Book recommendations?

[Pinklady]

 I previously posted something on this site about trying to get better at writing, and after raving reviewing the replies and consulting my father who is currently a ghost writer and used to write plays, the general consensus was that I should be reading more (an obvious answer I know, but it’s never bad to get feedback) so I was wondering if any of you guys have any interesting book recommendations?? I liked A Clockwork Orange, Push, diary of an oxygen thief,exquisite corpse, stuff like  that. so I guess I like books with disturbing themes that deeply challenge my view of how far people will go. I also like unreliable narrators.

[larvapuppy]

I think reading a lot can sometimes help you to become a better writer, but I read a lot and my writing sucks.  I've heard lived experience helps a lot more, it will make your writing a lot more realistic when you have a firsthand understanding of the way the world and people operate.

As for recommendations, I recently read one called Tender is the Flesh, it's fiction but I found it pretty disturbing & couldn't put it down.

Another recent read... Not sure if you like scifi/fantasy, but for an unreliable narrator you can try the Book of the New Sun series.

I'll look into the books you mentioned as well, they seem interesting! 

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

A Clockwork Orange

I can heavily recommend "Earthly Powers", its a great post-modern novel by Burgess :).

[greyskieshappymind]

I like books with disturbing themes that deeply challenge my view of how far people will go. I also like unreliable narrators.

May I recommend "Alone" by Beverly Farmer?

"This is the haunting record of a young woman's anguish alone with the pain of rejection by her lover, a woman. Alone is a beautifully told story of isolation, obsession, and despair."

It's about 100 pages long depending on edition so I think it's good for a short read.

The thing is: I have no idea how difficult it would be to find a copy. It was out of print since 1991, and the 2024 reprinting is in the hands of a local university-based publisher (I don't think her acclaim reached beyond Australia). That's why I'm digitising it, so let me know if you want a pdf copy.

[imnotjahan]

I like books with disturbing themes that deeply challenge my view of how far people will go. I also like unreliable narrators.

(trigger warning! pedophillia)

Spoiler

As soon as I read that my mind went to Lolita, if you haven't heard of it it's a very famous and controversial novel about a man who rapes his twelve-year-old daughter in law. It's all told by the perpetrator, in an attempt to sway the jury soon to judge him. Thus it has both the troubling themes and a very questionable narrator.

[close]

Another book I'd recommend is my personal favorite, Crime and Punishment. It focuses on "how far people will go," exploring many disturbing themes as the nihilistic protagonist wallows in guilt over his own transgression. On the note of Dostoevsky I'd also recommend Demons, especially with the At Tikhon's chapter read in place.

[feralcat]

adding to the list of Russian books by imnotjahan, one of my favourite modern russian prose is "Apoptosis" by Natasha Grin'. the only problem is that it's only available in Russian , but i have translated one chapter into English (click on  the APOPTOSIS link to get the pdf). it's a very cool book about death, the meaning of life, and anxiety. here's the opening paragraph (CW for fruit gore [? i guess] and rape):

Spoiler

All night I have been eating oranges. Unwashed, ripping open their navel with a blunt knife, breaking them into bits by hand, crushing their backs and ripping apart the juicy softness with a brutal force. Their cold orangey blood was flowing down my hands, dripping from my elbows. My lips were pulsing, a gentle fuzzy tingle in the corners. The dehydrated husks stuck in my teeth in a familiar sensation. I clawed at them with my nails, throwing away the ripped peels to the floor, near my feet, just like I wanted to. After finishing one, I bit my palms, leaving a wet and hot kiss on it, and then I would take another one. I ate hungrily, hysterically, like a man. When I got tired, I threw away the knife into the orange puddle and crushed the peels with my toes. I went to my bedroom, sat on the bed, wiped my citrufeet with my citruhands. The crumbs and hair fell on the floor. I slept well that night. I dreamt of my acquaintance trying to rape me.

[close]

the translation's probably janky in some parts because it's difficult getting that russian vibe into english and i didn't edit it that heavily.

a similar book (thematic wise) in english is "Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead" by Emily R. Austin. such an excellent book about a severely anxious young lesbian who accidentally gets hired by the christian church as a secretary and who keeps thinking about death and people. i think that book has actually, no joke, changed me as a person. the writing is excellent too.

[Junebug]

I recommend Yukikaze by Chohei Kambayashi. Despite it's age it still holds up in the present, where autonomous vehicles exist on the roads of certain cities. It's good sci fi as sci fi, a story that couldn't be told as anything other than science fiction.