Disturbing books, good or bad?

[diceman81]

Hi folks,

When I say disturbing, I mean in a negative sense, such as depressing, producing a neagative effect on your own personal life and those you live with.

The thing is I find these books are the ones I like the most. For example I am just after finishing 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' and I loved it but it is rather bleak, and seemed to further crystallise my athiest and misanthropic outlook.

I think it was Hemingway that some author advised: to write a great book, pick the most disturbing life event. This produced 'A Farewell To Arms'.

I look forward to reading opinions,

D.

[Pensive]

Oh, I gave read many depressing or disturbing books but not in the sense you are applying here. Well, Wuthering Heights is one of those which depressed me really, really a lot. The novel deals with Revenge which reminds me of a saying:

"Revenge is barren of itself. It is the dark food it feeds upon. It's delight is in murder and it's end is despair"

I think that the novel fits on this saying and this theme really disturbed me, that in revenge a person gets so mad that he does not even care about someone's life and does not hesitate to murder.

Another novel which I found very disturbing was A bridge To Terabithia. It dealt with lost friendship and an insight of conservative ideas in that time so it also depressed me a lot.

[Idril]

One of the most disturbing books I've read was Native Son by Richard Wright. It was fascinating, well written and I think I'm glad I read it but I would never read it again because it was devastating. The main character is not a bad guy and you have to sit there and read while things out of his control turn him into something of a monster. It's a strong indictment of society and racism of that time frame, the 1930's and I believe it's a worthwhile and important work, but it is very disturbing.

The Idiot by Dostoevsky was another book that was so utterly depressing. That one, I am most certain I'm glad I read but it was tough to get through, about half way through I had to quit for awhile because the feelings of depression were beginning to completely overwhelm me, I reread Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul and a couple of Discworld books just to lighten my mood sufficiently to tackle the second half and when I went back to it, I was thinking, "It can't get worse than it already is, it has to get better" but it doesn't. I felt almost numb at the end, emotionally spent, it really did effect my mood for several days and still does when I think about it.

And Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy also sticks in my mind. It did have this pervasive oppressive feel to the whole thing but as a general rule, my main emotion when reading this book was annoyance with...what was her name, Susie or something? Jude's cousin? Anyway, she's so depressed about their lives and their social standing, she's always wallowing in self pity but you know, if you don't want to be in that position, then don't live in sin with your first cousin and have lots of babies. She made the decision to be with Jude but yet couldn't deal with the consequences...and when she realized just how ostricized they were, instead of doing something about it, she just mostly whined. But then...something truly awful happened, I don't want to spoil it for those have haven't and may yet read it but there was an event that was utterly devastating and made me dislike that Susie woman, or whatever her name was, even more.

I think books that are shocking and disturbing just to be shocking and disturbing are a waste of time, at least for me, I don't enjoy them and as a general rule, I avoid them but there are a lot of disturbing things in this world, a lot of things that should be exposed and that we, as a public, should be made aware of so in that context, I think they serve a 'greater good' and should be written. I may still choose not to read them, I have a hard time reading anything written about the Holocaust because it's so upsetting to think that anyone had to go through that, that anyone should have to go through that kind of suffering and that human beings can do things like that to each other but I still think those books should be written because we can never be allowed to forget.

[behindblueeyes]

Have you read Crime and Punishment? The end is happy enough I guess but there are some depressing/ phsycologically scary parts. It's not a book that would crystallize your atheistic views, though.

[superunknown]

Do you mean Naked Lunch disturbing or 1984 disturbing?

[mono]

I have encountered many books that I thought disturbing, but still enjoyed them, only in a different way - books such as The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (far, far more unsettling and graphic than the film adaption), Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, and various short stories by Chuck Palahniuk.
Books I have read that seemed more depressing, a different sort of disturbance, I usually enjoyed much more, and cannot possibly list them all.

[Elendil]

I would say that disturbing books are in a way good, becuase they sort of make you more aware of the world and society. Sometimes, you may be shocked about the main message in the book, but I find that "disturbing" books always teach me something about the world, even though after the reading it you may find yourself worried or sort of scared.

[cuppajoe_9]

A book is disturbing or it isn't, and it's good or it isn't. The two aren't related.

[Woland]

The Metamorphosis by Kafka is probably the most disturbing thing I've read. Next would King Lear followed closely by Macbeth. The Metamorphosis is disturbing on a personal level. King Lear and Macbeth are disturbing on many levels, national, familial and personal, but I love all three.

Gah, forgot Baudelaire. How could I??
Bah, forgot Robert Frost too. Some his stuff is seriously bleak.

[kilted exile]

If you want disturbing try Ellis, start with Less Than Zero.

[earthboar]

Yeah, I know what you mean Diceman. I'm conflicted by disturbing books. They can be good stories, but a real bummer. Especially the ones that go from bad to worse, and nothing gets resolved. I think I felt that way when I read political stuff, like "Blood Diamonds", by Greg Campbell, about the Sierra Leone diamond trade, and little kids growing up fighting wars. Or "Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land", by Patrick French. Vanilla Sky was kind of like that, too.

Or, how about "Titus Andronicus"? Oh yeah, there ya go. Titus Andronicus. A real bummer. I know there was one more, that just doesn't pop into my mind just this second, but I had this conversation not that very long ago...

Idril reminded me...it was Sophie's Choice. That devastated me for a long time, it still does when I think about it.

[earthboar]

The Metamorphosis by Kafka is probably the most disturbing thing I've read. Next would King Lear followed closely by Macbeth. The Metamorphosis is disturbing on a personal level. King Lear and Macbeth are disturbing on many levels, national, familial and personal, but I love all three.
Metamorphosis was an excellent example, Woland. But, there was some redemption in Grete becoming strong through the loss of her brother. That story was full of heartbreak.

[Taime]

The 3 most disturbing/thought-provoking books that i have read are:

'Redemption' by Wayne Sharrocks

'American Psycho' by Bret Easton Ellis

'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Good but disturbing books? Ok, may I suggest:

On the Beach - Nevil Shute
Hitler: A study in Tyranny - Alan Bulloch

/Claes

[diceman81]

A book is disturbing or it isn't, and it's good or it isn't. The two aren't related.

My expression might be poor here. Perhaps by replacing disturbing with depressing, thereby having a depressing affect on your physical and mental health. In this case I do think a book could be a great read but also depressing, and yes, all in all, bad for one.

Mono, 'The Exorcist', the movie, shocked me so much that I lost two nights sleep and dreamt of the devil. So, I don't think I will be going near the book!

D.

[Shannanigan]

I went through a year-long stint in high school where all I read were depressing/disturbing short stories, novels, and poems...many depicting a lot of death, torture, and other horrible things that make my stomach turn to remember. At the time, I was already a conflicted and depressed teen...and the stories kind of lined up with how I was feeling at the time and helped me to escape from my own problems. It also made me think that perhaps there were other writers out there feeling equally sadistic and depressed as I was. If I hadn't had those...and my Edgar Allen Poe collection...I think I would never have picked up any happy-ending stories and perhaps my respect for literature would have diminished because there would have finally been a time in my life where escaping to a book was not an option...

Others mentioned how disturbing or depressing books that serve a purpose (as in making the public aware of something) are okay...and I totally agree. 1984, the Jungle, and Diary of a Slave Girl are some of the books I'm thinking of that I remember reading...but I don't think that depressing literature written "just to be depressing/disturbing" is pointless....I mean, people are reading it, right?

A friend of mine once got me a book called "100 Twisted Little Tales of Torment," and I had to leave it behind when I moved....I am SO regretting that now...

[grace86]

I have read my share of depressing stories. The Jungle was definitely one of them. I was disgusted and depressed for quite a while after reading that one. From Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher. For some time, I had to put down Anna Karenina for some personal stuff I was going through. The depression that Anna went through and put others through just kind of wore off onto me. I was already having a bad time and then I just almost took on her emotions. But after a fear of going nuts, I snapped out of it.

But I do think that even most of the depressing books I have read serve a higher purpose. The Jungle spoke about socialism and industry for example. I think they are worthwhile as long as you don't get completely absorbed in emotions and remember the meaning. I agree with Shannanigan about needing certain types of books for certain emotions and times in your life.

[Idril]

...but I don't think that depressing literature written "just to be depressing/disturbing" is pointless....I mean, people are reading it, right?



I didn't mean that to be a blanket statement, I guess I was just talking from my own point of view, for me they are pointless. I like dark, I like depressing, I just like there to be some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, I'm even happy with just the slightest hint of light and I like there to be a valid, compelling reason why people are suffering or doing horrible awful things to each other...not that I think there are valid and compelling reasons why people should do horrible, awful things to each other, but you know what I mean, within the context of the novel...but novels that are depressing just to be depressing, characters who are evil just to be evil seem to me to be somewhat exploitive, I get no pleasure or satisfaction out of reading them so for me, they are pointless and I choose not to read them. What other people choose to read is their own business, some people will read anything. ;)

[Shannanigan]

true, true...hehe...I'm remembering a professor I had who refused to read anything that wasn't all sunshiny and full of happy endings....goodness what shallow end of the pool to be in on....

I was just thinking...does it all really matter? Does literature have to have a point, or a purpose for that matter? Can't it just be an expression of the writer's imagination?

[behindblueeyes]

a clockwork orange is pretty disturbing

[Cormeister37]

I too have been conflicted about good books that make me feel depressed. I like them immensely, but are they especially beneficient toward my mental health? and isn't that the purpose of reading (to be enlightened)? In particular, reading any Camus depresses me--I just finished The Plague. The Stranger especially I couldn't like, but I respect it and appreciate it. I think the whole topic can be understood the way that intelligence is understood, that the more intelligent you get the more you're apt to look at the world obscurely, and see its dark sides. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

[Manfred]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest--extremely disturbing.

[Woland]

I guess I would put Dante on this thread also - at least as far as the Inferno. God I just want to get the pilgrim through Hell already. :lol:

[mono]

I guess I would put Dante on this thread also - at least as far as the Inferno. God I just want to get the pilgrim through Hell already. :lol:
Indeed, Dante inspired both my own writing as well as some strange dreams while reading The Divine Comedy. I think out of any of them, Purgatorio probably appealed/unsettled/inspired me most, sticking in my mind to a distinguished degree.

[Capnplank]

A list of disturbing novels would be incomplete without:
Gunter Grass - The Tin Drum
Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood
Par Lagerkvist - The Dwarf


A list of bleak/depressing novels would be incomplete without:
Knut Hamsun - Hunger
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment (for the most part)
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart
Virtually any dystopia (Brave New World, 1984, We, etc.) or war novel (All Quiet on the Western Front, Night, etc.)...


Love 'em all, though.

[bhekti]

My life has been disturbed (read: shaped) by these books:
Eiji Yoshikawa's Mushashi
Sartre's Being and Nothingness (not finished)
The Bible (still reading)
Solzhenitsyn's One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Kierkegaard's The Purity of the Heart Is To Will One Thing
All Dostoevsky's
Hemingway's Short stories, For Whom The Bell Tolls
Derrida's On Grammatology
All Nietzsche's (still reading)

[Lilac Cotton]

Battle Book by Suess. Now that is horrific!

[Behemoth]

Titus Andronicus was probably the worst thing i've read in a while, although The Iliad comes a close second in the gore rating... :eek: I guess I also found The Catcher in the Rye quite disturbing, he just seemed to be so soulless and without any kind of drive, it made me feel completely and utterly depressed!!!

[subterranean]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest--extremely disturbing.


Have not read the book, but have watched the movie few times. And yes, it's quite a disturbing story.

[Idril]

The book, as always, is much better, you should definately give it a read.