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. Miss N says:
    05.03.10 at 7:58 pm · Reply

    Any existentialist book will really boggle your mind, at least it did for me. Some good ones: Albert Camus’ The Outsider and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea.

    When I read those two books, while I didn’t agree with some of their ideas, they still managed to change the way I saw the world. They challenge your own beliefs and force you to figure out, where do you really stand, what do you really believe in?

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      05.03.10 at 10:08 pm · Reply

      Thanx for the recommendations Miss N. I’ll check them out. They sound like my kind of books. 🙂

  2. Miss N says:
    05.03.10 at 11:58 pm · Reply

    Any existentialist book will really boggle your mind, at least it did for me. Some good ones: Albert Camus’ The Outsider and Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea.

    When I read those two books, while I didn’t agree with some of their ideas, they still managed to change the way I saw the world. They challenge your own beliefs and force you to figure out, where do you really stand, what do you really believe in?

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      05.04.10 at 2:08 am · Reply

      Thanx for the recommendations Miss N. I’ll check them out. They sound like my kind of books. 🙂

  3. LA (Leslie Anne) Palamar says:
    04.08.10 at 9:17 pm · Reply

    Hi Arsene,

    Wonderful book list. I love that a modern man has selected beloved classics as favourites. Very telling, indeed. I’ve not read a couple of them, but will put them on hold at the library right away.

    I’ll pass on two to you, that you may enjoy:

    Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. Set during the creation of the Chicago World’s Fair, this is a historical thriller. You’ll enjoy it and learn lots too!

    Suite Francais, by Irene Nemirovsky, set during the second world war. There’s the story, and then there’s the story of the author. Both are compelling.

    Love your site & tweets.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      04.09.10 at 5:51 am · Reply

      Haha, glad you enjoy the tweets… and site.

      Thanx for the book recommendations, been looking for new books to read, I’ll make sure to read them!

  4. LA (Leslie Anne) Palamar says:
    04.09.10 at 1:17 am · Reply

    Hi Arsene,

    Wonderful book list. I love that a modern man has selected beloved classics as favourites. Very telling, indeed. I’ve not read a couple of them, but will put them on hold at the library right away.

    I’ll pass on two to you, that you may enjoy:

    Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. Set during the creation of the Chicago World’s Fair, this is a historical thriller. You’ll enjoy it and learn lots too!

    Suite Francais, by Irene Nemirovsky, set during the second world war. There’s the story, and then there’s the story of the author. Both are compelling.

    Love your site & tweets.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      04.09.10 at 9:51 am · Reply

      Haha, glad you enjoy the tweets… and site.

      Thanx for the book recommendations, been looking for new books to read, I’ll make sure to read them!

  5. Katherine says:
    03.13.10 at 6:54 am · Reply

    The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
    East of Eden, John Steinbeck
    One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    No reader should go through life without reading these.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.13.10 at 2:37 pm · Reply

      Yes! More reading material. Thanx Katherine.

  6. Katherine says:
    03.13.10 at 11:54 am · Reply

    The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
    East of Eden, John Steinbeck
    One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

    No reader should go through life without reading these.

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      03.13.10 at 7:37 pm · Reply

      Yes! More reading material. Thanx Katherine.

  7. Evelyne Habenicht says:
    02.10.10 at 11:00 pm · Reply

    I’m trying to get your RSS feed but i’m getting an error. Please let me know when it’s ready, I love the site. Thank you! 🙂

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      02.11.10 at 6:25 am · Reply

      What error message are you getting?

  8. Evelyne Habenicht says:
    02.11.10 at 4:00 am · Reply

    I’m trying to get your RSS feed but i’m getting an error. Please let me know when it’s ready, I love the site. Thank you! 🙂

    • Arsene Hodali says:
      02.11.10 at 11:25 am · Reply

      What error message are you getting?

  9. Robert says:
    02.04.10 at 10:46 am · Reply

    When you see it, be calm, because that movie (for me anyway)gets you real angry. You’re gonna hate that girl and all the stuff she puts our people through.

  10. Robert says:
    02.04.10 at 3:46 pm · Reply

    When you see it, be calm, because that movie (for me anyway)gets you real angry. You’re gonna hate that girl and all the stuff she puts our people through.

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