What novel blew your mind?

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CChampeau

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The Inheritors, William Golding. He's mostly famed for Lord of the Flies, which is also extremely powerful, but this second novel is far too greatly neglected.

Oooh, that book. The Inheritors creeped me out to the point I couldn't even finish it. For some reason I found it extremely disturbing (maybe I'm weird). It's brilliant though, no question about that - the kind of story I couldn't have even conceived of before.

I've read quite a few books that amazed me and got under my skin, a few of which others have mentioned here.

But to just name a book that gave me a mind-blowing moment, I'd say Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. I finished it in the early morning hours and then kind of sat there for a while just thinking, "Whoa." It's not the greatest piece of literature or the best book I ever read, but it gave me the punchiest surprise! moment I ever had in reading.
 

holy_shiitake

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Born Confused by Anita Desai Hidier (YA) -- blew me away because of the extreme originality of the writing and overall good story. Also, the author has a gift for description.

Falling in Love with Natassia by Anna Monardo (general fiction) -- good lord, the beauty of the sentences alone is the worth the read. I actually dislike the characters more and more on each re-read, but that's what makes the book so interesting to me, how human and real the characters are, and how flawed they can be.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (YA) -- easily the best book I've read all year, and maybe the best book I've ever read PERIOD. It gave me a literal hangover -- I was elated, exhausted, headachey, and heartbroken after finishing it. Just. Guh. Funny, sad, realistic to a fairly scary degree. Read this book, you guys.
 

rwm4768

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1984 and Brave New World. They were the first books I ever read for school that I actually enjoyed. Well, I also read the Hobbit one year, and it blew my mind in a different way.
 

madrynea

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The one book that broke my heart and left me in shock for months after I read it is one by a Swedish/German author, Peter Pohl. It's been translated to English as "Johnny, my friend". I never saw the ending coming. It basically ripped me to pieces when I got it.
 

Phyllo

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I also agree with The Bone People by Keri Hulme, and would add Ann Michaels' Fugitive Pieces. But the one I can't believe hasn't been mentioned, especially with the movie currently in release, is David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. It left me awed, as in: How could anyone have written something that was so brilliant on so many levels?
 

thebloodfiend

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Novels that blew me away on the first read?

The Bluest Eye
Catcher in the Rye
Looking for Alaska
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
The Giver
Diary of a Young Girl
Bridge to Terabithia
The Rhythm of the Road
Of Human Bondage
Kira-Kira

I still think they're great books, but they don't blow me away anymore. Pretty much all contemp coming of age. First time I read them was 5+ years ago except for The Giver, which I read this year.
 

Alvah

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The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham
 

blacbird

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Oooh, that book. The Inheritors creeped me out to the point I couldn't even finish it. For some reason I found it extremely disturbing (maybe I'm weird). It's brilliant though, no question about that - the kind of story I couldn't have even conceived of before.

It's wonderful to find someone who even knows about The Inheritors, despite the fact that it's from a Nobel Prize winner. It's really worth finishing. The final line in that novel is one of the most unforgettable final lines in any novel.

For the uninitiated, The Inheritors is William Golding's fable about the first contact between Neanderthal people and these new, terrifying Cro-Magnons (modern humans), told from the Neanderthals' point-of-view. It's dark and compelling, and just plain breathtaking in conception and execution. Fully as worth reading as the much more famous Lord of the Flies.

caw
 

AllieKat

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I see I'm not the first to say Watership Down. That book did it and does it for me every time. It's simply amazing.
 
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mellymel

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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys.

Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life--until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?

This powerful tale of heartbreak and hope is sure to haunt readers long after they finish the last page.


And that it has. I will never forget that book. Ever. It hit me to the very core of my soul.
 

maplesyruped

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (YA) -- easily the best book I've read all year, and maybe the best book I've ever read PERIOD. It gave me a literal hangover -- I was elated, exhausted, headachey, and heartbroken after finishing it. Just. Guh. Funny, sad, realistic to a fairly scary degree. Read this book, you guys.

Another one: Cloud Atlas! My obsession in 2012.

Novels that blew me away on the first read?

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Yes, yes, yes!!! These are the three that I was going to say.

The Fault In Our Stars is amazing. I was emotionally exhausted after reading it. It tore me apart and I loved it. It's definitely one that I will read again.

Cloud Atlas is one that I've recently read. While I was hooked throughout it (the first story did take a little bit of perseverance, though), I had a funny reading experience with it. The stories and the characters were really well written and very interesting and I was happy reading it, but I wasn't entirely sure about where it was going and what it was about. I was sure that there would be a chapter right at the end explaining it all or something. And then there was this one moment when I was more than three quarters of the way through when the realisation of what it was all about hit me and it all made sense. That realisation blew me away, so well done.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower... where do I even begin! This is one of those life changing books. Even the movie did it justice! The main character, Charlie, is such an incredible character and his perspective on life and what he saw and experiences was really fascinating. Definitely a must read!!

I'll also add The Secret Garden. There were so many times when I had to stop reading because a sentence or a scene really touched me and my heart was a flutter and I just wanted to stay in that moment for a little while before I continued reading.
 

thebloodfiend

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Loved the Secret Garden. I was first introduced to it through a play in third grade. I like The Little Princess more, but the former is pretty awesome.
 

cmi0616

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Wow. W. Somerset is getting a lot of love on this thread. I just started Of Human Bondage this evening. Only 20 pages into it and I'm already an emotional train-wreck...
 

AVS

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Some great books, and great ideas for reading:

I have a whole mixed bag, but unsurprisingly like most people I expect, they mostly come from when I was younger.

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Lord of the Rings: JRRT
Blood Meridian: Cormac McCarthy
The Stand: Stephen King
Crime and Punishment: Dostoyevsky
The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Stephen Donaldson

There were many great others, but those I often thought wow the imagination, or wow how has he done that, created that feeling, that impression.
 

Eddyz Aquila

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Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.


Really, really impressed me. I was bored in my English class because I've done all my homework so the teacher handed it to me. Finished it by the end of the class.
 

Drey of Boon

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Second votes for:

Slaughterhouse 5, Kurt Vonnegut - just finished reading this. Holy cow. Broke every rule in the book and I just didn't care. So stripped back and basic I wondered why I'd never read a book like it before.

Blood Meridien, Cormac McCarthy - opened my eyes; I didn't realise books like this actually existed.

And:

Embassytown, China Mieville - was honestly feeling a bit of China-fatigue, but he won me over again on this one. Very self-conscious but no worse for it. Unlike anything I've read for quite some time.

Dead Babies, Martin Amis - like Blood Meridien, I didn't know you could pick up a book and read this kind of stuff. First time I ever read the f-bomb in print.

Anything by Jeff Vandermeer. If you've already read any of his stuff then you know what I'm talking about.
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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You would fit in quite well with everyone I know. I can't put my finger on exactly why I enjoyed it so much, but I just ate it up.

I semi-liked it, but I did think it went on for about 300 pages more than it should have.
 

CChampeau

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For the uninitiated, The Inheritors is William Golding's fable about the first contact between Neanderthal people and these new, terrifying Cro-Magnons (modern humans), told from the Neanderthals' point-of-view. It's dark and compelling, and just plain breathtaking in conception and execution. Fully as worth reading as the much more famous Lord of the Flies.

caw

Both novels are relatively short and dig deeply into the human psyche, sometimes confronting uncomfortable truths. I've read Lord of the Flies twice, and count it among my favorite books; it was through a desire to read more from Golding that I found The Inheritors. Some people found Lord of the Flies disturbing (as did I), but it was disturbing in a more or less 'conventional' way. The Inheritors is different...it puts you in the point of view of a primitive mind, which was somehow unsettling (straight up scary really). I remember they referred to each other by monosyllabic names like 'Fa'. It's surprising that it's not as well known as Golding's more famous work, but this might be because such an unconventional story. And yet it's so 'basic'.
 

gingerwoman

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I also agree with The Bone People by Keri Hulme, and would add Ann Michaels' Fugitive Pieces. But the one I can't believe hasn't been mentioned, especially with the movie currently in release, is David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. It left me awed, as in: How could anyone have written something that was so brilliant on so many levels?
There are people who say The Bone People condones violent child abuse. And.... they aren't exactly wrong. :-( Which is a pity because the novel is so beautifully written.
I will add Midwives by Chris Bojahlian.
 

Buffysquirrel

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It's wonderful to find someone who even knows about The Inheritors, despite the fact that it's from a Nobel Prize winner.

Add me to the list of people who know this book. I want to be wonderful too!
 

crunchyblanket

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Watership Down was the first book I read that made me want to write. I was 7 or 8, I think.

As an adult: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, for sheer imagination and worldbuilding. The City And The City by China Mieville. And more recently, Katja From The Punk Band by Simon Logan.
 

madrynea

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Some great books, and great ideas for reading:

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Stephen Donaldson


That was the first book (trilogy) I ever read in English (and boy, did I need a dictionary ten times per page!), and it got me hooked on fantasy as well as the English language. Apart from that, it's got the most amazing side character I've ever met in a fantasy novel. :)
 

luxisufeili

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Looking for Alaska - John Green. Also read The Fault in Our Stars, which was pretty good, too. Unfortunately the biggest problem I have with these books is that any books I read after them don't seem that good anymore.
 
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