Topic: Most disturbing novel you have read lately? (Read 27633 times)

Caleb · « **on:** 06 Oct 2009, 10:07 »

Popcrunch just did a top 10 list. I have read a bunch of them.

Here is a list if you don't want to go to that ugly-ass website.

1. The Girl Next Door
2. The Turner Diaries
3. The 120 Days of Sodom
4. Johnny Got His Gun
5. American Psycho
6. The Road
7. We Need to Talk About Kevin
8. Naked Lunch
9. Requiem For A Dream
10. Blindness

http://www.popcrunch.com/the-10-most-disturbing-books-of-all-time/

I would say that Blindness and the Road are two that stuck in my mind.

House of Leaves was also pretty brain twisting. I would have to say that is the latest one that disturbed me on some level.

How about you?

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #1 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 10:17 »

Haunted
Snuff

both by Chuck Palahniuk, who else?

smack that isaiah · « **Reply #2 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 11:57 »

Quote from: Caleb on 06 Oct 2009, 10:07

5. American Psycho
8. Naked Lunch
9. Requiem For A Dream

Already on my to-read list. I might have to add more to the list now.

I guess I'd say The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks is the most recent disturbing novel I've read

Blyss · « **Reply #3 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 13:46 »

Cell, by Stephen King.

Not even my favorite of his works, but the ending really genuinely disturbed me.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #4 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 14:24 »

Beneath the Underdog, actually. It was a deeply troubling look into Charles Mingus' deeply troubled mind.

rynne · « **Reply #5 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 14:44 »

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski

Both are similar, I think, in that they're essentially travelogues depicting astounding violence and depravity as the basic and natural state of human interaction.

JD · « **Reply #6 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 15:46 »

Blindness was such a good book.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #7 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 16:13 »

Quote from: Caleb on 06 Oct 2009, 10:07

2. The Turner Diaries

Hunter is pretty bad as well, though the almost orgasmic depictions of genocide in The Turner Diaries are deeply, deeply chilling. There is a particular scene where the main character pretty much starts skipping for joy because his neo-nazi terrorist army have just killed every black, hispanic, jewis, gay and liberal person in California. I think something like the Turner Diaries is always going to top a list like this for me, because an author deliberately trying to gross you out can never be as bad as an author that is basically just a fundamentally evil bastard.

In the more conventional sense, I think The Wasp Factory probably deserves a place.

Mr. Doctor · « **Reply #8 on:** 07 Oct 2009, 08:06 »

Quote from: Caleb on 06 Oct 2009, 10:07

5. American Psycho

I'm reading it now... Damn, it's so brilliant! And I didn't known about the book being in first person, that came as a big surprise to me and it added to the awesomeness imho.
The book makes me laugh a lot but also get quiet scarred

scarred · « **Reply #9 on:** 07 Oct 2009, 19:12 »

House of Leaves was the creepiest shit. Although by the middle of the book I didn't really care about the narrator anymore, I just wanted to know what was going down in the house...

look out! Ninjas! · « **Reply #10 on:** 08 Oct 2009, 18:38 »

I'm finding Lolita pretty disturbing, personally, because the writing is so good and Humbert seems so affable that I can't help but like him even as I'm reading his (wonderfully written) depictions of how he's committing statutory rape and how he's abusing her to make sure she doesn't tell anyone.

Scarychips · « **Reply #11 on:** 08 Oct 2009, 19:05 »

The ending of The Perfume wasn't disturbing per se but, I just wasn't sure how to feel about it actually.

Theriandros · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 06:26 »

Only part of the way into Palahniuk's Pygmy, but I gotta say that reading about juvenile rape in Engrish was a bit off-putting.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 06:41 »

Quote from: Caleb on 06 Oct 2009, 10:07

5. American Psycho

This book is fucked up.

Alex C · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 09:24 »

I tried reading about 3/4s of Twilight once but I suppose that's not the kind of disturbing we're talking about.

Theriandros · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 10:48 »

I dunno. The books have imprinting. That got pretty weird when you have teenage shapeshifters grooming their mating partners from toddlerhood and a romantic attraction being explained away as an eventually sexual attraction to the main character's non-existent baby.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Oct 2009, 13:53 »

Or the whole "If he removes the engine block from your car so you can't go see a friend he dislikes, he really loves you" part.

Theriandros · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 04:54 »

BUT HE'S HAWWWT SO IT'S ALL RIGHT.

But srsly, that book is like torture to any strain of feminist.

Aurjay · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 05:48 »

Won't lie was not a fan of Naked Lunch. I guess i didnt get it, but it was annoying to me. I just bought my girlfriend Snuff for her birthday(appropriate? I think not) Requiem for a Dream was an awesome movie so im sure the book would be great so need to put that on my list.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Oct 2009, 12:12 »

Quote from: Theriandros on 21 Oct 2009, 04:54

But srsly, that book is like torture to any strain of feminist.

My mother actually read all four books of that series, and she was an active feminist in college (that was the late 70s, early 80s, before feminism was a word mostly used to cover up raging misandry). She didn't like them, but she couldn't stop reading them once she had started them.

I still need to check out Johnny Got His Gun again, I never even started it last time I checked it out.

Yayniall · « **Reply #20 on:** 24 Oct 2009, 16:37 »

Night of the Living Dummy.
Pea Soup vomit is so nasty.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #21 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 04:14 »

Quote from: Nodaisho on 21 Oct 2009, 12:12

[...]
I still need to check out Johnny Got His Gun again, I never even started it last time I checked it out.
[...]

For the full effect swing by the movie of the same title too.

Beren · « **Reply #22 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 07:11 »

No book has ever disturbed me quite like Clockwork Orange. Reading it all in one sitting + the wonderful writing + the absolutely gut wrenching ideas, hurts.

In retrospect, Lolita is exceedingly disturbing. It's been my favourite book since I first read it a good few years ago though, so some of that seems to have faded for me.

pilsner · « **Reply #23 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 15:07 »

Seriously, are the books ahead of The Road actually creepier? I haven't read them, but the thought of a book more disturbing than The Road makes me want to induce concussions until I'm no longer literate.

KvP · « **Reply #24 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 15:55 »

Books ahead of The Road? Do you mean McCarthy books made before The Road? Some of them, yeah. Blood Meridian's Judge is one of the more terrifying literary creations I've come across, and the book itself is darker and more brutal than The Road. There's also Anton Chighur from Old Country. McCarthy has a thing for unstoppable evil.

rynne · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 18:18 »

Yeah, one chapter of the Judge is more terrifying than the total of The Road. The thing about the Judge isn't just that he's evil—it's that he's ingeniously, meticulously evil. There is nothing about him that is not exquisitely calculated and unremittingly ruthless.

KvP · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 Oct 2009, 19:06 »

As an aside, if you've read Blood Meridian there's a lengthy lecture about the literary depth of the book and the biblical style in which it was written posted on Youtube by Yale University. Interesting, but spoilerific.

ashashash · « **Reply #27 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 18:37 »

House of Leaves scared the hell out of me, but it didn't really disturb me. I found Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk kind of disturbing but honestly, his writing doesn't capture me enough to have any kind of lasting affect.

That said, the first thing I thought of when I saw the title for this thread was A Clockwork Orange. It may not be as over the top gruesome as Haunted but it stuck with me a lot more - the characters are a lot more fleshed out and the writing is phenomenal.

And it's been a while since I've read Lolita but yeah, that was an incredibly disturbing book. It was beautifully written, but very, very hard to read just because it was so intense.

Catacombs · « **Reply #28 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 19:01 »

I saw House of Leaves mentioned a few times on here. A friend of mine just showed me a quote from the book, and after a little research it sounds like something I might enjoy. I don't read much but is it worth picking up?

rynne · « **Reply #29 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 20:10 »

Quote from: KvP on 25 Oct 2009, 19:06

As an aside, if you've read Blood Meridian there's a lengthy lecture about the literary depth of the book and the biblical style in which it was written posted on Youtube by Yale University. Interesting, but spoilerific.

Cool, I will have to check that out.

Quote from: ashashash on 27 Oct 2009, 18:37

House of Leaves scared the hell out of me, but it didn't really disturb me.

House of Leaves strikes me as a very Lovecraftian story in the way that the house is simply beyond any kind of human explanation or comprehension.

Inlander · « **Reply #30 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 22:40 »

ENOUGH.

Okay. Seriously. Everyone stop with the stupid fucking always-putting-the-word-house-in-blue-text bit. I know that's how everyone can tell you're a fan of the book but it's really starting to irritate me. It makes you look like you're in a cult. A really, really annoying cult.

Inlander · « **Reply #31 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 22:44 »

Okay that was over-the-top but seriously you should all consider the possibility that you might have been massively sucked in by nothing more than a clever bit of marketing and now you look pretty foolish to everyone else.

Johnny C · « **Reply #32 on:** 27 Oct 2009, 23:14 »

One of you doing it was funny but the rest of you are embarrassing me and yourselves.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #33 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 06:17 »

http://xkcd.com/472/

Sounds like a book I'd like, though. thanks, thread, for the suggestion.

pilsner · « **Reply #34 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 10:03 »

Or you could read Borges' Ficciones and Nabokov's Pale Fire instead. ~~I haven't read House of Leaves but from what I've read about it there isn't a whole lot of originality in the gimimicks~~.

On the other hand, anything that can get such a vitriolic overreaction from both JohnnyC and Inlander is pretty hilarious and should definitely be continued.¹⁶

¹⁶ Memes?? On my boards??? It's more common than you think!

rynne · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 15:52 »

Quote from: Inlander on 27 Oct 2009, 22:44

Okay that was over-the-top but seriously you should all consider the possibility that you might have been massively sucked in by nothing more than a clever bit of marketing and now you look pretty foolish to everyone else.

And you should consider the possibility we're just showing admiration for a book we like. God forbid!

pilsner · « **Reply #36 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 15:55 »

C'mon, the mom and dad angle here is kinda funny you've got to admit. If you kids don't stop coloring in that letter this instant we are turning this car around. Admit that this is making your life fuller.

Liz · « **Reply #37 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 17:42 »

Quote from: Inlander on 27 Oct 2009, 22:40

ENOUGH.

Okay. Seriously. Everyone stop with the stupid fucking always-putting-the-word-house-in-blue-text bit. I know that's how everyone can tell you're a fan of the book but it's really starting to irritate me. It makes you look like you're in a cult. A really, really annoying cult.

Harry lighten up! Gosh you're an old man.

scarred · « **Reply #38 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 17:43 »

I have started something obscene.

I'm so proud

BrilliantEraser · « **Reply #39 on:** 28 Oct 2009, 19:13 »

Quote from: Beren on 25 Oct 2009, 07:11

No book has ever disturbed me quite like Clockwork Orange. Reading it all in one sitting + the wonderful writing + the absolutely gut wrenching ideas, hurts.

Loved the book, could not stomach the movie.

Creepiest book I have ever read is probably Pet Semetary, by Steven King. Started it more than five years ago, and I still cannot bring myself to finish it.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #40 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 02:33 »

The badly spelled edition?

There was a time when I read Stephen King and thought him disturbing. But that has long since gone. I generally think that horror works better in films than in books.

Joseph · « **Reply #41 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 10:41 »

Quote from: Liz on 28 Oct 2009, 17:42

Quote from: Inlander on 27 Oct 2009, 22:40
ENOUGH.

Okay. Seriously. Everyone stop with the stupid fucking always-putting-the-word-house-in-blue-text bit. I know that's how everyone can tell you're a fan of the book but it's really starting to irritate me. It makes you look like you're in a cult. A really, really annoying cult.

Harry lighten up! Gosh you're an old man.

Can we refer to him as Harry forever? The blue colour matches his stars nicely.

pilsner · « **Reply #42 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 11:26 »

Seconded.

BrilliantEraser · « **Reply #43 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 16:49 »

Quote from: BeoPuppy on 29 Oct 2009, 02:33

The badly spelled edition?

Okay. I get it. Pet SemAtary. Happy? Fucking nit-pickers.

Inlander · « **Reply #44 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 17:52 »

Wait, now we're nit-picking about how to properly mis-spell a mis-spelled word?

Jesus.

BrilliantEraser · « **Reply #45 on:** 29 Oct 2009, 19:32 »

Yeah, seriously. That was my response too. People need to find some more important stuff to nit-pick about.

dancarter · « **Reply #46 on:** 15 Nov 2009, 11:07 »

Hands down, Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis. Great book. Like Hunter S. Thompson on meth.

chowburger · « **Reply #47 on:** 15 Nov 2009, 12:57 »

Quote from: Caleb on 06 Oct 2009, 10:07

5. American Psycho

I will never forget reading that book. Couldn't have put it down if I'd wanted to. Although, honestly, I was more disturbed by the way it made me think about — and look at my own attitude to — consumerism than I was by the violence; I was in a funk for days after I finished reading. It was really powerful stuff.

Siibillam-Law · « **Reply #48 on:** 18 Nov 2009, 16:52 »

Battle Royale

"The rattling Ingram in Kiriyama's hand fire away a row of four holes that ran from her chest up to the middle of her head. Blood spilled out of Mitsuko's mouth. Mitsuko's face, once so beautiful, was torn up as if a strawberry pie had been flung into her face"

That's literature

scrubadub · « **Reply #49 on:** 22 Nov 2009, 15:11 »

No, that's comedy.

Requiem for a Dream is the most depressing book I have ever read, I loved it but I am never reading it again or watching the film.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Most disturbing novel you have read lately? (Read 27633 times)