Books that are deep and beautifully written?

Ali

Ali

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What are some of the favourite books that you guys have read? The first fiction book that I read was 'The Alchemist'. I know that book gets some hate, but it's been my favourite since, perhaps because it impacted me the most as it was the first book I had read. I'd love to hear recommendations from you guys. I'm longing for books that are beautifully written and are also deep and meaningful at the same time.
 
Check out Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. There are excerpts online if you'd like to know what they're like before diving in.

Both authors employ an economy of words and lyrical style that counterbalances the (relatively) unorthodox relationships at the center of each novel. They're a couple of my favorites from the last few years.
 
My favorite book is

"The heart is a lonely Hunter"

Here is a quote from it

"It was like they waited to tell each other things that had never been told before. What she had to say was terrible and afraid. But what he would tell her was so true that it would make everything all right. Maybe it was a thing that could not be spoken with words or writing. Maybe he would have to let her understand this in a different way. That was the feeling she had with him."


I also really liked the particular sadness of lemon cake

"It was like we were exchanging codes, on how to be a father and a daughter, like we'd read about it in a manual, translated from another language, and were doing our best with what we could understand."
 
Vict said:
Check out Geek Love by Katherine Dunn and The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. There are excerpts online if you'd like to know what they're like before diving in.

Both authors employ an economy of words and lyrical style that counterbalances the (relatively) unorthodox relationships at the center of each novel. They're a couple of my favorites from the last few years.
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I love you
 
With time, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain has grown on me.

It's a very unique book. I have not had any other experience like it, before or since.
 
Ren said:
With time, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain has grown on me.

It's a very unique book. I have not had any other experience like it, before or since.
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Agree! Only read like 1/4 of the book but it is a fascinating read. I love the philosophical passages and also the atmosphere it invokes.

Maybe I will finish it one day, when I have more time (am financially independent).
 
philostam said:
I love the philosophical passages and also the atmosphere it invokes.
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Yeah, the atmosphere it creates is definitely very unique. Why did you give it up?

philostam said:
But I see Ren mostly only reads the classics. Typical Si user. :sweatsmile:

(I cannot resist).
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lol, here you are at it again with your theory that I'm INFP!

I think you're committing a fallacy here which I touched on in my discussion with Hieuwey, which I gathered from Jung's book Psychological Types and which I will tentatively call the dominant function fallacy. Perhaps the trait of only reading classical books is indicative of dominant Si, or at a push auxiliary Si, but it is wrong to attribute it to either tertiary or inferior Si. Si as a tertiary function is not only quantatively different (i.e. used less often or with a lower level of preference) but it is also qualitatively different from Si as a dominant or auxiliary function.

Dude, I have lots of INFP friends and they often read the randomest shit ever. Whatever intuitively appeals to their FiNe, it seems to me. I tend to focus on the classics because I figure out those works are less likely to turn out disappointing (as well as some other intuitions). The fact they have integrated the classical tradition is not an end in itself for me, but only a means toward ensuring the book will be worth my time. A lot of it comes down to efficient time management. I have to manage my time efficiently because with work and the writing on the side, my schedule is always very busy.

I think the trait of reading a lot of new, unfamiliar stuff is mostly attributable to Ne in its dominant or auxiliary position. And after that, Fi in its dominant or auxiliary position. You can also see that in music: INFPs tend to be much less 'conservative' than INFJs in the breadth of their music taste.

So one day I'm INFP because my music taste is all over the place and attracted to new music, another day I'm INFP because my literary taste is focused on the classics... Your theorising is driven by an unconscious commitment to prove your point in advance, leading unsurprisingly to contradictory results. :tonguewink:

philostam said:
Maybe I will finish it one day, when I have more time (am financially independent).
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Oh, sorry, I realise now that you already answered my original question (about why you didn't finish the book). It is an incredibly long and slow-paced book, it was even hard for me to finish it!
 
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Yeah, I was being tongue in cheek. I simply like discussing you type, it's one of my favorite things to do on this forum.

Of course that comment was more of a bait than an actual serious argument, and it worked well. :tonguewink:

That's all the effort I can put into it anyway, I'm too tired atm.

I still stand with my opinion about your type though, speaking seriously for a moment. But I guess it already bores you and everyone else as well.

Sorry for detailing another thread. Yeah, Magic Mountain is a great book!

I recently actually starred reading a fairly low key novel from Dostoevsky. I think it's called The adolescent in English. I really like it actually, somehow it really speaks to my current questions I have.

I started it completely randomly, because my mom had it at home for some reason.
 
I wouldn't say they're 'deep', but honestly I'd have to say all of David Gemmell's heroic fantasies are just breathtaking. The world he conjures, the character's he writes so beautifully and precisely, but yet in which we can all see a reflection of some part of our best selves. I have always treasured these characters, and the way that Gemmell makes you care for them as if they were real, so that what happens within the page truly resonates. Druss, Skilgannon and Waylander will always be characters whom I will remember and idealise
 
philostam said:
Yeah, I was being tongue in cheek. I simply like discussing you type, it's one of my favorite things to do on this forum.

Of course that comment was more of a bait than an actual serious argument, and it worked well. :tonguewink:

That's all the effort I can put into it anyway, I'm too tired atm.
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I always take the bait, you already know that :p But I also saw it as a good opportunity to refer back to my recent readings.

philostam said:
I recently actually starred reading a fairly low key novel from Dostoevsky. I think it's called The adolescent in English. I really like it actually, somehow it really speaks to my current questions I have.

I started it completely randomly, because my mom had it at home for some reason.
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Cool, I think my brother read The Adolescent a few years ago and said it was good but "not as accomplished" as the most famous novels.

I haven't read it myself.
 
The classics for me are an escape and most all that was available when I was young. I went through a good phase of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But two books that stand out to me are "Enders Game" by Orson Scott Card and "Grandmaster" Warren Murphy & Molly Cochran.
 
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