Poll: Novels that have impacted you the most?

[Koroviev]

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. But about the immersion thing, I found that even though it was almost in another language, I didn't keep stopping to think what was happening. It just worked. I did end up reading it several times, but less because I had to and more because I wanted to. Did help though, since now I more or less know what they're saying without having to guess.

Yeah, you do adjust to the vernacular after a while. I'd say the same for Requiem for a Dream, but only Tyrone and Sarah (if you happen to be familiar with the book) seem to have distinctive speech patterns. The rest just sort of meld together for me, leaving me to hope that it is only Tyrone and Harry so as to create the necessary contrast. (To clarify, if you haven't read the book, the author uses paragraph breaks very sparingly and makes no alterations to the text in terms of formatting to indicate different speakers.)

 

[Koroviev]

I'd actually say Metro 2033... It was so spiritualistic and ideological that it took me by surprise.

It was amazing...

Well, it is by a Russian author

 

[Koroviev]

"Is a good novel the product of immersion?" should be "Is immersion the product of a good novel?", unless your suggesting immersive games/movie create good novels as a byproduct.

The Hannibal Lecter books (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal) would certainly qualify, in my humble opinion.

Thank you for the suggestion

 

[Koroviev]

Oryx & Crake, by Margaret Atwood. I never looked at our society quite the same again.

Had to look this one up. It appeals to me with its premise, though I'm not too familiar with Margaret Atwood.

 

[Koroviev]

I vividly remember Catch-22, for it's uncanny ability to drum the themes of mortality & human moral cowardice & fickleties into me, lessons which proved all too relevant to life in general. As for immersion, well, it did a pretty good job at that too.

I read that one a while back, but I can't recall what sort of impact it had on me. Nevertheless, I do remember liking it a lot and recommending it to people, so needless to say, it must have at the very least been interesting.

 

[Ekonk]

Oryx & Crake, by Margaret Atwood. I never looked at our society quite the same again.

Had to look this one up. It appeals to me with its premise, though I'm not too familiar with Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood. Well, were to start. Ranges from your average clever and deep literature (though far from average) to the occasional science fiction/speculative fiction, such as Oryx & Crake or The Handmaid's Tale.

 

[Koroviev]

Oryx & Crake, by Margaret Atwood. I never looked at our society quite the same again.

Had to look this one up. It appeals to me with its premise, though I'm not too familiar with Margaret Atwood.

Margaret Atwood. Well, were to start. Ranges from your average clever and deep literature (though far from average) to the occasional science fiction/speculative fiction, such as Oryx & Crake or The Handmaid's Tale.

Has she ever written any feminist literature? For some reason I recall hearing about her in that respect, but I could easily be mistaken.

 

[Axolotl]

I finished reading The Trial today. That's had an impact upon me.

Beyond that I really can't think of many.

I love Franz Kafka's writing, but I have to admit that with the Trial I felt a little left out in the cold. That being said, there are certain scenes that have stuck with me, and the premise alone is some of the purest nightmare fodder.

What I liked about it was how the sheer corruption and constraining beaurocracy of the legal system is shown to have spread to all levels of society so that even K is a fairly ammoral and unsymapathetic character.

It's certainly a hard read though, I'm now stuck wondering whether to read something of Kurt Vonnegut or start reading a Brave New World.

Yes, it is. I will never understand why some authors are so afraid of paragraph breaks. To use an analogy, why shove a whole sandwich in your mouth, when you could simply take a bite and actually enjoy it?

I think that it helps the tone overall for the book. It combined with the seeming meaningless of much of the dialogue help enforce the feeling of oppression and stifling beaurocracy that's forcing society into a sort of apathetic stasis. That doesn't make it any more pleasant to read though. And when reading it at first I couldn't tell if either Kafka was either really good or really bad at writting.

And that depends on what you're looking for at the moment. I have a thing for dystopian societies, so I would say Brave New World, but Kurt Vonnegut is usually a fairly quick, entertaining read.

Well I think I'm going to dfelay reading Brave New World, watching a Clockwork Orange for the first time and reading the Trial has already instilled in me a fear of authority, if I read it I'm worried it'd only be a few days before I'm crouched in a bunker in the middle of nowhere, holding a rifle and surrounded by homemade explosives.

 

[fullbleed]

Following the trend of eastern bloc writters in this thread I'm gonna go for Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, the novel that the film and videogame STALKER were based off of.

An alien visitation to earth has left it scarred and ruined, but vast new technologs are to be fond in the hazardous exclusion zones left behind, cordoned off by the military stalkers will sneak in and steal them to sell on the black market. It's wonderly imersive and descriptive, you feel a real sympathy for the main character as he is forced to do this dangerous job of guiding tourists into the Zone in order to make ends meet, risking his life in the dangerous zone and at home as organized crime brings many dangers and the millitary start to crack on illegal stalkers. But forced to go back for 'one last job' with the promise of all your greatest wishes coming true. The ending is wonderfull but I wont spoil it, far more intelligent people than I have analyised it throughly and I still don't quite understand it.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Any of the Dark Tower books affected me deeply. It changed my look on life, and made me adopt a new view of God. Um... other then that... nothing greatly affected me. Though I do like to read fiction, esepcially when someone is on the run. There's usually alot of survival tricks in it.

 

[GrinningManiac]

I'd actually say Metro 2033... It was so spiritualistic and ideological that it took me by surprise.

It was amazing...

Same here. Though the translation hiccups were funny

OT: The Great Gatsby has probably left a profound difference in me, but I can't tell because the book's been, in my mind, analysed to death over the course of the last year

Also, the Discworld series has left me with, somehow, a sharper wit and keener eye. I'm just a bit more satirical now, which is always good.

Animal Farm also made me look at society in a deep way.

 

[HonneyDew]

Some of my favorite books are The Giver, The Book of Lost Things, and Fire Bringer. There are a lot of good books but of them all those are some of my absolute favorites.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Kafka on the Shore. It pretty much defines me as a person, if my life was slightly more surreal.

On top of that, American Psycho really affected me for some reason. Not because of it's explicit nature, but because it really is brilliant in deconstructing certain aspects of the human condition, whether that be a stand alone complex, an inferiority complex, whatever.

Dude, I just got done reading that! I loved it, and will probably read a lot more Murakami.

OT: Err....Iunno, can't remember any, maybe except Gardens of The moon, The eye of the world and A game of thrones. Well, and Kafka on the shore as well, but I'm having to digest it a bit first.

 

[fullbleed]

Oh oh can't beleive we've missed this!

 

[Koroviev]

Well I think I'm going to dfelay reading Brave New World, watching a Clockwork Orange for the first time and reading the Trial has already instilled in me a fear of authority, if I read it I'm worried it'd only be a few days before I'm crouched in a bunker in the middle of nowhere, holding a rifle and surrounded by homemade explosives.

I hate when I feel compelled to hide in a bunker out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mines and shakily clutching an assault rifle! D:

 

[Exterminas]

Seen on my whole life that probably would be Faust and Hamlet, may be Macbeth. Although you can't really call them novels, without having a pick-axe up your nose. They impressed me as works of great minds and showed me the deepest and highest placed a human mind can go.

Recently Yathzees Mogworld impressed me, because it showed me that you can write an excellent fantasy story without wirting dozens of books, and in the end never finish them, because you die. Like most modern fantasy authors seem to do.

 

[tigermilk]

1984 for me above and beyond any other novel. Its rare there isn't a "dystopia" thread on the escapist, and I think I am in a minority in believing 1984 pretty much reflects Western society today.

 

[Koroviev]

Following the trend of eastern bloc writters in this thread I'm gonna go for Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, the novel that the film and videogame STALKER were based off of.

An alien visitation to earth has left it scarred and ruined, but vast new technologs are to be fond in the hazardous exclusion zones left behind, cordoned off by the military stalkers will sneak in and steal them to sell on the black market. It's wonderly imersive and descriptive, you feel a real sympathy for the main character as he is forced to do this dangerous job of guiding tourists into the Zone in order to make ends meet, risking his life in the dangerous zone and at home as organized crime brings many dangers and the millitary start to crack on illegal stalkers. But forced to go back for 'one last job' with the promise of all your greatest wishes coming true. The ending is wonderfull but I wont spoil it, far more intelligent people than I have analyised it throughly and I still don't quite understand it.

I've done a little research and I'll definitely look into this!

 

[Koroviev]

1984 for me above and beyond any other novel. Its rare there isn't a "dystopia" thread on the escapist, and I think I am in a minority in believing 1984 pretty much reflects Western society today.

Can you elaborate a little on why you believe that?