Arsène Hodali

web novels, poetry, prose.

  • War Dancers
  • poetry
  • prose

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10 FICTION books that will f**k up your reality (and make you smarter).

Thought Provoking: dancePROOF- fictional books smarter

Every once in a while I look around me and wonder why there are so few people who think like me, causing me to go through this whole self-awareness thing which is… overly time consuming. But, something which I always account for my weirdness/smartness (<— gotta love my cockiness) is my love of books… yah, it was said, I LIKE BOOKS. Can’t blame me though, I don’t watch TV, and from what I know I’m not missing out.

Anyways, a few fictional books I read impacted my view of the world a lot more than the others did. Here’s a list of my 10 that did:

FICTION

  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

You know that whole thought provoking idea of babies in pods, sleep-learning, and how these things will make the future better. Well… watch it go wrong.

  • Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Think of a city filled with perpetual war, public mind control, the voiding of citizenship, ever-changing history, and torture… and then imagine you lived there right now without knowing (you probably do)… Welcome to Nineteen Eighty-Four (provocative right?).

  • Animal Farm by George Orwell

*Sigh* When power corrupts. “All animal are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

  • A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I never knew quiet how to look at this book. The main character is f**ked up to begin with (single word –> rapist), yet through government f**kery (classical conditioning) he becomes better (?). Who should my anger be directed towards?

  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Catch-22 specifies that a concern for one’s safety during war requires a rational mind, but proving he was rational meant he had to fly the planes, the only way to not fly was to be crazy. If he flew the plans he was crazy and didn’t have to, if he didn’t fly the planes he was rational and had to. *huh?*

  • To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“A Mockingbird does nothing but sing sweet beautiful music”… The ending of this made me sooo mad. Mad at the book in general, and mad that society once used to be exactly like this. This is like Romeo and Juliet with a whole lot of racism, told through the eyes of an innocent girl.

  • Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Time traveling seems cool, until you take in that there’s still things such as war, your own imprisonment, your own murder… kinda sucks.

  • Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

Societies made by man FAIL… horribly.

  • The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

The profanity, sexuality, and teenage angst is what hooked me.

  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

One of the best things I ever chose to read (and all the sequels). Douglas Adams will forever be an icon. And remember… DON’T PANIC.

I know, I know I’m missing sooo many other great fictional books (the list is HUGE, leave me alone). I specifically limited it to 10 anyways because I’d like for YOU to comment by listing your TOP 10. I’d rather like to see your favorite books, and whether or not I have/have not read them. Stay tuned for “10 NONFICTIONAL books that will f**k up your reality (and make you smarter)” later on next week btw.

**all links are amazon affiliate links**

57 Comments

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  1. CraigB says:
    08.17.12 at 9:16 pm · Reply

    While these are great books, they are not fictional books. Fictional books are books like “Now it Can Be Told” by Kilgore Trout, from “Breakfast of Champions,” that is, books that do not really exist. Your list is of FICTION books.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      08.27.12 at 8:19 pm · Reply

      Thanks for this. Correction implemented immediately.

  2. Chasethemouse says:
    01.10.11 at 10:19 am · Reply

    Based on you opening statement, “Every once in a while I look around me and wonder why there are so few people who think like me,” I think you might enjoy Zorba the Greek. I suspect most people begin life as Zorba’s, or thinking like you do, but give up and resign themselves to living there beliefs/dreams in their heads, rather than out loud via their bodies, or to quote Thoreau, most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Zorba is the story of two men, an intellectual, who is trying to escape his scholarly life of living in his head (he is the narrator), and Zorba who lives in his body, uninhibited and free. As one praise for the book says, Zorba is every man with a Greek accent! It was published in 1946s, so male/female roles are what you’d expect, but the juxtaposition between the two main characters, provide tremendous insight into human nature, although mostly male behavior. It was adapted into a very good black and white film in the 60’s, staring Anthony Quinn, as well as a musical. The book is the best though and contains much the movie doesn’t. Hope you enjoy. LOVE your site; very inspiratonal 🙂

    Oh, judging by the material on your site and your present career path, you may enjoy Vipassana meditation. I started it a few months ago having never done anything like it before. The awareness it gives you over your body, thoughts, emotions etc is amazing. If you decide to look into it, make sure you do a 10 day intro course. I know it will sound intimidating, but it is a little like polyphasic sleep, you need to immerse yourself in it for a week or two to really understand. I could recommend courses by Goenka. Here’s a link 🙂

    http://www.dhamma.org/

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      01.11.11 at 6:36 pm · Reply

      I like Zorba. One of my fav, newer philosophers.

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