The first one that comes to mind is “The jungle” by Upton Sinclair. I read it for the first time in Highschool and it was the first ever school-assigned book that I had read through and finished before the class had barely started. Incredibly gripping, totally disgusting.
Any recommendations somewhat like this? Or just any good and crazy books you couldn’t put down?
by Low-Whole-2431
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I read Peter Benchley’s book “Jaws” 2 years before the movie.
It was intense, like the movie didn’t get there.
If I could have heard the movie sound-track, though, the book would have made a wreck of me.
Human Stain- Philip Roth
Here are the big ones for me:
1. 1984 (Orwell)
2. The Piazza Tales (Melville)
3. Moby Dick (Melville)
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
5. No Country For Old Men, The Road (McCarthy)
6. The Sirens of Titan (Vonnegut)
7. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
8. “A Painful Case” (Joyce)
9. “The Masque of The Red Death” (Poe)
10. Leaves of Grass (Whitman)
While some of these weren’t “gripping,” these all expanded my idea of what can be accomplished with a literary work.
**The Creative Act**, by Rick Rubin, showed me that you don’t actually need to be a specialist in the area in which you are creating something. The most important thing is creating the environment and mindset to create something either yourself, or through something/someone else. A brilliant read that is simple in concept, big in impact.
*Age of Reason* by Thomas Paine (same person who wrote Common Sense, the manifesto of the American Revolution). The book is public domain, so it’s easy to find and read if you want.
“Improvised Explosives for the Dexterity Challenged” blew my mind….and fingers….
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. I read it when I was a young adult and was curious because of the film being banned at the time. I then became obsessed with Burgess, as it wasn’t like anything I’d ever read til then.
The John Deere 6175m owners manual.
**And Then She Fell** (Alicia Elliott): I got so engrossed in this book that I finished it in one sitting, reading until 2:30am. I just… felt that I couldn’t leave the main character there, alone. I had to finish and get her out. The book left me sobbing. I’m not surprised it has some lower “reviews” – it’s weird scary and difficult like mental illness can actually be. It’s not a kind book.