You could check out
RogueVampire’s post history.
It’s lengthy but relevant.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
You could check out
RogueVampire’s post history.
It’s lengthy but relevant. [/quote]
Perhaps, if you’re into non-fiction.
When I was like 12 Left Behind tripped me out for a while
The Treatment by Mo Hayder.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
On a side note, what do you think is the appeal of this kind of literature? It makes me feel something that no other genre does. Like it gives me a sense of vivacity I can’t find anywhere else. Why do I have this need to seek out disturbing things? What do you guys think? Am I just a weirdo? But a lot of people in the world like this stuff… what is weird? Does the amount of people who do something determine whether that something is wrong or right, good or evil? Is it possible for everyone to be weird? What could that even mean? I know I’m kind of (not actually kind of, I’m really being pretty blunt haha) delving into moral relativism and absolutes and all those fun controversial religious and ideological topics that people have historically killed each other over for centuries. I really don’t mean to incite another crazy “God is/isn’t real” debate if you know what I mean. I really just want to hear some of your responses, but please no one flame one another :)!
Btw, have any of you read Imajica by Clive Barker? It’s kind of a long book and sadly no one I’ve talked to in real life has read it :(. The unique religiosity and philosophical aspects of the book really made me feel something and disturbed me a lot.
Sharia Law
[quote]Nards wrote:
^^SPOILERS FOR AMERICAN PSYCHO
I think I read somewhere that Patrick Bateman is not really a killer at all but just fantasizing because he’s stuck in such a meaningless job/life.[/quote]
It’s funny you should mention that … I’ve been arguing that point since I saw the movie years ago. I’ve never read the book (I would like to though, just haven’t…) but the way it ends it seems to me that either he killed a guy impersonating Paul Allen or he only fantasized about killing Paul Allen. Also, just the way the movie unravels it seems to me that none of the grizzly murders ever took place. The scene (my favorite one btw) where he’s chasing the hooker down the hallway with a chainsaw, she slams ever door on her way down the hallway and he has the chainsaw full throttle, yet nary a cop car was called…
Just stuff like that makes it seem like it’s all in his head
I’m a fan of sci fi and it seems dystopian futures are a mainstay of sci fi. There are classics like Brave New World and the even more disturbing 1984. I aslo read Mara and Dann recently by Doris Lessing. That was pretty disturbing in parts and perhaps prophetic, since they keep saying that water will be the oil of the future.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwod is another disturbing dystopian sci fi. like Mara and Dann, it also seems prophetic, except in this case the subject is genetically engineered livestock.
While on vacation over Christmas, I also read the first Ray Bradbury I had read since high school. The Illustrated Man. Even though some of the short stories are pretty dated, I had forgotten how dark some of his stuff is.
[quote]Ambugaton wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Books:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Informers by Ellis
Lunar Park by Ellis
Diary by Chuck Pahlaniuk
Choke by Pahlaniuk
Survivor by Pahlaniuk
The Spear of Destiny (purportedly true, but actually entirely fabricated) Trevor Ravenscroft
Filth by Irvine Welsh
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
A Farewell to Justice by Joan Mellen
Citizen Hughes by…fuck, I can’t remember his name right now
On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison
Three New Deals by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Acid Dreams by some fucker that I can’t remember
Cold Warrior by another fucker who I can’t remember
Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Tough Guys Don’t Dance by Norman Mailer
American Dream by Norman Mailer
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
Deliverance by James Dickey
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
if you find drug use and firearms disturbing, then I recommend anything by Hunter S. Thompson
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book
The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
that book that RogueVampire is allegedly 140 something pages into.
[/quote]
Cooper have you read Glamourama by Ellis? It might be my favorite of his novels[/quote]
No. I’m not really a fan of Ellis actually. I read American Psycho about 10 years ago or so and fucking loved it. Definitely one of my 5 favorite books of all-time, regardless of my mood. But then I read a couple other novels of his and it’s all the same nihilistic, overly-skeptical take on basically the same small, narrow portion of society that he seems to be obsessed with. After reading American Psycho I feel like he pretty much nailed that concept on the head as well as anyone since Nietzsche really, or at least since Burgess. But he’s failed to move on from it. I love his prose style and the rhythm of it, but I really wish he would apply it toward something that doesn’t have to do with the same recycled/updated crowd of vapid, drug-addled derelicts and their opulent lifestyles.
I’m vaguely familiar with what Glamourama is about. Fill me in please. Is it at least SOME sort of departure from his previous works? What is it that you like about it that makes it different from American Psycho or Less Than Zero? Thematically and stylistically, that is. Not in terms of characters or setting.
[quote]Ambugaton wrote:
“American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis. I’m sure most of you have seen the movie, but the book is infinitely more disturbing.
As far as McCarthy is concerned, I think “Blood Meridian” is far superior to and darker than “The Road.”
I thought “The Gunslinger” was a good book, but just about everything after that in the Darktower series was increasingly campy.
[/quote]
I disagree. I don’t necessarily consider it “horror” whatsoever, but The Dark Tower series really just more and more surreal and disjointed, and I like that. I find surreal and insane things (or dream-like things) very intriguing.
But don’t ruin it for me, I’m in the middle of Book 5 Wolves of the Calla, so don’t say anything!! But I like the degenerative aspect of his work in that series a lot. I also really enjoy how he ties portions of his “regular” books into this world. That’s a great job of imagination.
Anyway, on to dark things–huge fan of Poe. Also worth noting is the fact that some Megadeth lyrics reference Poe’s work which I find awesome, if only very tangentially related to the thread.
[quote]Ambugaton wrote:
I have a few more, now that I think about it:
Lolita, by Nabokov. Prepare to sympathize with a pedophile.
Child of God, by McCarthy (again). The protagonist isn’t really a murderer, more a necrophiliac. Murder is secondary to that end.
Titus Andronicus, by Shakespeare. One of the original blood baths.
Cemetary Man (movie). Italian existential zombie film. Extremely underrated. Might be my favorite walking dead flick.[/quote]
a) Word up on Titus. That’s a play that kicks so much ass it’s amazing.
b) Nabokov’s book is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read precisely because of that feeling you mentioned. It scared me. Less dark in the traditional sense, but wow disturbing.
At DB Cooper – Yeah 1984 and Brave New World are really disturbing in their ends. Very disturbing books although not in the same vein I think most here are looking at. Still two of my all-time favorites.
EDIT – I will not watch Requiem for a Dream. That actually made me feel like part of my soul was gone. Depressing doesn’t really do it justice.
[quote]BobParr wrote:
I’m a fan of sci fi and it seems dystopian futures are a mainstay of sci fi. There are classics like Brave New World and the even more disturbing 1984. I aslo read Mara and Dann recently by Doris Lessing. That was pretty disturbing in parts and perhaps prophetic, since they keep saying that water will be the oil of the future.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwod is another disturbing dystopian sci fi. like Mara and Dann, it also seems prophetic, except in this case the subject is genetically engineered livestock.
While on vacation over Christmas, I also read the first Ray Bradbury I had read since high school. The Illustrated Man. Even though some of the short stories are pretty dated, I had forgotten how dark some of his stuff is.[/quote]
If you like dystopian-based sci-fi, you should check out “We” by Yevgeny Zamatyin. I forgot to put it on my earlier list.
I remember reading this back in the 8th grade when I was sent to I.S.S. It pretty much rocked me to the core because it deals heavily with Child abuse. It wasnt so much the abuse that bother me but the fact that the other adult in the book was so much of a coward that they didnt do ANYTHING to stop it when they had so any chances.
[quote]BobParr wrote:
I’m a fan of sci fi and it seems dystopian futures are a mainstay of sci fi. There are classics like Brave New World and the even more disturbing 1984. I aslo read Mara and Dann recently by Doris Lessing. That was pretty disturbing in parts and perhaps prophetic, since they keep saying that water will be the oil of the future.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwod is another disturbing dystopian sci fi. like Mara and Dann, it also seems prophetic, except in this case the subject is genetically engineered livestock.
While on vacation over Christmas, I also read the first Ray Bradbury I had read since high school. The Illustrated Man. Even though some of the short stories are pretty dated, I had forgotten how dark some of his stuff is.[/quote]
I think you would dig The Wind Up Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi
[quote]Loner wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
On a side note, what do you think is the appeal of this kind of literature? It makes me feel something that no other genre does. Like it gives me a sense of vivacity I can’t find anywhere else. Why do I have this need to seek out disturbing things? What do you guys think? Am I just a weirdo? But a lot of people in the world like this stuff… what is weird? Does the amount of people who do something determine whether that something is wrong or right, good or evil? Is it possible for everyone to be weird? What could that even mean? I know I’m kind of (not actually kind of, I’m really being pretty blunt haha) delving into moral relativism and absolutes and all those fun controversial religious and ideological topics that people have historically killed each other over for centuries. I really don’t mean to incite another crazy “God is/isn’t real” debate if you know what I mean. I really just want to hear some of your responses, but please no one flame one another :)!
Btw, have any of you read Imajica by Clive Barker? It’s kind of a long book and sadly no one I’ve talked to in real life has read it :(. The unique religiosity and philosophical aspects of the book really made me feel something and disturbed me a lot.
[/quote]
No it doesn’t make you a weirdo at all. The literature and movies about which we are talking afford us the opportunity to explore our own dark, repressed tendencies. They allow us to life through moments in the life of a killer, watch families tear themeselves apart, people violating others in the most inhumane ways possible. They also give us leave to turn away from these thins in disgust, to feel repulsed, and thereby confirm our own humanity. There is nothing strange about enjoying the darker side of things, it doesn’t mean you are any more likely to end up quartering people in your basement. If anything I say it demonstrates a deeper understanding and appreciation of entertainment, art and humour.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Ambugaton wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Books:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Informers by Ellis
Lunar Park by Ellis
Diary by Chuck Pahlaniuk
Choke by Pahlaniuk
Survivor by Pahlaniuk
The Spear of Destiny (purportedly true, but actually entirely fabricated) Trevor Ravenscroft
Filth by Irvine Welsh
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
A Farewell to Justice by Joan Mellen
Citizen Hughes by…fuck, I can’t remember his name right now
On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison
Three New Deals by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Acid Dreams by some fucker that I can’t remember
Cold Warrior by another fucker who I can’t remember
Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Tough Guys Don’t Dance by Norman Mailer
American Dream by Norman Mailer
The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
Deliverance by James Dickey
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
if you find drug use and firearms disturbing, then I recommend anything by Hunter S. Thompson
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book
The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
that book that RogueVampire is allegedly 140 something pages into.
[/quote]
Cooper have you read Glamourama by Ellis? It might be my favorite of his novels[/quote]
No. I’m not really a fan of Ellis actually. I read American Psycho about 10 years ago or so and fucking loved it. Definitely one of my 5 favorite books of all-time, regardless of my mood. But then I read a couple other novels of his and it’s all the same nihilistic, overly-skeptical take on basically the same small, narrow portion of society that he seems to be obsessed with. After reading American Psycho I feel like he pretty much nailed that concept on the head as well as anyone since Nietzsche really, or at least since Burgess. But he’s failed to move on from it. I love his prose style and the rhythm of it, but I really wish he would apply it toward something that doesn’t have to do with the same recycled/updated crowd of vapid, drug-addled derelicts and their opulent lifestyles.
I’m vaguely familiar with what Glamourama is about. Fill me in please. Is it at least SOME sort of departure from his previous works? What is it that you like about it that makes it different from American Psycho or Less Than Zero? Thematically and stylistically, that is. Not in terms of characters or setting.[/quote]
What I liked about Glamourama was that it took the characteristics of that culture to their radical, ridiculous limit and then punished them with Ellis’ brand of slasher-film violence. Also, there is much more investment in the plot of Glamourama than, say…anything else he’s written. The story reads like a mystery, and the “detective” is the most superficial idiot you have ever encountered. Oh, and if you want to see the kids of Rules of Attraction meet a violent end, then it’s worth the read for that.
[quote]Cimmerian wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
I don’t remember anything in the book itself to suggest it, just that Ellis may have said it somewhere later.[/quote]
Haven’t read the book, but it’s made pretty obvious in the film.[/quote]
It’s even more obvious in the book.
[quote]Loner wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions guys!
On a side note, what do you think is the appeal of this kind of literature? It makes me feel something that no other genre does. Like it gives me a sense of vivacity I can’t find anywhere else. Why do I have this need to seek out disturbing things? What do you guys think? Am I just a weirdo? But a lot of people in the world like this stuff… what is weird? Does the amount of people who do something determine whether that something is wrong or right, good or evil? Is it possible for everyone to be weird? What could that even mean? I know I’m kind of (not actually kind of, I’m really being pretty blunt haha) delving into moral relativism and absolutes and all those fun controversial religious and ideological topics that people have historically killed each other over for centuries. I really don’t mean to incite another crazy “God is/isn’t real” debate if you know what I mean. I really just want to hear some of your responses, but please no one flame one another :)!
Btw, have any of you read Imajica by Clive Barker? It’s kind of a long book and sadly no one I’ve talked to in real life has read it :(. The unique religiosity and philosophical aspects of the book really made me feel something and disturbed me a lot.
[/quote]
When I mentioned Barker the book I was thinking of was Imajica. I love the whole idea of it. It is too bad that it was never more popular.
There was a series of books called The Dungeon back in the late 80s that had a twin looking for his brother who was lost on another plane of existence where there was a hell-like dungeon where creatures from different worlds and different dimensions were all collected. Maybe you can find them at a used bookstore.
I’m about half way through “Absalom, Absalom” right now. I think Faulkner deserves mention in this thread. Any Faulkner fans who have read more than “The Sound and the Fury”?
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]BobParr wrote:
I’m a fan of sci fi and it seems dystopian futures are a mainstay of sci fi. There are classics like Brave New World and the even more disturbing 1984. I aslo read Mara and Dann recently by Doris Lessing. That was pretty disturbing in parts and perhaps prophetic, since they keep saying that water will be the oil of the future.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwod is another disturbing dystopian sci fi. like Mara and Dann, it also seems prophetic, except in this case the subject is genetically engineered livestock.
While on vacation over Christmas, I also read the first Ray Bradbury I had read since high school. The Illustrated Man. Even though some of the short stories are pretty dated, I had forgotten how dark some of his stuff is.[/quote]
If you like dystopian-based sci-fi, you should check out “We” by Yevgeny Zamatyin. I forgot to put it on my earlier list.[/quote]
Thanks for the tip! I will check it out.
Maybe it’s not quite so dark, but I read Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” a couple of years ago, and that was especially good. It’s quite different from the movie they made from it – Bladerunner. I’m thinking I should read more of Dick’s stuff.
I also want to second at least on of the books you put on your list: Deliverance. That’s a very cool book. I especially liked the survivalist character (the one played by Burt Reynolds in the movie), and the way the book deals with several themes – everything from morality to real estate development.