What is the most profound novel you've ever read?

Question

For me, it was "My Brother's Keeper," by Marcia Davenport. It is the story of two brothers who were found dead amid tons of rubbish in their house.

The book details how they got to that point.

The book made such an impression on me that I never forgot it. It was written in 1954. I was shocked that anyone could live that way, and then, years later, I noticed one of my aunts had become just such a packrat. Scary.

Answer 1

"The Mainspring of Human Progress" by Weaver.

It is a study in the history of man's ascent to liberty.

It swiftly and clearly explains the steps leading mankind toward complex civilization, and how such empires are toppled.

Freedom, man's greatest invention, is eroded by well-meaning but selfish politicians, until the masses forget how the vast variety of goods is actually brought to market.

Take away incentive (property rights) and you'll starve. Always.

Privacy must exist in order to protect individual freedom.

Our nation, for this reason, is doomed. America will join the rubble of a dozen mighty civilizations that knew they'd last forever.

Great question. I agree with many of the above offerings!
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Answer 2

There have been many. The trouble is that a book that speaks to the person you are when you read it, does not necessarily do the same thing years later, when you are no longer in that same place in your psyche.

I have tried to go back and revisit a "profound read" a few times....each time to be disappointed and wonder whatever I saw that spoke to me so graphically that first time.

I would say that the two books that helped shape my character the most when I was young were "To Kill a Mockingbird". I was a little bit older than Scout's age when I had to watch the movie for a discussion in class. Afterwards we read the book. I felt so profoundly guilty that white civilization could target a man of a different colour, just because he was, and I vowed never to be one of those people.

And then we read "Lord of the Flies". And I remember being absolutely horrified that human beings (of any age) could lose their humanity that drastically just because they had been removed from the mainstream of society. It made me vow that I would never turn into a selfish, animalistic egomaniac such as those.

I hesitate to reread either one of these books, although I have contemplated that very thing, just so that those feelings I first carried away from them would not be tarnished by the change in my psyche that has taken place over the decades since.

Answer 3

I'm not sure if this is considered a novel, maybe more of a short story. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I have read the book and seen the movie. I found a copy of the book in my daughters room when she was a teenager and I took ownership! Such a classic with so many of life's lessons.

Answer 4

Perhaps "novel" is not the word, but the most impactful book I have read is Brian Weiss's "Many Lives, Many Masters." I strongly suggest that ALL read this book...it is a fast read, and it put so much of my head into perspective. IT is not a self-help book, but explains so much of how I felt before I read it, in fact, so much of what I knew to be true, but in this book, it was all tied together...my life has NOT been the same since reading. IT can be found at Amazon, on Ebay, and elsewhere. Most librarys carry it. Please, do yourself a favor and read it. It can be read, by most, in 3 hours or less...but the knowledge contained therein will last you a lifetime! Those of you who know me realize that I rarely, if ever, endorse a book or product....this is an exception. Please get a copy as soon as possilbe and read it. Peace and love, Goldwing.

Answer 5

Mine is 1984.

It is my favorite novel. It is in line with my view of the world so much that it was the first time I ever took a pen to a book and started underlining and annotating the parts that I liked. I have 50 phrases from that book that I would like to remember forever.

Answer 6

There have been several pretty profound novels. One is
"The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas. Another,more recent
is "Pompeii" by Robert Harris. Also, "Dr. Zhivago", Boris
Pasternak. Of course, the most profound and complex book was "War and Peace", by Leo Tolstoy. I read it in college
and it took the whole year to get through.

Answer 7

Hello,

In my case the novel was "Something Of Value" by Robert Ruark. It is the story of a black African boy and a white boy in pre World War II Kenya who grow up together as friends but eventually become mortal enemies as grown men as decolonization there begins and the Mau Mau uprising starts.

It is a very long book but I couldn't put it down. Great descriptions and pictures of Africa and quite horrific in part as well.

"If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them." -Robert Ruark

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 8

Windward Passage by Mark Brewer

Answer 9

"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

This novel revealed to me so many levels of the human condition, both subtly and boldly, at such an early age that I truly believe this single work enabled me to form an outlook and philosophy of human nature that I maintain to this day.

Good question!

Answer 10

The books i could no longer placed down have been: The Outsiders by ability of S. E. Hinton The Catcher interior the Rye by ability of J. D. Salinger night by ability of Elie Wiesel the place Are the toddlers? by ability of Mary Higgins Clark 2 Little ladies In Blue additionally by ability of Mary Higgins Clark only pay attention by ability of Sarah Dessen With The Outsiders, there became into only too lots interesting emotional and actual conflicts to place down. With The Catcher interior the Rye, Holden became into only too darn humorous. night became into Wiesel's very own account of the Holocaust, and that i'm very drawn to that stuff. the place Are the toddlers? and 2 Little ladies In Blue have been the two secret books and that they saved me guessing, so I extremely ought to no longer placed them down. only pay attention became into only extremely sturdy.