and some answers to never ending questions of life...
No self help/new age spirituality books please...
2007-11-19 15:41:49 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
The Sorrows Of Werther (Goethe)
Fathers And Sons (Turgenev)
The Confessions (J.J. Rousseau)
The World as Will and Idea (Schopenhauer)
The Book Of Chuang Tzu (Chuang Tzu)
Also, take it easy and don't read too much conventional Existentialism, it's depressing.
2007-11-19 17:23:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are so many good selections others have picked out already so I think my work is already half done here.
I think introduction to existentialism is ideal with fiction rather than nonfiction, and existential fiction usually comes down to three writers. These authors had profound influence on French existential movement later.
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hermann Hesse, and Franz Kafka.
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse - Demian
Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka - The Trial
2007-11-20 02:34:44 · answer #2 · answered by Jason 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1.) The Hamlet Syndrome: Overthinkers Who Underachieve by Adrienne Miller & Andrew Goldblatt.
2.) The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
3.) The Room by Hubert Selby Jr.
4.) War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy
5.) Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2007-11-19 15:57:34 · answer #3 · answered by forloveoffilm 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anthem by Ayn Rand, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, A Desert Solitare by Edward Abbey, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. My favorites. If you have a bit of angst against the man maybe 1984 by George Orwell or A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
The books are all better than the movies.
2007-11-19 16:14:12 · answer #4 · answered by Willie D 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Alan Watts is good. Then, when you're finally off antidepressants...oh yeah, and ready to leave the pity party. Get serious ! You are all that you have. You have your perceptions, the program you've been fed, the genetic inheritance "gift" and your awareness, inherent smarts and talents and, deep within, the knowing what you truly want. Find the deep within...it has all the answers - all the answers - all the answers.....
2007-11-19 15:58:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You won't like this answer, but I was in your shoes and "Atlas Shrugged" did it for me. I believe that book also "does it" for anyone who takes away from it hatred of the author's ideas--at least they solved their existential problem, even if they chose what I call the wrong path.
2007-11-19 23:16:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Anything by Chogyam Trungpa.
2007-11-19 18:06:58 · answer #7 · answered by Sophrosyne 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
for an analytical, questioning person, i suggest BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley. just overlook that it was written in the 1930's. its about a unique utopia that has most likely predicted our present and future.
2007-11-19 16:20:51 · answer #8 · answered by moon 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I highly recommend the Book of Mormon. It answered all my life's problems--- relationships, purpose in life, how to deal with kids, how to deal with challenges, how to learn how to serve and love the unlovables, meanings, etcetera. It's a book worth reading, nay, worth pondering. I love the examples I learn from that book. It's makes me think and it empowers me to make a free choice in life. Good luck on your search for meaning and happiness!
2007-11-19 15:52:31 · answer #9 · answered by sharia 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
"The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Alan Watts
I don't know if it's good or evil but it will definatlety open some new doors
2007-11-19 15:49:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋