hey all, I am in search of a book to gift my bf as he told me he wants to get into reading more (rather than his required books for Uni). I am struggling to find a book that he might like as I typically read thriller/mystery books which are not his style. He studies philosophy and likes for instance David Chalmers, Nietzsche, Camus. I want to give him a fictional book that has some philosophical undertones. I thought of gifting him midnight library because of its interesting premise, but after reading it myself I found it rather shallow. Does anyone have any other recommendations? Bonus points if there is an element of romance
by chiqueshark
9 Comments
I mean the list is endless, but I’ll bite and throw a recent book rec.
Piranessi -Susanna Clarke
Please nobody suggest anything by Rand…
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a classic, philosophical novel. It’s also engaging and not too long (under 300 pages), so it will be easy to digest. I’d say there is an element of romance, but definitely not in a typical sense.
It might help to know a branch of philosophy as almost every book arguably has a philosophical undertone of one sort or another (much like almost everything makes a political statement one way or another).
But for more overtly philosophical novels I recommend.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, contains environmental, humanitarian, and religious philosophy.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood(really any book by her) on sexual philosophy, political and religious, philosophy, as well as the philosophy of freedom.
The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin cultural, sexual, and utopian/ political philosophy
The Dune series, for political, religious, environmental, and cultural philosophy.
There’s so many. But consider a couple popular contemporary novels, both of which have strong connections to a particular philosopher, Nietzsche.
Donna Tartt’s The Secret History grapples directly with his idea of the Apollonian vs Dionysian modes of contending with life and with art particularly. Reading Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy (or reading a bit about it) before reading The Secret History opens up a whole new lens to enjoy the richness of that novel.
Likewise, Don Delillo’s White Noise seems heavily influenced by Nietzschean ideas on human instinct, that modern life offers an unhappy paradox: engage in happy but brutish instinct, or live in dreadfully safe refinement. Reading White Noise as an example of a mushy man struck between going backwards toward instinct or forwards towards the ubermench adds great layers of understanding.
Both books are great to read through any lens, and you don’t need to see the Nietzsche to understand the books. But both books definitely reference his work, often directly and unmistakably. (A character gives a lecture in The Secret History that’s a literal summary of The Birth of Tragedy). So using a Nietzschean lens (among others) on these books is a lot of fun.
Nighttrain to Lissbon – Mercier
Nausea – Sartre
If he is into Nietzche then Notes from Underground by Dostoyevsky is required reading.
*Poison for Breakfast* by Lemony Snicket is something of a philosophical mystery book in which the narrator tries to investigate his own death. Certainly philosophical, but also a lot of fun.
For fictional books with philosophical undertones, Iris Murdoch is my go-to author. *Under the Net*, *The Bell*, *The Black Prince* and *The Sea, The Sea* are all ones I enjoyed and recommend!