I’m looking for fiction (no self-help please) that genuinely challenges the way I think in a healthy, expansive way.
I want something that increases my appreciation for the people and world around me. Something that gives that sonder feeling. The realization that every stranger has a life just as complex and layered as mine.
Books that left you feeling more aware, more compassionate, or more humbled by other people’s inner worlds would be perfect.
by leeonaflowers
3 Comments
>I’m looking for fiction (no self-help please)
I love the implication here.
Anything by Kazuo Ishiguro, but for this prompt, maybe *Remains of the Day* or *An Artist of the Floating World.*
Seriously, I can’t recommend these enough. Ishiguro’s known for the way he explores memory and perception and how we delude ourselves away from noticing our own flaws in an incredibly masterful way, and they’re books that really made me realize that I am (just as we all are) probably very blind to my own hypocrisies.
I read Hestia Strikes a Match awhile ago and loved it. I wouldn’t necessarily say it changed the way I look at the world, but it definitely inspired compassion in me.