As a hypothetical, say I wanted to create an abnormally committed fan book club. We don't just meet monthly, but weekly, maybe even twice weekly. We construct rituals, retell stories from the book, help each other interpret the book and apply the lessons to our lives.
Obviously, what I'm proposing here looks a lot like a religion. If you were to start a new religion that doesn't believe in the supernatural, but does take myths seriously as stories applicable to our own lives, what book or books would you use as the foundation? I think Discworld would be a good option; I'm not that far into it, but from what I've seen, it has moral lessons, a varied but drawn out cast, lots of things to quote, and big enough to not get bored. What else would fit this bill? Internal consistency would be nice.
by OurCommonAncestor
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Slaughterhouse 5
My first impulse was also Discworld.
The Five Gods series by Lois McMaster Bujold if you want to sound more serious.
Kushiel’s Legacy by Jacqueline Carey if you want to gain followers really quickly until you get raided by vice cops.
A non-supernatural religion, I like the idea but I don’t like your chances. I’d probably pick something techno-utopian.
Genuinely: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
If you read a chapter a week it takes exactly a year to read; the chapters are anywhere from 5-30 pages. There are some chapters that are digressions into musings on stuff like the history of the Parisian sewer system (as a metaphor for Parisian society!), the failures of the prison system (still very relevant!), thoughts on people who do good things because they believe in them vs people who do good things to get the recognition, the history of argot (which is like French cockney slang), among other things. The main story is about a man who goes from being a poor man forced into crime to survive and then fucked over by the prison system, to being someone who strives to be good and benevolent to all. The secondary story is about an attempted revolution, and a love story between the main character’s daughter and a young man she sees on the street. There are loads of side characters, but every storyline is tied up nicely, an absolute ton of amazing quotes (I have a tattoo of one!), interesting moral lessons and musings on life/society/politics that is still incredibly relevant today.
I know everyone knows the musical, but the book is so much more interesting. The love story between Marius and Cosette is not the main point of the book; Jean Valjean’s moral and psychological journey is the point, as is the burgeoning revolt.
I’m a huge nerd and I’ve read the book three times and I can tell you there is SO much to talk about. There’s a discord for reading it each year, as well as a community on Tumblr (and probably elsewhere) who all read it and discuss it every year, usually it’s called “Brick Club” because fans of the book call it ‘the brick’ due to the size and shape of the pocket paperback version.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now, but I think this book is wonderful.
Harry Potter
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler. Bleak, apocalyptic sci fi about a teen girl who creates a religion she believes will foster positive aspects of humanity and allow us to become a spacefaring civilization. These books are in-universe texts including excerpts of her religious verses. These books explore the role of religion in people’s lives and society, while also showing the reader the religion the protagonist creates.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
The Five Gods series by Lois McMaster Bujold comes to mind.
Cat’s Cradle