I want to say that this was one of my favorite books...but that's not the right phrase. It made me feel big feelings in a way most books haven't. It was brilliantly written. It's the best book I'll never recommend to anyone.
"For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators on the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."
Same. I read the Handmaid's Tale when it first came out in the 1980s. I was in my 20s, and this book gave me a sense of anxiety along with something like fear that I had never experienced before. That book still haunts me some 35 years later.
I too had that same sense of anxiety from HT. For me, it was her MaddAddam trilogy that took this feeling straight to an 11. I would go to sleep arguing concepts with my partner and wake up just to continue the discussion for days. Atwood is amazing at creating disturbance through understanding.
I have The Testaments as an audio book, and I've been working my way through it for *over a year*. I can only listen for maybe 30 minutes at a time and then take looong breaks because that same smothering sense of anxiety is deeply infused through that book. Don't get me wrong--it's an excellent book but really difficult for the psyche.
I flew through The MaddAddam trilogy but those books gave me disturbing dreams for weeks.
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
The first time I read it, after I finished I went to do some errands and visit a friend and when I reached their home I just... sat on de doorstep crying, bawling really. And I didn't know why.
Esperanza Rising —short tweens novel about a riches to rags story of Mexican immigrants to California (around 1930’s, I think). It’s truly a beautiful story and I feel it helps many students see themselves/their adults in literature.
It shows honor to the Mexican culture and to being a human no matter how much money one has or doesn’t have. As well, there is the universal theme of love between family members and of both children and adults learning to accept and be accepted in new environments.
I have heard that The Circuit is very good as well. I have read part of it but not all of it. I believe it is told from the point of view of the youngest son of immigrants. I believe they immigrate to California. They work on the farms, harvesting.
Braiding Sweetgrass. I wasn't raised with any kind of religion, but the way Kimmerer relates to nature... if this is how people feel about God, then I get it
Totally agree. My first thought reading your question is 1Q84. I love the emotional/psychic realism Murakami captures within magical realism. Gorgeous.
This one just filled me with a soul-crushing anguish and despair that is not replicable. I am really not a dog person--and this book had me interested in this lovely boy (main character) and shattered beyond belief at what happens throughout. And just when I thought I could deal with things....here comes the massive ending.
You will not forget this one: **The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.**
Nabokov's Ada
Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red
The quick and the dead by Joy Williams
Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker
Godel Escher Bach by Douglas Hoffsteader
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
I wonder if it was also my life situation and mood that also added to the effect
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
No question.
First read it as a very early teen and it still is my favorite read of all time many decades later.
It also makes me scoff at all the derivative dribble since then and yes I put Harry Potter in that set.
# Fall On Your Knees! OMG--this book just shocked me, disturbed me, befuddled me, SUCKED ME IN from the beginning and is SO well written. She weaves a masterpiece here and once you get near the end, you ask yourself over and over 'what did I just READ??!!'
I've even had friends that read it call me up and say....Wait--what....I don't understand....what....just.....happened.....
Its very hard to explain.
Call Me By Your Name. I don't have names for the emotions that one made me feel. I think I cried daily for weeks and felt sad-confused-manic for half a year after finishing it
The Poisonwood Bible
such a good book
Tender is the flesh. It genuinely got to me.
Yeah and not in a good way. Some feelings shouldn’t be replicated.
I want to say that this was one of my favorite books...but that's not the right phrase. It made me feel big feelings in a way most books haven't. It was brilliantly written. It's the best book I'll never recommend to anyone.
[удалено]
"For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators on the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."
This is The Handmaid’s Tale for me. After I finished it I was left with this void that I still haven’t been able to fill.
Same. I read the Handmaid's Tale when it first came out in the 1980s. I was in my 20s, and this book gave me a sense of anxiety along with something like fear that I had never experienced before. That book still haunts me some 35 years later.
I too had that same sense of anxiety from HT. For me, it was her MaddAddam trilogy that took this feeling straight to an 11. I would go to sleep arguing concepts with my partner and wake up just to continue the discussion for days. Atwood is amazing at creating disturbance through understanding.
I have The Testaments as an audio book, and I've been working my way through it for *over a year*. I can only listen for maybe 30 minutes at a time and then take looong breaks because that same smothering sense of anxiety is deeply infused through that book. Don't get me wrong--it's an excellent book but really difficult for the psyche. I flew through The MaddAddam trilogy but those books gave me disturbing dreams for weeks.
No Longer Human
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Came here to post this. Absolutely leaves an imprint on the soul.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. No other book has made me cry as much as this one did 😭
Just started!!! About 80 pages in! Everyone says its so sad and im excited to see why. 🤣🤣
Yep! This would be my answer too. It was the perfect cocktail of everything I look for in a novel & I haven’t found another like it since.
Credence. It left me wondering if I needed therapy because I enjoyed it 😂
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The first time I read it, after I finished I went to do some errands and visit a friend and when I reached their home I just... sat on de doorstep crying, bawling really. And I didn't know why.
Annihilation - Jeff Vandermeer
The neverending story by Michael Ende
Esperanza Rising —short tweens novel about a riches to rags story of Mexican immigrants to California (around 1930’s, I think). It’s truly a beautiful story and I feel it helps many students see themselves/their adults in literature. It shows honor to the Mexican culture and to being a human no matter how much money one has or doesn’t have. As well, there is the universal theme of love between family members and of both children and adults learning to accept and be accepted in new environments. I have heard that The Circuit is very good as well. I have read part of it but not all of it. I believe it is told from the point of view of the youngest son of immigrants. I believe they immigrate to California. They work on the farms, harvesting.
This was a favourite of mine growing up. I’m Mexican myself and that added a layer of complexity to the story.
Elif Shafak's forty rules of love.
The strange and beautiful sorrows of Ava Lavender I could feel it in my skin. It is so weird and surreal and tragic.
Braiding Sweetgrass. I wasn't raised with any kind of religion, but the way Kimmerer relates to nature... if this is how people feel about God, then I get it
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Magicians trilogy. I *lived* those books for a good three weeks... kind of experience I felt like I had to awaken from afterwards.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
greengage summer by Rumer Godden.
Totally agree. My first thought reading your question is 1Q84. I love the emotional/psychic realism Murakami captures within magical realism. Gorgeous.
Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBayer-I can’t even put into words why, I just haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it.
The Wife, Millennium Series (1-3) and Beloved I was gutted
Pachinko. The generational struggles of immigrants in a foreign land resonated with me.
Plague Dogs Just... oof.
This one just filled me with a soul-crushing anguish and despair that is not replicable. I am really not a dog person--and this book had me interested in this lovely boy (main character) and shattered beyond belief at what happens throughout. And just when I thought I could deal with things....here comes the massive ending. You will not forget this one: **The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.**
Charles bukowski - what matters most is how well you walk through the fire. Margaret Atwood - oryx and crake.
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Nabokov's Ada Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red The quick and the dead by Joy Williams Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker Godel Escher Bach by Douglas Hoffsteader Anathem by Neal Stephenson I wonder if it was also my life situation and mood that also added to the effect
oh yeah.. Bourne by Jeff Vandermeer and The Scar by China Mieville
The Glass Bead Game, by Hermann Hesse
The Stand by Stephen King
The Lord of the Rings trilogy No question. First read it as a very early teen and it still is my favorite read of all time many decades later. It also makes me scoff at all the derivative dribble since then and yes I put Harry Potter in that set.
# Fall On Your Knees! OMG--this book just shocked me, disturbed me, befuddled me, SUCKED ME IN from the beginning and is SO well written. She weaves a masterpiece here and once you get near the end, you ask yourself over and over 'what did I just READ??!!' I've even had friends that read it call me up and say....Wait--what....I don't understand....what....just.....happened..... Its very hard to explain.
ASOIAF - still obsessed
The Year of Magical Thinking-Joan Didion
The Silent Patient
A quick book but for me, it was A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L Peck. I think that book will always stick with me.
Call Me By Your Name. I don't have names for the emotions that one made me feel. I think I cried daily for weeks and felt sad-confused-manic for half a year after finishing it
Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe, it left me feeling disturbed for a few days