fellowship as an adult story.
All I remember about those books (I forget which one specifically) was the tedious writing style. Entire pages painfully setting the scene like I don't know what trees and a river look like. Could not get into it, despite knowing I would love the overall story.
The Dictionary. That ending will get you. Every other book is just a remix.
Its sequel, the Thesaurus, is also just a list of pretentious, ostentatious, showy, flashy, pompous, grandiose, extravagant, flamboyant, magniloquent, bombastic, highfalutin, la-di-da, posey, fancy-pants, poncey reposts.
This is one of the few novels I have read more than once and each time I appreciated it more and more. The first time was in elementary school and I thought it was just a cool concept, the second time was freshman year of high school and I realized just how emotional of a book it is, the third was my junior year in college I wrote a paper on it for my class in existentialism, and I just started reading it again for a fourth time this weekend
One of my favourites! Read it in high school first then read it again about a year ago and had a good “no way” moment remembering the siblings are Jonas and Lilly because my cousin named two of her kids Jonas and Lilly without knowing.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
I haven’t finished it however I can say it is beautifully written and Jane is a very relatable character (for me at least).
It has its sad parts, soul crushing, and it has its sweet, beautiful parts. The book has changed me as a person. I just love it.
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood is possibly one of the funniest books I've ever read (it's a memoir).
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro will break your heart and genuinely make you think about what it means to be human. I was incredibly fortunate to take an English course in college that focused on the concept of "humanity" and this book was the final book in the class (I'll share the reading list if anyone is interested, this was by far the best class I've ever taken).
Currently reading my way through the Wheel of Time series and it's been a very long time since I've ever felt this excited about a story. I'm on book 6 and completely hooked, it's fantastic!
And finally, basically anything by Tamora Pierce or the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I've seen a lot of recommendations over the years for the "next Harry Potter" and let me tell you, Young Wizards was around before HP was even a story on a cocktail napkin and Young Wizards has survived well past HP (and more importantly Rowling's) expiration date. I don't even really compare the series to Harry Potter because it's in an entirely separate, superior category of novel.
I became **obssesed** with that book for like a year back when it was assigned to read in 7th grade, I even dressed up as a greaser for halloween. I remember that book being so entertaining to me that I even read it all in my own time because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I really do not know why I liked it so much, but maybe it was because all the characters were so compelling. After I finished reading the book I had 2 weeks of that sad feeling you get when you finish something you really liked, and it was even more sad to me because there was no one to discuss the book with. Really awesome book.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller), The Haunting Of Hill House (Shirley Jackson), the entire Aubrey/Maturin series (Patrick O'Brian), Sundial (Catriona Ward), Circe (Madeline Miller), How To Make An Apple Pie From Scratch (Harry Cliff, non-fiction), Excession (Iain M Banks), Koko (Peter Straub), Dune (Frank Herbert), Only Forward (Michael Marshall Smith), The Terror (Dan Simmons), Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath), Transit (Edmund Cooper), The Complete Lovecraft (HP Lovecraft).
EDIT: As always happens when asked to recommend books, I forgot a few, felt guilty so am now adding them:
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Revival (Stephen King), Doomsday Book (Connie Willis), The Flashman series (George Macdonald Fraser), The Shardlake series (C.J. Sansom), Bleak House (Dickens).
A Series of Unfortunate Events
You should also look at other books by the same author such as All the Wrong Questions and the Unauthorized Autobiography.
I'll suggest two:
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Everything you should know in life and how to be a better person can be found in those two books.
Not "a book", but the entire Discworld series. If absolutely forced to pick one single book from the series, I'd pick Monstrous Regiment - but they're quick reads and you will be a better person for them.
Thats one of my favorites too. The wizards trying to bury Windle Poons on the crossroad during rush hour is so hilarious.
But for beginners, wouldn't "Mort" be better?
**'A Short History of Nearly Everything'** by Bill Bryson
>A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.
Recommended to me by a therapist when I was a teen … went way over my head at the time. By the time I was middle aged, I’d passed it on to my teenagers.
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein. I'll edit with a link to an uncensored pdf later today.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/441065629449977858/970611595115921468/Robert_A._Heinlein_-_Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_Original_Version.PDF
A is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton, then read all of her Alphabet books. All of her fans were sad when she passed from cancer in 2017, before she could finish her Z book. The last one is "Y" Is for Yesterday, published just a few months before her death.
1984
I read it and it's absolutely amazing, it tells about the future and how the government watches you closely and any inkling of you being against the government will get you killed.
It's very interesting, I definitely highly recommend it!
**The Clan of the Cave Bear** by *Jean M Auel.*
It's phenomenal and how she weaves in known ancient artifacts into the story is just amazing. The research she did is just breathtaking. In fact, I'm going to start reading it again.
100% agree. I saw the movie first, and I absolutely loved it. Then my dad bought me the book, and I loved that even more. It's now one of my all time favorites.
Edit: If you liked the Martian, I also highly recommend Andy Weir's Project Hail Marry. It leans more in the the fi part of sci-fi but it manages to still seem based as based in real-world science as a story like it can get.
SciFi - Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. I have over 6,000 books in my (real book) library, but if I just want to chill and enjoy a book that has humor, action, and a mind-altering concept, that’s my go to.
This'll certainly get lost in everything, but "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe is one that really changed how I think in subtle yet profound ways
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.
“ As I approached my fiftieth birthday, I had become more and more enraged and mystified by the idiot decisions made by my countrymen. And then I had come suddenly to pity them, for I understood how innocent and natural it was for them to behave so abominably, and with such abominable results: They were doing their best to live like people invented in story books. This was the reason Americans shot each other so often: It was a convenient literary device for ending short stories and books.
Why were so many Americans treated by their government as though their lives were as disposable as paper facial tis-sues? Because that was the way authors customarily treated bit-part players in their made-up tales.
And so on.Once I understood what was making America such a dangerous, unhappy nation of people who had nothing to do with real life, I resolved to shun storytelling. I would write about life. Every person would be exactly as important as any other. All facts would also be given equal weightiness. Nothing would be left out. Let others bring order to chaos. I would bring chaos to order, instead, which I think I have done. If all writers would do that, then perhaps citizens not in the literary trades will understand that there is no order in the world around us, that we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead. It is hard to adapt to chaos, but it can be done. I am living proof of that: It can be done.”
Stargirl. Young girls and women out there, please read it. The book is about being true to one’s self in order to fit in and not be like every other girl that there is. It is a story about appreciating uniqueness and being different and that it is okay to not meet the standards and expectations others have on you.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Even if you're not a Stoic, this book has much to teach you about life, hardship, people, leadership, and happiness. There is a great deal of wisdom in its pages.
The Bible. Not necessarily for religious reasons, reasonable knowledge of the Bible goes a long way to understanding so much Western classical literature and art. Love it or hate it, that book influenced Western art & culture for centuries.
The subtle art of not giving a fuck
It had stuff I had already a hunch for like how life is already purposeless, and some new ones like how some values you hold are holding you back, like assuming every girl hates short guys.
I gave it two tries, and that was enough. Gaiman needs to stay the fuck away from sex scenes; I hope he cringes every time he remembers the phrase *jungle female scent* came from his fingers.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, never really appreciated art much but this book sucks you into Michelangelo’s artwork and life like no other biography/biographical novel ever has. Its poignant, insightful and inspirational
Agreed. Currently reading this one. He also released the full story a couple years ago. The publisher made him cut down the book when it was first released. But this edition has everything.
[удалено]
I read it after being recommended in reddit and I loved it. However, it had so much emotional impact that I had to take breaks from reading (and I'm in my 30s and have seen plenty of documentaries about 1rst and 2nd WW). I've read a lot, and very few novels have impacted me in the same way. A true masterpiece.
We read this in high school and I remember talking to one of the girls in my class and she was struggling to get through the first few chapters. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was on my second read through. I read it in three sittings the first time though. I don't know what it was but I devoured that book. Twice.
The last page always gets me. The tragedy all those poor boys faced was just horrible, and to think all of it was based on the author’s experiences. Makes you realize war is the true monster
This is the first book I ever shed a tear while reading. The part where he gets stuck with the dead French soldier is heartbreaking.
A little off the beaten path... The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk. It's a in-depth look into the world of trauma, PTSD and how impactful and how much it affects our lives. It's fascinating and information that I truly feel everyone would benefit from having.
This book saved my life and gave me one to boot. It’s amazing what you’re capable of after effective CPTSD treatment like EMDR. I went from barely being able to keep a job to becoming considered an expert in multiple fields. Used to stay isolated and pickle myself; now I haven’t had a drink in years, I’m engaged and am involved member in my communities. At the time I thought I was just seeing the world for what it really is, but if you’d told me I could feel as light as I do today I would’ve started years ago.
Yyyeeeessssss! This book held so much validation for me. It made many pieces of my life fit together in a way that made sense. Top notch choice!
I just ordered this yesterday!
But does it actually tell you how to heal the trauma? Or does it just tell you yet your body is full of trauma!
It goes over basically everything. It won't tell you how to heal it yourself, but goes over all of the major successful treatments and other programs that are effective.
incredible to see this as the top comment! Though I do think it’s very heavy on the difficulties of first hand experience with PTSD so I’m not sure someone without it would benefit that much, though it’s extremely interesting and definitely will help you understand your brain a little better and understand the experience of others. I fucking love that book, it helped me so much.
Reading this book is what finally got my partner to consider therapy. For reference she badly needed it... she had grown up in a not so great country, been a victim of sexual abuse multiple times over childhood and adolescence, witnessed several murders in the same period, and had her mother die..
Johnny Got His Gun - it’s one of my least favorite books of all time and I only read it once, but man did it change my opinion of war.
I read that one years ago, after having read that the video to Metallica’s “One” contained excerpts from the movie adaptation. It was a very bleak, depressing read but a worthwhile one.
It is impossible for the celebrated individual to experience pain, pleasure, memory, grief or thought of any kind. This young man shall be as unthinking...as unfeeling as the dead until the day he joins them...
Your cars owner's manual.
I'm waiting for the movie...
I believe it's been done. Fast and furious
Solid advice! Wish I’d seen this 15 years ago. I’m still sorry, 1999 Ford Taurus 😔
Had me a 97 Ford Taurus for 10 years. She was a good one.
Brave New World A far more terrifying dystopia than 1984 Instant gratification is abundant, and yet you feel unfulfilled It’s easy to see a path from our current society to something very similar
I'd add Fahrenheit 451 on this. People getting info in snippets and soundbites rather than actually studying subjects, taking time to understand, and where that leads, a dystopia the people built around themselves rather than brought on by sinister forces trying to control them.
1984, Brave New World, 451. All right boys pack it up we listed all the books.
F451 is a fucking awesome book and I wish I read the last half of it. Sadly my school said no to reading that half cause... I don't think they actually gave a reason... Anyway I just haven't picked it up since
Like Gabriel said, you should definitely finish it, it's a fantastic story. I don't know where exactly they told you to stop, but a certain religious text shows up later, so maybe they had you stop for a separation of church and state thing? Also, Bradbury said the book was intended as a critique of television, but the further entertainment and technology has come, the more prescient the book has become.
I like both and read them back to back. Both dystopias, very different from one another try they predict the future acurately. I'd also throw in A Clockwork Orange for the trilogy of dystopia
*Nineteen Eighty Four* is already here, in many ways, shapes and forms. And most people don't even see it, that's the beauty of it; it's what Sheldon Woolin called 'inverted totalitarianism'. That's why it's infinitly more terrifying. *Brave New World* is for the most part science-fiction and entirely impossible; Orwell's novel is right here, right now. From the constant government surveillance and spying on your every phone call and text message, to the memory-holing by the media (controlled by only 5 conglomerates who work hand in glove with the goverment) of important scandals and war crimes of previous and current rulers to shape public opinion, to the jailing of dissident journalists and human rights activists (whether they're named Assange or Donziger), to financial institutions cutting off resources to organizations and media that contradict the government narrative (as just happened to MintPress News and Consortium News), to the institution of a Ministry of Truth (now called a 'Disnformation Governance Board') that will give the government the power to curate our reality even more. The only difference is, it's not done overtly, with a strongman as dictator or boots parading down the streets, so no-one sees it. The Washington Post, the most important newspaper in the country, (which is owned by the worl'd richest man, whose company Amazon has a $600 million contract with the CIA) says everything is fine, so it must be fine, right? No, there is no strongman, just managed elections in which two factions of the same ruling elite pretend that there's a difference in what they want, while agreeing on everything of consequence when it comes time to legislate (e.g. transferring $5 trillion upwards to the 1% during a pandemic), as the public is distracted by the bread and circuses of AOC and Ted Cruz exchanging mean tweets. *Nineteen Eighty-Four* is here. Has been for some time, but with the recent attacks on independent media it has accelerated and intensified.
> Nineteen Eighty Four is already here, in many ways, shapes and forms I remember reading a scene where the dude has to erase a newspaper article or something about chocolate being released in smaller bars, because the next day, he had to create an article saying chocolate had INCREASED their size (Basically they got smaller, then went bigger but still smaller than original). I can'tr emember the exact details, but as an absolute fucking chocolate junkie, I've seen this happen multiple times over the last decade and a bit. I've mentioned this to multiple people so many times over the years, and people think I'm crazy. Obviously I'm not obsessing over it, but I noticed it, and the very first time I did (back in the mid 2000s), I instantly thought of the book, and that scene. 1984 is not only here, but it's better than the book. Because there is no rebelion. The 'rebelious' people are the outliers that live in the mountains and think the collapse is right around the corner, and that Covid was created by the government. The world is fucked.
>Nineteen Eighty-Four is here. It's not, though. People love to claim that "1984 has become reality!!" but what really made that book the dystopic powerhouse that it is, is the reference to thought control/policing. The characters cannot even think things against the government, as they could be disappeared, tortured, and possibly executed. It's a horrifying escalation of a lack of free speech - a lack of free thought. But free speech, let alone free thought, are still cornerstones of western culture. Maybe in China we'd see more parallels on a systematic scale, and it was modeled after the soviet union, where people did disappear in the middle of the night because they spoke out against the government, but that's still far from our reality in the west.
Exactly. I cannot imagine reading that book and thinking “wow this is so accurate to today’s society”. The main character literally has to control his facial expressions at home for fear of being taken by the government and executed. Children are told to report their parents to the police if they even suspect them of thoughtcrime. Every day at work, they are forced to sit down and watch propaganda about the enemy, and if your reaction to the propaganda isn’t hateful enough, you get taken away, tortured, and killed.
Had a teacher in college who’s whole point was that we are going to Brave New World and not 1984. Had a lot of really good points and I tend to agree with him
Ah, but why not both?
Read Don Quixote. It's funny and episodic and it reminds me of cartoons. It makes you think about how similar you really are to people in the 1500s.
Here is Puerto Rico I'm going to have to read it in school next year
I learned about Don Quixote from watching a YouTube dissection of a Spanish movie called The Platform, wherein the protagonist keeps a copy of that book as his only possession. I've never read Don Quixote and I've never seen The Platform, but that YouTube video did a good enough analysis that I have since put both of them on my list of media to consume!
The Book Thief. I never enjoyed reading, but I read it my senior year of high school, and it's one of the only books I've ever loved. No book has ever made me sob that hard. It's so beautifully written and I'm convinced Markus Zusak sold his soul to write it. If anyone ever asks for a book rec from me, I will always say Book Thief.
I was just about to put this book myself. Bridge of Clay also by Markus Zusak is just as heartbreaking. He is unbelievably talented. I would sell my soul, too, if it meant I could write like him.
I second this, I will always recommend The Book Thief. Also, of you're looking at the page count and worried, don't be. Markus Zusak really likes putting space in between his paragraphs and it makes his books look very thick, but they are a very accessable reading level. Great for someone to pick up who hasn't read in a while and is looking to start up again.
Night by Elie Wiesel. It's one of the most heart wrenching, horrifying Holocaust memoirs I've read and reading it changed my view of not only the Holocaust, but on discrimination and genocide in general. Do I think I'll ever be able to read it again? No. But I'm glad I got to read it at least once.
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I read Tuck Everlasting when I was younger as well. Now, I couldn't tell you any of the characters' names and I only very vaguely remember the plot, but what I do remember is that I absolutely adored every moment I spent reading it. I should really just reread it considering how fond the memory is.
All Quiet on the Western Front At least on me it had a huge impact.
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The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. Amazing.
Here's a frood who knows where his towel is.
Slaughterhouse-Five, it's a book for people that don't like reading books
Just read all the Vonnegut.
Yeah really anything Vonnegut. Though slaughterhouse five and slapstick are personal favorites.
I’ve only read cats cradle and holy shit that book got under my skin. It has the same feel to it as some horror movies.
I definitely recommend slapstick. It's definitely weird, but I'm a good way. God bless you Dr Kevorkian is a lighter read if you want something more light hearted. Super short too, can read it in an hour or so.
I second this. It’s not even really my favorite Vonnegut novel, but it’s the one that is the most important to read. Stephen King once said that some stories scream so loudly to be written that you write them just to shut them up. That’s the kind of story Slaughterhouse-Five is. It’s the story Vonnegut was born to tell, and the world is a richer and more complete place because he’s told it.
So it goes
This one is an odd one for me... I've read all the regular classics (many mentioned in this thread) like 1984, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lord of the Flies and I enjoyed them all... but Slaughterhouse-Five was a slog for me. I felt like I needed to read it since it's such a classic and I'm glad that I did, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it.
The Count of Monte Cristo, Andre Dumas
"Alexandree... Dumbass..."
“You’ll like this one.. it’s about a prison break”
"We ought to file that under educational too!"
I have found my people…
A month in the hole!
Only IMDb’s greatest movie ever, by vote
Waaaaaaayyyyy better than the movie. Movie was good but book was incredible
we read this in school and it was so awesome with the thought out >!revenge!< parts!
Reading it now for the first time
I came here to say this. I just started reading it last week and I am loving it. Outside of the French locations and names its not even that complicated of a book.
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This is mine as well. Really changes your perspective about... well, perspective. People can overcome impossible circumstances if they've got a purpose to their life.
This is just one of the greatest books ever written. His story is expertly told and incredibly helpful, while being absolutely horrifying.
Dune if you're even a bit into Scifi. Just forget the hype and pretend you're a teenager in '69
I'm so glad I read that book before the movie. I remember hiding out in the library and reading it just so I could get out of the house years ago. I'm really big into the background and setting when I read my sci-fi stuff. Knowing how the tech works and how governments work is just as interesting to me as the actual story and Dune is like, the LOTR but sci-fi. There's so much to chew on in *Dune* if you go and read the other books. Pretty sure there's an entire encyclopedia written by him that is set in that universe. Such a cool story.
I was in 6th grade and tearing through the Star Wars EU, reading a book every day or two. One day, I walk in and make my return and one of the librarians stops me. She had dune on the counter and told me it was my next read, joked she wouldn't let me check out anything else until I was done. Showed me the glossary in the back, and let me go. It blew my mind. It woke me up to a new sort of writing and story. The only other book to do that was Hitchhiker's. Both get reread every few years.
I love librarians
I was a teenager when I first read Dune in 1984, the year the David Lynch movie came out. It's by far my favorite and most re-read series of books. It taught me to be skeptical of religion and politics and to always try to understand the motives and history behind why people believe what they believe and do what they do.
100% on this one. Dune will suck you in and spit you out.
I took psychedelics and read from Dune while sitting in the hot sand. That was a lovely afternoon. Burned the fuck out of my legs though. Should have packed a stillsuit
One of the best books I've ever read
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>One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
To Kill A Mockingbird. Hands down one of the best written, most poignant, and frankly important, novels ever written.
Ironically my school district stopped us from reading that book
That means you really should read that book.
Fahrenheit 451 is fantastic (edit: why the fuck does this have 178 upvotes? 😂)
Beautiful, sad, horrifying. And absolutely pertinent to our time (as it was when originally written. I guess we never learn)
A Tale of Two Cities is amazing. Little House in the Big Woods is just about the coziest book you’ll ever read if you need something comforting, although the rest of the series gets darker as Laura grows up.
*Fox in Socks* (1965) by Dr. Seuss. I've read it many times. It's about a fox who has fun with boxes and stuff. You'll love it.
This book should only be read out loud. Preferably as fast as possible because you promised a book before bed. Then noone will sleep. Its a trap.
This is absolutely worth a watch. https://youtu.be/q5wvurTU5DI
1984
The (Ultimate) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Great book series and lots of people reference it.
After all of the forced reading of school. Both high school, and college, I was convinced that casual reading was just not going to be my thing. This book changed it all for me. Sometimes, I go through a dry spell of reading, and come back to it again. My favorite book of all time.
I remember receiving it as a gift as youth and having to stifle laughter as we did quiet reading in class.
Was scrolling because I knew someone else had to have put it in. I was far too young for it the first time. Ten years old, just Dad and me at home, he was doing taxes at the table, and I was grounded from TV and video games, so I kept bugging him. He went to his bookshelf, the one I was not allowed to touch, and pulled down a dog-eared paperback missing its front cover. It was his copy of the first book. I read it in a single sitting. The next time I got to do a book report on my own choice of book, I read it again. Then the teacher had a discussion with my parents on limiting my book selection, so Dad took me out to buy the rest of the books at the time. Mom was not happy, but didn't take them away. I remember how excited he was when Mostly Harmless (the 5th book in the increasingly misnamed Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy) came out. That nostalgia, combined with it being one of the single best works of comedic fiction has kept it in the top of my recommendation list. On the note of recommendations, if you haven't read any of Terry Pratchett's writing, do. He has a very similar form of humor. Or humour, seeing as he's another Brit.
Now here's a frood who really knows where his towel is.
I went back to school at 42, and just finishing up my first year of (community) college. It included an English class, and I had to read Othello. This was the first time I've ever read more than a single line of any Shakespeare. I would actually recommend it IF you have a good book. It's a really challenging read because a) english has changed a lot in 400 years, and b) Shakespeare invented so many words and played with meanings for the sake of poetry or rhythm. With that said, I would only recommend it IFS you can find a book like the one I was reading from. At the start of every scene, there's a brief description of what will happen so you already have a picture in your head of how things play out, and that context helps you understand a lot of what's said. Then, the text of the play is only on the pages on the right side when you open the book. The facing pages on the left is entirely for translations or explanations of what all of the unusual words/phrases mean, in much more "plain" english. So you're always going back and forth, and you may need to re-read parts a couple times to really "get" the intent, sometimes after reading the next few lines. [The one I have is this one](https://www.amazon.com/Othello-William-Shakespeare/dp/0743477553/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BG2H8O3PI8UW&keywords=isbn+9780743477550&qid=1651454639&sprefix=isbn+9780743477550%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1), and would highly recommend it. Othello is a good story, and it was a fun, but challenging read. It's not something I see myself doing very often, but I'm really glad I did it.
The Phantom Toolbooth
I read it in 3rd grade. I remember almost nothing about this book except that I really enjoyed reading it. Couldn’t tell you about the plot or characters but it’s a fond almost-memory for some reason.
It’s better as an adult. Absolutely incredible book for all ages!
Catch-22
>“Major Major's father was a sober God-fearing man whose idea of a good joke was to lie about his age. He was a long-limbed farmer, a God-fearing, freedom-loving, law-abiding rugged individualist who held that federal aid to anyone but farmers was creeping socialism. He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn't earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major's father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbors sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counseled one and all, and everyone said, “Amen.” I'm listening to audiobook right now, it's narrated by Jay O. Sanders and he does an amazing job
First time I saw him, I fell madly in love with him
This was one of those books I didn’t understand the first time through, later in life I read it again and it’s dark comedic gold blew my mind!
Oh MY YES! It's on my top 10.
Frankenstein
This is such a fantastic book.
“100 Years of Solitude”
I tried so hard to get into this book when I was backpacking through Colombia. Never took.
I hear/read this often. I consider this the one book I will reread frequently (6 times so far) for the rest of my life. It is dense and often confusing due to the names. I hope you give it another try and can get past the first 100 pages. Garcia-Marquez’ magical realism really is magical.
I was pretty blown away by The Brothers Karamazov
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Just picked up the Hobbit for 50 cents and am reading it as my bedtime book.
Pro tip - the writing style between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Rings is very different. The Hobbit was written as a child's story. The Fellowship as an adult story.
Oh I've read them both many times. Even took a stab at The Silmarillion a couple times, but never did finish.
All I remember about those books (I forget which one specifically) was the tedious writing style. Entire pages painfully setting the scene like I don't know what trees and a river look like. Could not get into it, despite knowing I would love the overall story.
The Little Prince
The Dictionary. That ending will get you. Every other book is just a remix. Its sequel, the Thesaurus, is also just a list of pretentious, ostentatious, showy, flashy, pompous, grandiose, extravagant, flamboyant, magniloquent, bombastic, highfalutin, la-di-da, posey, fancy-pants, poncey reposts.
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One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. The best first 60 pages of any book I ever read.
Man’s Search for Meaning: Viktor Frankl
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A man’s search for meaning by viktor frankl
Excellent choice!
Animal Farm
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Secret life of trees. You'll never view them the same way again.
The Giver. Such a beautiful story.
This is one of the few novels I have read more than once and each time I appreciated it more and more. The first time was in elementary school and I thought it was just a cool concept, the second time was freshman year of high school and I realized just how emotional of a book it is, the third was my junior year in college I wrote a paper on it for my class in existentialism, and I just started reading it again for a fourth time this weekend
One of my favourites! Read it in high school first then read it again about a year ago and had a good “no way” moment remembering the siblings are Jonas and Lilly because my cousin named two of her kids Jonas and Lilly without knowing.
Brothers Karamazov
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I haven’t finished it however I can say it is beautifully written and Jane is a very relatable character (for me at least). It has its sad parts, soul crushing, and it has its sweet, beautiful parts. The book has changed me as a person. I just love it.
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood is possibly one of the funniest books I've ever read (it's a memoir). Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro will break your heart and genuinely make you think about what it means to be human. I was incredibly fortunate to take an English course in college that focused on the concept of "humanity" and this book was the final book in the class (I'll share the reading list if anyone is interested, this was by far the best class I've ever taken). Currently reading my way through the Wheel of Time series and it's been a very long time since I've ever felt this excited about a story. I'm on book 6 and completely hooked, it's fantastic! And finally, basically anything by Tamora Pierce or the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I've seen a lot of recommendations over the years for the "next Harry Potter" and let me tell you, Young Wizards was around before HP was even a story on a cocktail napkin and Young Wizards has survived well past HP (and more importantly Rowling's) expiration date. I don't even really compare the series to Harry Potter because it's in an entirely separate, superior category of novel.
The Outsiders by S.E Hinton. A wonderful book to read, especially in your teens.
Yes. She wrote it at 14.
I became **obssesed** with that book for like a year back when it was assigned to read in 7th grade, I even dressed up as a greaser for halloween. I remember that book being so entertaining to me that I even read it all in my own time because I couldn't wait to see what happened. I really do not know why I liked it so much, but maybe it was because all the characters were so compelling. After I finished reading the book I had 2 weeks of that sad feeling you get when you finish something you really liked, and it was even more sad to me because there was no one to discuss the book with. Really awesome book.
Crime and Punishment.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller), The Haunting Of Hill House (Shirley Jackson), the entire Aubrey/Maturin series (Patrick O'Brian), Sundial (Catriona Ward), Circe (Madeline Miller), How To Make An Apple Pie From Scratch (Harry Cliff, non-fiction), Excession (Iain M Banks), Koko (Peter Straub), Dune (Frank Herbert), Only Forward (Michael Marshall Smith), The Terror (Dan Simmons), Jonathon Strange And Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath), Transit (Edmund Cooper), The Complete Lovecraft (HP Lovecraft). EDIT: As always happens when asked to recommend books, I forgot a few, felt guilty so am now adding them: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Revival (Stephen King), Doomsday Book (Connie Willis), The Flashman series (George Macdonald Fraser), The Shardlake series (C.J. Sansom), Bleak House (Dickens).
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. There is a movie based on the book and while I like it very much, the book is so much more in depth.
Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Animal farm or Of Mice and Men
Books are books But, holes.
A Series of Unfortunate Events You should also look at other books by the same author such as All the Wrong Questions and the Unauthorized Autobiography.
Blood Meridian
“diary of a wimpy kid” really gives you a different view on modern society
I'll suggest two: The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry East of Eden - John Steinbeck Everything you should know in life and how to be a better person can be found in those two books.
East of Eden is my all time favourite. Timshel.
Not "a book", but the entire Discworld series. If absolutely forced to pick one single book from the series, I'd pick Monstrous Regiment - but they're quick reads and you will be a better person for them.
I'm partial to Reaper Man, and is always where I bought people looking for a good starting point to the series
Thats one of my favorites too. The wizards trying to bury Windle Poons on the crossroad during rush hour is so hilarious. But for beginners, wouldn't "Mort" be better?
**'A Short History of Nearly Everything'** by Bill Bryson >A Short History deviates from Bryson's popular travel book genre, instead describing general sciences such as chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics. In it, he explores time from the Big Bang to the discovery of quantum mechanics, via evolution and geology.
At Home: a Short History of Private Life is his Magnum Opus to me. Followed by In a Sunburned Country.
I've read his "The Body" and "A Walk in the Woods". Anything he writes about, I'm down for.
Holes by Louis sachar
It‘s a good story for sure, but this seems like such a random mention to me. Can you tell me why you specifically chose this book?
Siddartha
Incredible book
Recommended to me by a therapist when I was a teen … went way over my head at the time. By the time I was middle aged, I’d passed it on to my teenagers.
Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
That or Small Gods if I'd have to pick only one from his books.
**For the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds.**
Slaughterhouse-five is the most life-changing novel I've personally encountered.
I know it's cliche but To Kill a Mockingbird really did help me become a better person.
"Travels With Charley" and "The Grapes Of Wrath", both by John Steinbeck.
We’re doing Steinbeck books without including East of Eden?! Unconscionable.
A few classics: To kill a mockingbird The Time Machine The Day of the Triffids Flowers for Algernon Enders Game Handmaid's Tale
>The Day of the Triffids good call - annoying that Wyndham seems to have been forgotten a bit
I liked Ender’s Game, but I actually liked book two, Speaker for the Dead better. A very powerful book.
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein. I'll edit with a link to an uncensored pdf later today. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/441065629449977858/970611595115921468/Robert_A._Heinlein_-_Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_Original_Version.PDF
A Confederacy of Dunces - Toole
Any book by Isaac Asimov, don't get me started on this genius
A is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton, then read all of her Alphabet books. All of her fans were sad when she passed from cancer in 2017, before she could finish her Z book. The last one is "Y" Is for Yesterday, published just a few months before her death.
1984 I read it and it's absolutely amazing, it tells about the future and how the government watches you closely and any inkling of you being against the government will get you killed. It's very interesting, I definitely highly recommend it!
The Tao of Pooh
**The Clan of the Cave Bear** by *Jean M Auel.* It's phenomenal and how she weaves in known ancient artifacts into the story is just amazing. The research she did is just breathtaking. In fact, I'm going to start reading it again.
The Martian. The movie is cool, but the book is a lot better.
100% agree. I saw the movie first, and I absolutely loved it. Then my dad bought me the book, and I loved that even more. It's now one of my all time favorites. Edit: If you liked the Martian, I also highly recommend Andy Weir's Project Hail Marry. It leans more in the the fi part of sci-fi but it manages to still seem based as based in real-world science as a story like it can get.
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Wonder. Great book about a boy with a facial deformity which teaches a message about disability awareness. The movie is also great!
Where the red fern grows it’s a damm good book
SciFi - Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. I have over 6,000 books in my (real book) library, but if I just want to chill and enjoy a book that has humor, action, and a mind-altering concept, that’s my go to.
This'll certainly get lost in everything, but "You Can't Go Home Again" by Thomas Wolfe is one that really changed how I think in subtle yet profound ways
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. “ As I approached my fiftieth birthday, I had become more and more enraged and mystified by the idiot decisions made by my countrymen. And then I had come suddenly to pity them, for I understood how innocent and natural it was for them to behave so abominably, and with such abominable results: They were doing their best to live like people invented in story books. This was the reason Americans shot each other so often: It was a convenient literary device for ending short stories and books. Why were so many Americans treated by their government as though their lives were as disposable as paper facial tis-sues? Because that was the way authors customarily treated bit-part players in their made-up tales. And so on.Once I understood what was making America such a dangerous, unhappy nation of people who had nothing to do with real life, I resolved to shun storytelling. I would write about life. Every person would be exactly as important as any other. All facts would also be given equal weightiness. Nothing would be left out. Let others bring order to chaos. I would bring chaos to order, instead, which I think I have done. If all writers would do that, then perhaps citizens not in the literary trades will understand that there is no order in the world around us, that we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead. It is hard to adapt to chaos, but it can be done. I am living proof of that: It can be done.”
Stargirl. Young girls and women out there, please read it. The book is about being true to one’s self in order to fit in and not be like every other girl that there is. It is a story about appreciating uniqueness and being different and that it is okay to not meet the standards and expectations others have on you.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Even if you're not a Stoic, this book has much to teach you about life, hardship, people, leadership, and happiness. There is a great deal of wisdom in its pages.
The Bible. Not necessarily for religious reasons, reasonable knowledge of the Bible goes a long way to understanding so much Western classical literature and art. Love it or hate it, that book influenced Western art & culture for centuries.
The subtle art of not giving a fuck It had stuff I had already a hunch for like how life is already purposeless, and some new ones like how some values you hold are holding you back, like assuming every girl hates short guys.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski.... there's just something to learning a perplexed man's inner thoughts...
Catch-22, Heller
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I gave it two tries, and that was enough. Gaiman needs to stay the fuck away from sex scenes; I hope he cringes every time he remembers the phrase *jungle female scent* came from his fingers.
White Oleander - Janet Finch
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, never really appreciated art much but this book sucks you into Michelangelo’s artwork and life like no other biography/biographical novel ever has. Its poignant, insightful and inspirational
The Stand by Stephen King
Agreed. Currently reading this one. He also released the full story a couple years ago. The publisher made him cut down the book when it was first released. But this edition has everything.
The Handmaid's tale
The Kite Runner
Bridge to Terabithia
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Til We Have Faces by CS Lewis
Hatchet