Hello everyone,
I didn't know how to summarize what I mean in the title.
I'm looking for books that makes me reflect on life, my actions, the world around me, the people in it. Something that questions myself.
I don't read a lot, but recently I have this thought that I really want to read something that leave me in thoughts, make me doing introspection, etc.
I hope I explained myself well, because I'm struggling to find the right words to express it.
by ontech7
11 Comments
I who have never known men. I’m still thinking about it.
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey
Staring at the sun: overcoming the terror of death by Irvin yalom. Even if you don’t think you fear death or have death anxiety, this book will take you to a curiously existential place, if you allow it to.
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Braiding sweet grass by robin wall kimmerer were also books that really made me think about my beliefs about myself, others, and the world around me.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It’s popular for a reason. It gives you a whole new perspective about life and the people you surround yourself with. It also makes you think about how horrible the world can be, and it’s tough. It’s extremely hard to read and has a lot of trigger warnings, but one I will certainly not forget!
Man’s Search for Meaning and When Breath Becomes Air.
The Membranes – short, but complicated speculative fiction, that makes you feel uneasy the whole time.
Currently 3/4 of the way through “What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World” by Prentis Hemphill, and I can’t stop thinking deeply about it…
Kazuo Ishiguro’s works!
My favorites out of the ones I’ve read, depending on what kind of reflections you’re seeking lol:
*Remains of the Day* (better writing) or *Never Let Me Go* (more heart-wrenching imo): if you’re struggling with taking control of life/ think you are too passive of a human being/ need to be reminded that life is short>!and you don’t want to wake up one day to realize you’ve wasted it!<
*Artist of the Floating World:* If you feel like you need to be humbled (e.g. you feel like you’re walking through the world on an unjustified moral high ground) or you’re somewhat an artist/like reading different perspectives on what it means to be an artist
ETA: Also Orson Scott Card is terrible but *Ender’s Game* feels like a very fundamental part of me/is a book that I often think of when I think about empathy and the cruelty of man/survival of the fittest mindset
I highly recommend Psalm For the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. It’s a short book about a tea monk and a robot, but the main theme is an exploration of purpose and meaning.
It’s one of my all time favorite books and left me really thinking about my life. I think it’s exactly the type of book you’re looking for
Anything by Pema Chodrun, a Buddhist nun. I first read, “When things fall apart,” when things in my life really were falling apart! Wisdom!
It’s hard to find,but it’s called “The Snow Leopard”,by Peter Mathieson.It’s deep ….Him and another guy were in the Himalayas searching for the elusive snow leopard, before anyone had actually caught one.His wife had only recently died and he was searching for the meaning of life…if you want something that will make you ponder existence,by all means read it… Another one is Siddhartha,by Herman Hesse