meaningful, and DARK book in existence.
What is it?
I just spent the last thirty minutes specifying, and then when I tried to preview my post it asked me to log in a second time, and then my post disappeared. The forum should really fix that...
Anyway, take two - this time I'll be sure to copy and paste before clicking anything.
I'm talking like, a non-stop trip full of love, intellect, violence, drama, witty dialogue, profound meaning, chaos etc., where no one word in the entire book is a waste of paper - a book that is not only packed from cover to cover with all of these themes, but from sentence to sentence as well. Maybe a book with characters, lines, and a story that all engage the reader in the literal world indepently of any metaphorical meaning, but which also speak to larger mysteries and realities in the world we live in. Maybe like A Clockwork Orange meets Lolita, with mixes of other great books in there. I'm not necessary saying that combination, but that could be an example of the first few steps on the road to what I'm looking for.
I'm talking like, for another example, a completely chaotic acid trip, full of all the themes I described, yet with metaphorical meaning for reality. I don't mean a book about a drug addict who has a very entertaining, yet random and ultimately meaningless acid trip. What I'm looking for is a "trip," in a sense, yet with intellectual meaning pertaining to the mysteries of life, as well as kind of a metaphorical or indirect commentary on society, love, violence, etc. in the today's world.
Something that even the slowest reader in the world would not put down, even if it took him or her sleepless days just to finish the book.
I really enjoy Nabokov for his wit and intellect, as well as the nonstop meaning and metaphorical insight into topics like love, the mind - the importance of inadament, material objects, and what they can represent (Transparent Things), for example, although I must admit some of the expert vocabulary does go over my head, which takes a bit away from my understanding of his novels. Same goes for Burgess regarding the vocabulary (I've only read A Clockwork Orange), though I do have some background in Slavic language, so it could have been worse for me. I don't think he's as witty as Nabokov, or that he even tries/wants to be, but I also appreciate him for his social commentary almost(/to a degree), as well as his darker, more violent novel in A Clockwork Orange. I also really enjoyed perks of being a wallflower. Despite being an "easy" read in terms of vocabulary, I still found this book quite intellectually stimulating, even if not in the same way as Nabokov's and Burgess' work. I give perks credit for kind of launching my deep thinking on humanity, love, relationships, et cetera about a year and a half ago, and I've come a long way (I think) with those thoughts towards a better understandiing of the world and people. I also enjoyed (on a more strictly entertainment oriented level) Neverwhere (I forget the author), and Shade's Children by Garth Nix especially for it's kind of cinematically written violent and dramatic sequences. Still, Shade's Children and Neverwhere did not really meet my quota for intellectual or metaphorical meaning. I could have missed it, but I at least like to think that if it's there, I would have picked up on it - OR that, if it really is there and I missed it, that would at least mean that there wasn't quite enough of it there for my tastes.
Anyway, let the voting begin for the Best ultra-violent, funny, emotionally involving, tragic, cynical, intelligent, DARK and MEANINGFUL book! It can be fantasy, or set in our "reality," as long as the reader can connect and relate to the novel, its characters, and the world they live in. (That's not to say that for one to relate to someone who gets stabbed, for instance, one would have had to be stabbed before in his or her life; I just mean that the story, whether set in a fantasy world, or in our "reality," should have some sort of at least metaphorical correlation or relationship with "reality.")
Let the voting begin!
I will not vote at this time because I've yet to read a book like I've described, though I would very much like to, which is why I'm posting this topic!
Feel free to add more than one recommendation/vote. How about up to 10 a post, if you know of that many books which qualify? Or, if you really feel the need to share more than that, then go ahead. I personally just find any kind of recommendations can get a little overwhelming when (for instance) a handful of people on an online message board decide to recommend 10 books each. I mean that's fifty to read up on already. To be honest I doubt 50 books like I've described and am looking for even exist. I'm not even sure if one does. But, feel free to share as much as you like, although I'm kinda looking for that "perfect" book, meaning like the best of the best, maybe a top 1-3. But, again, I encourage all the recommendations you can think of; I just don't see how any one person could know of more than five books like this. That being said, I don't read very much, so what do I know?
well -
LET THE VOTING AND RECOMMDATIONS BEGIN!!!!!
What is it?
I just spent the last thirty minutes specifying, and then when I tried to preview my post it asked me to log in a second time, and then my post disappeared. The forum should really fix that...
Anyway, take two - this time I'll be sure to copy and paste before clicking anything.
I'm talking like, a non-stop trip full of love, intellect, violence, drama, witty dialogue, profound meaning, chaos etc., where no one word in the entire book is a waste of paper - a book that is not only packed from cover to cover with all of these themes, but from sentence to sentence as well. Maybe a book with characters, lines, and a story that all engage the reader in the literal world indepently of any metaphorical meaning, but which also speak to larger mysteries and realities in the world we live in. Maybe like A Clockwork Orange meets Lolita, with mixes of other great books in there. I'm not necessary saying that combination, but that could be an example of the first few steps on the road to what I'm looking for.
I'm talking like, for another example, a completely chaotic acid trip, full of all the themes I described, yet with metaphorical meaning for reality. I don't mean a book about a drug addict who has a very entertaining, yet random and ultimately meaningless acid trip. What I'm looking for is a "trip," in a sense, yet with intellectual meaning pertaining to the mysteries of life, as well as kind of a metaphorical or indirect commentary on society, love, violence, etc. in the today's world.
Something that even the slowest reader in the world would not put down, even if it took him or her sleepless days just to finish the book.
I really enjoy Nabokov for his wit and intellect, as well as the nonstop meaning and metaphorical insight into topics like love, the mind - the importance of inadament, material objects, and what they can represent (Transparent Things), for example, although I must admit some of the expert vocabulary does go over my head, which takes a bit away from my understanding of his novels. Same goes for Burgess regarding the vocabulary (I've only read A Clockwork Orange), though I do have some background in Slavic language, so it could have been worse for me. I don't think he's as witty as Nabokov, or that he even tries/wants to be, but I also appreciate him for his social commentary almost(/to a degree), as well as his darker, more violent novel in A Clockwork Orange. I also really enjoyed perks of being a wallflower. Despite being an "easy" read in terms of vocabulary, I still found this book quite intellectually stimulating, even if not in the same way as Nabokov's and Burgess' work. I give perks credit for kind of launching my deep thinking on humanity, love, relationships, et cetera about a year and a half ago, and I've come a long way (I think) with those thoughts towards a better understandiing of the world and people. I also enjoyed (on a more strictly entertainment oriented level) Neverwhere (I forget the author), and Shade's Children by Garth Nix especially for it's kind of cinematically written violent and dramatic sequences. Still, Shade's Children and Neverwhere did not really meet my quota for intellectual or metaphorical meaning. I could have missed it, but I at least like to think that if it's there, I would have picked up on it - OR that, if it really is there and I missed it, that would at least mean that there wasn't quite enough of it there for my tastes.
Anyway, let the voting begin for the Best ultra-violent, funny, emotionally involving, tragic, cynical, intelligent, DARK and MEANINGFUL book! It can be fantasy, or set in our "reality," as long as the reader can connect and relate to the novel, its characters, and the world they live in. (That's not to say that for one to relate to someone who gets stabbed, for instance, one would have had to be stabbed before in his or her life; I just mean that the story, whether set in a fantasy world, or in our "reality," should have some sort of at least metaphorical correlation or relationship with "reality.")
Let the voting begin!
I will not vote at this time because I've yet to read a book like I've described, though I would very much like to, which is why I'm posting this topic!
Feel free to add more than one recommendation/vote. How about up to 10 a post, if you know of that many books which qualify? Or, if you really feel the need to share more than that, then go ahead. I personally just find any kind of recommendations can get a little overwhelming when (for instance) a handful of people on an online message board decide to recommend 10 books each. I mean that's fifty to read up on already. To be honest I doubt 50 books like I've described and am looking for even exist. I'm not even sure if one does. But, feel free to share as much as you like, although I'm kinda looking for that "perfect" book, meaning like the best of the best, maybe a top 1-3. But, again, I encourage all the recommendations you can think of; I just don't see how any one person could know of more than five books like this. That being said, I don't read very much, so what do I know?
well -
LET THE VOTING AND RECOMMDATIONS BEGIN!!!!!
