In search of books that will leave scars? Hoping to find something that will make your brain itch and your feelings tremble? Here are some books for you. These books are not just stories; they’re experiences that linger in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page. Let’s dive into some of the most thought-provoking novels you should add to your reading list.
Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Blurb from Goodreads
Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.
Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.
My Thoughts
This is one of those books that left me faintly disturbed and as though my eyes had been opened to some aspects of our civilization that are questionable. While the actual events in the book are meant to take place in the very recent past (from what I recall, the 1990s), there is a real sense that it could take place now or in the future. Along with this is the feeling of realism that comes with it, as though, sure, these things aren’t happening, but would we even know if they were? It feels like a good way to highlight ways of thinking that have propagated in our current cultural climate and that it is somewhat of a warning.
Humanizing characters that are also never really meant to seem human, though they are, was part of the darkness to this. Along with that was the sense that much of their lives was set in place in order to excuse the end of their lives. Without spoilers, I don’t wish to say too much more, other than it’s a good read.
Yes, I realize that this is super cryptic. Oh well, that’s why it’s a thoughtful book. I do recommend it, though.
Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel
Blurb from Goodreads
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.
My Thoughts
First, I loved this book. To this day it is one I recommend when asked for an interesting novel. This book weaves together the before and after of a civilization-ending pandemic. The main character tells of her experiences in a band of actors who travel the countryside, keeping the magic of art and stories alive. Throughout this are flashbacks to before the world fell, slowly leading the reader through the story of what happened to leave humans in this situation.
Amid this backdrop, the author juxtaposes the small kindnesses of human interactions against the fears of what happens when civilization falls apart. There is a sense that rebuilding only happens when we take care of each other, and that the greatest danger is in only surviving. The motto of the small band of travelling players is “survival is insufficient”. Interestingly, this novel was written 5 years before the Covid Pandemic.
I really loved this book when I read it. I found it such an elegant tale and it prompted me to read many of her other works. Highly recommend.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Blurb from Goodreads
A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
My Thoughts
Is it possible to both appreciate and hate a book at the same time? I thought that this book was a superb description of some of the realities of a postapocalyptic world. It expressed the bleakness, savagery, and hopelessness that was truth after such an event. While there was hope, love, and connection, in the form of the boy and his father, as well as events toward the end that I do not wish to go into in case of spoilers, I remember a sense of chill greyness interspersed with moments of acute horror. I found this book deeply upsetting, in all honesty, but it was also very good. I hope you know what I mean.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Each of these books offers a unique exploration of humanity, society, and the moral questions that arise in extreme circumstances. Whether you’re drawn to dystopian futures, ethical dilemmas, or the quiet strength of the human spirit, these novels will provide plenty of food for thought. Happy reading!