What is an event, concept, circumstance, etc. in a book that gave you feelings of existential horror, but it almost certainly wasn’t the author’s intent?
A friend and I were discussing the Harry Potter books and brought up the people in the paintings. We found ourselves immersed in questions. Are these “painting people” distinct consciousnesses from the real people they were based on? Does their consciousness just spring forth the day they’re created, with all the “real” person’s memories magically implanted there, like Blade Runner? Are they maybe not conscious at all, just imitating human beings enough to pass the Turing test? How do they feel about being on display for all eternity wherever their owner chooses to put them? Is there an entire mirror of the real world off-canvas, so to speak? If not, how much of a world is there? And so on.
It has been many years since I read the books, so forgive me if these particular questions are explained and I’ve just forgotten. But my point is that these sorts of questions were certainly not the author’s point in Harry Potter, far from it. It got me thinking: have you read any other books that made you ask yourself some existentially horrifying questions, even though it was totally not the point of the book?
by ofcervine
1 Comment
Most powerful intentional moment came from Stephen King’s “The Jaunt”
“Longer than you think, dad! Longer than you think!!”