While reading Kurt Vonnegut’ slaughterhouse-five, which is one of my all-time favorites, I came across this paragraph:
"There is one other book, that can teach you everything you need to know about life… it's The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but that's not enough anymore."
And I just wondered, how astounding that would be to have a book which explores a wide spectrum of themes, emotions, contemplations, human behavior, history, illation and combines it with outstanding writing prowess that makes you feel as if it almost has everything.
Now that I read Brothers Karamazov with high expectations, it didn’t blow me away as much as I hoped it would. And I won’t delve into why it just didn’t click. What I’d like to know is; what do you fellow redditors believe is your book that has (almost) “everything”?
-My personal picks would be “one hundred years of solitude”, “Anna Karenina”, “Swann’s Way”, and “The Great Gatsby”.
by shotgunshelli
4 Comments
I don’t think one book can do this.
>Now that I read Brothers Karamazov with high expectations, it didn’t blow me away as much as I hoped it would.
i mean, he says its not enough.
Moby Dick
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
If there’s a novel that genuinely feels like it’s trying to wrestle with everything good and evil, free will, family trauma, love, jealousy, identity, forgiveness it’s East of Eden.
The whole “timshel” idea alone (thou mayest) is enough to chew on for a lifetime. It’s one of those rare books that feels philosophical without being abstract, emotional without being sentimental, and epic without losing intimacy.
It doesn’t just show you life it argues with you about it.