Arsène Hodali

web novels, 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.

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57 Comments

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  1. Parnell Springmeyer says:
    12.29.09 at 1:34 pm · Reply

    Frank Herbert’s “Dune”
    Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem”
    James Joyce’s: “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”“Ulysses”“Finnegans Wake”

    The old fictions are good, but there has been paradigm-shifting modern Science Fiction!

  2. Parnell Springmeyer says:
    12.29.09 at 6:34 pm · Reply

    Frank Herbert’s “Dune”
    Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem”
    James Joyce’s: “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”“Ulysses”“Finnegans Wake”

    The old fictions are good, but there has been paradigm-shifting modern Science Fiction!

  3. Mathieu says:
    12.29.09 at 10:20 am · Reply

    Very good list, I would add some:

    The world of à (read non-A, and the sequences) and Slans by A. E. Van Vogt.
    Ã is books you’d prefer to read about what they speak about (Ã, Ẽ and Ñ), if you like science (not only fiction).

    2001 : A Space Odyssey (and the sequences : 2010, 2061 and 3001) by Arthur C. Clarke If you’d watch the movie and didn’t like it, that’s normal, read them.

    I would had a few other, perhaps The Planet of Apes by Pierre Boulle (but not any of the uncountable movie adaptations)

  4. Mathieu says:
    12.29.09 at 3:20 pm · Reply

    Very good list, I would add some:

    The world of à (read non-A, and the sequences) and Slans by A. E. Van Vogt.
    Ã is books you’d prefer to read about what they speak about (Ã, Ẽ and Ñ), if you like science (not only fiction).

    2001 : A Space Odyssey (and the sequences : 2010, 2061 and 3001) by Arthur C. Clarke If you’d watch the movie and didn’t like it, that’s normal, read them.

    I would had a few other, perhaps The Planet of Apes by Pierre Boulle (but not any of the uncountable movie adaptations)

  5. Doc says:
    12.29.09 at 8:25 am · Reply

    It’s nice to see you high school children get your little book collections together and sit around in a circle and read quietly. Yes, I remember reading these books in high school, too, as part of our regular classes…back in 1966. However, our mothers would wash our mouths out with soap for using impolite language such as in your title because only non-intelligent neanderthals would talk like that. Mother was right.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      12.29.09 at 8:27 am · Reply

      hmmm… 1966 was 43 44 years ago right? Maybe, just maybe, a lot of things changed since then… like things that concern freedom of speech.

  6. Doc says:
    12.29.09 at 1:25 pm · Reply

    It’s nice to see you high school children get your little book collections together and sit around in a circle and read quietly. Yes, I remember reading these books in high school, too, as part of our regular classes…back in 1966. However, our mothers would wash our mouths out with soap for using impolite language such as in your title because only non-intelligent neanderthals would talk like that. Mother was right.

    • Arsene Hodali says: (Author)
      12.29.09 at 1:27 pm · Reply

      hmmm… 1966 was 43 44 years ago right? Maybe, just maybe, a lot of things changed since then… like things that concern freedom of speech.

  7. Gorm Casper says:
    12.29.09 at 5:29 am · Reply

    Good to see others reading books 🙂

    Looking at my bookshelf here, there are a few catching my eye, that you “missed”..

    * Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) – Tolstoy’s characters are alive. When you read Tolstoy you live their lives, you’re not just reading about them.

    * Watership Down (Richard Adams) – Classic..

    * The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera) – My personal favorite. This is a novel, but Kundera should almost be read with a pen a paper next to you, just so you have a chance to get some of his many many philosophical ideas down. There’s not a single page in my book that doesn’t contain notes in the margin.

    * The Picture of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde) – “All influence is immoral”. You will get a lot more out of this book if you spend a little time reading *about* it. It has to be read with an understanding of the context in which it was written.

    * The Idiot & Crime and Punishment (both Dotoyevski) – Again, like Tolstoy, this is amazing character description. Both books explore some very profound ideas hat a definitely worth reading.

    * Demian (Hermann Hesse) – I read this when I was 23, and I *wish* somebody would have given it to me when I was 16 or 18. However, if you haven’t read it, you’re missing out. For the younger ones, it’s inspiration to growing up and being an adult. For the rest of us, it’s an exploration into critical thinking. If you are not used to reading books, and are looking for a good place to start; then this is my suggestion.

    Here are some other authors that I also enjoyed: Nietzsche (I violently disagree with this man, but he’s interesting to read), Sartre, Kierkegaard, Chekov (another russian), Virginia Woolf, Kipling, Stevenson, and many many more…

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      12.29.09 at 6:49 am · Reply

      😮 Amazing recommendations Gorm (and thank you for the details)… more stuff for me to read.

  8. Gorm Casper says:
    12.29.09 at 10:29 am · Reply

    Good to see others reading books 🙂

    Looking at my bookshelf here, there are a few catching my eye, that you “missed”..

    * Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) – Tolstoy’s characters are alive. When you read Tolstoy you live their lives, you’re not just reading about them.

    * Watership Down (Richard Adams) – Classic..

    * The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera) – My personal favorite. This is a novel, but Kundera should almost be read with a pen a paper next to you, just so you have a chance to get some of his many many philosophical ideas down. There’s not a single page in my book that doesn’t contain notes in the margin.

    * The Picture of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde) – “All influence is immoral”. You will get a lot more out of this book if you spend a little time reading *about* it. It has to be read with an understanding of the context in which it was written.

    * The Idiot & Crime and Punishment (both Dotoyevski) – Again, like Tolstoy, this is amazing character description. Both books explore some very profound ideas hat a definitely worth reading.

    * Demian (Hermann Hesse) – I read this when I was 23, and I *wish* somebody would have given it to me when I was 16 or 18. However, if you haven’t read it, you’re missing out. For the younger ones, it’s inspiration to growing up and being an adult. For the rest of us, it’s an exploration into critical thinking. If you are not used to reading books, and are looking for a good place to start; then this is my suggestion.

    Here are some other authors that I also enjoyed: Nietzsche (I violently disagree with this man, but he’s interesting to read), Sartre, Kierkegaard, Chekov (another russian), Virginia Woolf, Kipling, Stevenson, and many many more…

    • Arsene Hodali says: (Author)
      12.29.09 at 11:49 am · Reply

      😮 Amazing recommendations Gorm (and thank you for the details)… more stuff for me to read.

  9. AL_G_Rhythm says:
    12.29.09 at 3:18 am · Reply

    The Diamond Age (or a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer). Neal Stephenson. It’s advanced. Really advanced. We need those primers.
    Great list.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      12.29.09 at 3:25 am · Reply

      Thank You.

      Fantastic recommendation btw, I’m going to read it this week.

  10. AL_G_Rhythm says:
    12.29.09 at 8:18 am · Reply

    The Diamond Age (or a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer). Neal Stephenson. It’s advanced. Really advanced. We need those primers.
    Great list.

    • Arsene Hodali says: (Author)
      12.29.09 at 8:25 am · Reply

      Thank You.

      Fantastic recommendation btw, I’m going to read it this week.

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