Can you recommend some good books (details inside)?

Question

I'm looking for these kinds of books....

Classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby
Books with dark themes like 1984 and Lord of the Flies

...which is basically all the books you read in high school. Are there any good ones I should read?

Answer 1

Here are some books with dark themes:

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - this is a very dark look at modern adolescence and the modern family gone horribly awry. It's compelling reading - I stayed up all night to finish it.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - the story of Offred, who lives in a future dystopia. In this case it's a USA turned into a Christian theocracy. Women are no longer allowed to work, to hold property or money, or even be be educated or to read or write. They are cherished and protected as mothers, but no other non-domestic role is allowed. Offred is a handmaid - a fertile woman being used to breed children for the upper class men. She has failed so far, and if she fails again she will be sent to the radioactive wasteland outside the borders of the Republic. She is desperate to escape, but is constantly watched by spies and doesn't know who she can trust. Worse, she remembers what it was like to be a working woman with a child - she and her family tried to escape before things became too bad, but they failed and she hasn't seen them since. A very dark and intense book.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - another futuristic dystopia, this time with a warped sense of humor. One of our lead characters is Hiro Protagonist, a pizza deliverator for the mob in a world dominated by commercialism. The book is really hard to describe because it's so different, but the story involves computers, nuclear bombs and the Tower of Babel.

Neuromancer by William Gibson - another dystopia, one of the classics of the 1980's. In a nutshell, it's about what happens when artificial intelligence becomes alive.

Beauty by Sheri S Tepper - a dark story about a time-travelling Sleeping Beauty and her quest to save the world. Hard to describe, but it's a dark and intense read.

Answer 2

Jane Eyre
The Pickwick Papers
Pride and Prejudice
The Three Musketeers
Man in the Iron Mask

Dark book = The Picture of Dorian Gray

Answer 3

Ethan Frome, Scarlet Letter, GWTW, a Tale of Two Cities, Red Badge of Courage, The Dubliners, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Grapes of Wrath, Good Earth, Black like Me, A Hundred Years of Solitude.

More modern: Angela's Ashes

More fun: A Confederacy of Dunces

Answer 4

Bonfire of The Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Fire Starter by Stephen King
Tough Guys Don't Dance by Norman Mailer
The Black Veil by Rick Moody

Answer 5

Catch-22, The Grapes of Wrath, The Catcher in the Rye, and Song of Solomon were all good ones I read in A.P. English. If you like dark literature, read anything by Edgar Allen Poe or Franz Kafka.

Answer 6

A new release this year but definitely fulfilling the 'dark' theme try THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS by John Boyne. Possibly one of the most emotionally provoking/disturbing books I've read in quite awhile.

Answer 7

King Fortis the Brave - a pair of twins are pulled into a magical world where they are caught up in a battle for control of the land. Full of adventure and humor, it's one of the best books I've ever read.

Answer 8

Steinbacks books are worth reading. I also liked Wuthering Heights.

Todays books, while not "dark" themed, I loved The DaVinci Code.

Answer 9

Lois Lowry books. Especially The Giver. I know they're kids books, but there's nothing like them.

Haddix's Shadow Children series is very good and dark as well. Dupru's City of Ember is dark, but not as good in my opinion.

Sorry they're all children's books, but that's the department I work in so I've read them the most.

Answer 10

Jude the Obscure is a very dark book. The Awakening is a good read, too. I also liked Native Son.