To read is to experience. Thoughts, experiences, memories, and ideas of an author are transformed through the book, as a sort of medium, into the reader. Some books are able to motivate us to start healthy habits or encourage us to take specific actions, others make us reflect upon our lives. I think almost all forms of writing have a certain value to them. However, my judgement of a book’s quality relies on a couple of conditions:
- The subject of the story should encourage me to think and reflect
- The book should be unforgettable, even after a couple of years
- It should leave me behind with a strong emotion
I have no particular genre that I love to read. I like classics and I enjoy a good horror story. A book filled with magical realism is always welcome. And occasionally I find an interesting fantasy or science fiction novel. The most important part for me is the emotions and thoughts that I have during reading and after.
Most memorable books, for me at least, are the once that leave me behind feeling uncomfortable. Stories that have unreliable characters and an unsettling atmosphere about them. While I read them, I feel trapped in a dark tunnel with no end. No end until I finish this damn book. And after it keeps lingering in my mind for weeks, months or even years.
Below is a list of books that have accomplished such a feeling in me. They are all different in genre and author, but still, they all have that “unheimlich” nature in common.
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
You cannot go wrong with this one. Until the end of my days on earth, I will continue to recommend this book to everyone. It is an absolute cult classic! But… it will take a toll on the reader and it is definitely a long sit to get through this one, still in the end it is all worth it. To give you a short description of this book (only the tip of the iceberg), I would say it is about a man who discovers “a book” that describes a movie, which probably does not exist, that shows a family moving into their new house. However, this unhomely house does not comply with the general physics rules. It is a rollercoaster ride that will make you nauseated and probably turn you into a paranoid insomniac.
In my opinion, this one is better than the first bestseller of Murata ”Convenience Store Woman”. It is far more sinister and better at making the reader feel uncomfortable the whole time. The main character, just a little girl, will invite you into her alien fantasy that she created to escape her daily life filled with abuse from people that suppose to be guardians and loved ones. Is she able to escape this nightmare through her delusional imaginary world? That you will have to find out on your own.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
This one hit me hard for such a short novel, I totally did not expect it to be so depressing and disturbing at the same time. A young man that works really hard to provide for his family, finds himself unable to function one day when he wakes up and sees that he has become a bug. He becomes more and more isolated due to poor treatment by his family. This could be a great start to Kafka’s writing since it is pretty short and not too difficult to read.
This work of Korean literature is about two abandoned little children that have to survive on their own with almost no help from society. The older sister tries to act as a ”parent” to her younger brother, but she never had a good example so the only thing that she can do is to mimic the people around her. Obviously, this leads to horrible mistakes and a tragic ending.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima
Again a book about children that try to act like adults, but have no good examples to follow. They see themselves as intellectuals and actually hate the fact that one day they also will become adults. In their minds, being an adult equals being fake, which is the worst crime that one can commit. Eventually, they meet a man that is worthy of respect, until he also ”falls from grace” in their eyes. During their philosophical meetings, they decide that he should be punished for his crimes.
A widowed movie director decides that it is time to find a new wife after a lot of encouragement from his environment. He announces an audition for his new movie to cast the leading female role, with the goal of finding the perfect woman that will meet all the criteria that he wants in a wife. One woman, in particular, stands out to him and he asks her on a date, not realizing how much he will be paying for this in the future.
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
If you want disturbing books, you cannot go wrong with Ryu Murakami. Don’t be fooled by the name, this writer is entirely different in style and genre from the other famous Murakami. It does not matter which one you pick, ”Audition” or ”In the Miso Soup”, both will deliver an unsettling atmosphere. ”In the Miso Soup” is about a Japanese tour guide who has to show an American around the nightlife of Tokyo, but he soon finds out that this tourist is not just a random pervert looking for entertainment. How far will he go to please his client?
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
I adore Jackson’s characters, you never know how stable they are. The main character in this story will keep you guessing about her sanity while she explores the grounds of Hill House. Is this house actually so vile and evil or is Eleanor slowly falling down the insanity rabbit hole without realizing it?
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
What will aliens think of us and our society when they visit our world? Maybe the earth is just a pitstop for them, not worthy of further exploration. I found this story unsettling in many aspects, one of them is surely the fear of the unknowing. The Strugatsky brothers created this eerie atmosphere wherein you are even scared to breathe, never mind taking the wrong turn, without actually ever knowing what’s out there.
We Have Always Livid in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
This one is my favorite from Shirley Jackson. Even though it is a short book, you really get to know the characters and they all have their secrets to tell. The story is definitely unsettling at some points, but also very beautiful due to magical realism elements.
Real events in Korea inspired this book. Han Kang did a throughout research on the inhuman acts of the former Korean government against their citizens during the student uprising in the 1980s (The Gwangju Uprising). The novel shows the grieving process of ordinary citizens that lost their family members and friends. The narrative changes with every chapter and is told from different perspectives, however, all the characters are interlinked somehow.
No matter if you liked the Ring movie or not, this book should be read by every horror enthusiast because it is a cult classic. I found it very entertaining and much better than the movie.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A dystopian world wherein criminals could be ”cured”. The book contains a lot of violence and also weird language that consists of slang mixed with the Russian language. It was such a strange experience to read this book for the first time.
Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov is a famous Russian writer who wrote controversial books for his time that criticized the communist regime of the SSSR. In this short story, the main character is a dog that undergoes an operation and becomes ”a man”. He then realizes how horrible and pointless human life is under the bureaucratic communist regime. He cannot adapt to this way of life and start to act out.
My favorite Stephen King book, it contains multiple unsettling aspects and is able to scare the reader of different ages.
This list will be updated once in a while because I obviously will discover more books along the way!
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