I've been struggling with how to word what I'm looking for so I'll preface this with this is probably going to sound pretentious and I'm sorry.
Looking for books that are NOT just super light, straightforward prose, YA or super digestible and forgettable..
Instead something where the text is kind of layered, where metaphors are used sparingly and smartly, and where the author has profound insights into human nature that make you pause and think. (As someone on the autism spectrum I'm often just amazed at the emotional intelligence and insights into human nature provided in books!)
Essentially books that make you feel smart reading them. That either are or could have been classics within the last ~75 years (I'm not really looking for super old classics unless you have a reason you love it). Dont want the book to be impenetrable just more dense emotionally the ~weird girl~ books I've been reading lately
Genres: love literary fiction, sci fi, existentialism, post apocalyptic
Examples of what I'm talking about:
James baldwin
Oscar wilde
Canticle for Leibowitz
Beloved
I who have never known men
Small things like these
Carsun mcCullers
Blindness
Martyr!
Kobo Abe
The metamorphosis
Essentially I'm wondering if there some great classic book i missed like when I read "I who have never known men" and was like why didn't anyone (well before I got on reddit and then everyone did) tell me about this. And I'm tired of reading things that don't move me and which I forget immediately after reading
If you could give a one to two sentence explanation with your book recommendation I would super appreciate it 🙏
Also yes I did search the sub for similar asks and took away a few book names but if anyone has any more I'll take them! Thank you!!
by Capable_Pipe5629
1 Comment
Benjamin Labatut – both When We Cease To Understand The World and The MANIAC would be exactly what I think you’re looking for. Literary science.
Roberto Bolano – The Savage Detectives is also brilliant, it made me want to be a poet in 1970s Mexico.