Whether it’s Christmas cheer, Hanukkah happiness, or New Year's niceties, it can often be a bit...much. Curl up in your pajamas on an armchair with a hot beverage, and devour this list of books that are anything but cheery.
1. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
Steinbeck’s iconic novel, set in California’s Salinas Valley during the Depression, tells of two friends and traveling companions and their misadventures. George and Lennie’s tale isn’t one of much joy, and as the story gradually grows darker, the underlying themes of the flawed are revealed - the flawed American dream, flawed fraternity, and the flawed human existence.
2. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.
Written as a life story retold to an American stranger, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an incredibly important book, especially in this era of Islamophobia. Pakistani man Changez tells of his life and love in the United States of America, and how very swiftly it all dissolves after 9/11. Even in the actual interaction between Changez and the American, the once-peaceful and engaging conversation turns sour and suspicious, leading to an unforeseen conclusion.
3. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Animal slaughter, infidelity, ludicrous sexism and of course, murder. Marquez’ complex novella details the grotesque execution of Santiago Nasar, giving special attention to the apathy of his friends, family and neighbors to prevent it. The intricate tale he weaves explodes with themes of honor, ritualism, virginity, and Marquez’ forte - magical realism.
4. Lord of the Flies by William Goulding
Lord of the Flies tells the tale of a bunch of schoolboys who find themselves on an uninhabited island that manages to bring out the worst in them all as they attempt to run their lives and govern each other. Exploring themes like power, individuality, civilization, and morality, the allegorical novel is gruesome and honest.
5. The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter
The play is about Stanley Webber, an erstwhile piano player in his 30s, who lives in a rundown boarding house, run by Meg and Petey Boles, in an English seaside town. Two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann, who arrive supposedly on his birthday and who appear to have come looking for him, turn Stanley's apparently innocuous birthday party organized by Meg into a nightmare.
6. The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse
Connie Gifford, daughter of taxidermist Crowley Gifford, lives with her father in a house on the marshes in Sussex. Spooky from the beginning of the tale, the Taxidermist’s Daughter progressively comes across more and more death and disturbance in her previously simple home life with her father. Described by Guardian reviewer Stevie Davies as a ghoulish murder yarn, this lyrical fable of skinning, disemboweling, and stuffing is a pleasurable jeu d’esprit.
7. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
I think the most disturbing thing about Lolita is the fact that at some point, you unknowingly make some sense of Humbert Humbert pedophilic thoughts and even excuse them, to an extent. Originally written in Russian, this controversial novel details a literature professor’s perverse obsession with ‘nymphet’ 12-year old Dolores, who he calls Lolita after becoming involved with her sexually.
8. Atonement by Ian McEwan
Also produced as a popular film, Atonement follows the lives of Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner. When Cecilia’s younger sister Briony catches the two together, she is driven by jealousy to tell lies in order to drive the the couple apart. All three people must deal with the terrible consequences of the lie.
9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Dystopian sci-fi novel, Never Let Me Go describes the lives of three students who attend a unique boarding school called Hailsham, that encourages its students to produce art and maintain healthy habits. During their time there, the three have a complicated relationship with each other and their lives. At some point, it is discovered that they are human clones, raised only to produce vital organs for sick humans, after which they die ‘complete’.
10. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Popular and controversial dystopian novel, A Clockwork Orange describes the misadventures of violent, intelligent and sociopathic Alex. Along with his gang of droogs, Alex commits opportunistic, random acts of ultra-violence. Finaly, the authorities catch up and attempt to reform him through a special prison program to divert him from continuing a life of crime.
11. The Stand by Stephen King
Expanding on his another short story (Night Surf), King’s The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror fantasy novel that describes the spread of a weaponized strain of influenza. After the failure of the government to contains, societal collapse is followed by the death of thousands. As the survivors struggle to rebuild, the selfish and power-hungry tendencies of humanity overpower them.
12. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Yes, Snicket’s widely-renowned series is technically meant for children, but it’s still impossibly dark and worth (re)reading. The constant plot running through each book is of three horrifically orphaned children, whose lives keep getting progressively worse and worse with no redemption in sight. Every possible misfortune and woe imaginable befalls Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire repeatedly, as Snicket extinguishes the faintest glimmer of hope each time one seems to appear.
13. The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren O’Shaughnessy
Another series of books “meant for children/young adults”, but you wouldn’t think so. The gruesome and shocking saga of bloodthirsty vampirism is so far from its contrived counterparts that Edward hide trembling under the bed after just a quick glance at the first chapter. Tortured and realistic, Darren Shan doesn’t hold back, more captivating with each page.
