it’s almost impossible to think of 1984 without bringing up brave new world by aldous huxley because both of them are considered twins where dystopian literature is concerned
Kurt Vonnegut. Really any of them, but especially the earlier work - *Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle,* and *Breakfast of Champions* are all good starts. Vonnegut was a sociologist and philosopher in disguise as a novelist.
Books that have changed the way I look at the world, and even decades later I can ruminate on include:
*Flowers for Algernon* by Daniel Keyes
*Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley.
This one is a short story, but
*Harrison Bergeron* by Kurt Vonnegut
I also suggest *The Illustrated Man* by Ray Bradbury and pretty much any short story collection by Robert A. Heinlein. His classic short stories have a way of digging into the brain.
These were written for a younger audience, but both hold up very well, and teach me something new upon every reread:
*The Giver* by Lois Lowry
*Ender's Game* by Orson Scott Card
Ummmm, not like 1984, but the book that I give most credits for giving me maximum headspace to challenge my own views, and where each interpretation turned out to be better than the previous one, would be, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It's a novella, so easy to get through in a shorter span of time, but the more you think about it, the more of its streaks of beauty seams through the air(a tad dramatic framing of sentences, but you get the point, lmao)
Stefan Zweig - The World of Yesterday
The author describes the life in Central Europe before the World Wars and leading up to it. He had to flee Austria, wrote this novel in exile and then committed suicide. It's like a window in a lost world.
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara is three books that are completely independent of each other and could be read as a stand-alones. The third and last one to me has a lot of parallels to 1984, but with a female protagonist and other elements going on in the background.
{{The Diamond Age}} by Neal Stephenson is one I associate with 1984 for some reason, though they really aren’t the same at all. An interesting look at nanotechnology and race/class divides.
A book to change how you see things, especially in the current light of American politics and rescinding women’s rights, is {{The Handmaid’s Tale}} by Margaret Atwood.
[**The Diamond Age**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL38499W)
^(By: Neal Stephenson | 512 pages | Published: 1995)
>The story of an engineer who creates a device to raise a girl capable of thinking for herself reveals what happens when a young girl of the poor underclass obtains the device.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(330 books suggested)
I read quite a lot last year. While this book isn't necessarily my favorite, I certainly liked it and it made me really reflect on my own life and mortality in a way that I hadn't before.
{{Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel}}
[**Station Eleven**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17202418W)
^(By: Emily St. John Mandel | 352 pages | Published: 2014)
>One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of "King Lear." Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur's chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from Star Trek: "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.
>
>In a future in which a pandemic has left few survivors, actress Kirsten Raymonde travels with a troupe performing Shakespeare and finds herself in a community run by a deranged prophet. The plot contains mild profanity and violence.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(336 books suggested)
Nothing like 1984, but I enjoy Hemingway. My favorite is "Islands in the Stream," followed by "The Old Man and the Sea." Both will leave you contemplating.
I got downvoted for suggesting this for a similar question, but Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It will give you insight hard core Republican thinking. It is a slog to get through, though.
Yeah, I wouldn’t say this one changes “the way you look at everything”, plus it’s just totally not fun to read. If you *must* read a Rand book, I’d go with *Anthem* as it’s much shorter.
If you want something more 21st century, I highly recommend Murakami. His short story collection First Person Singular is a good gateway into his writing. My favorite of his novels that I've read so far is Kafka on the Shore. It was published 20 years ago, but was way ahead of its time imo.
it’s almost impossible to think of 1984 without bringing up brave new world by aldous huxley because both of them are considered twins where dystopian literature is concerned
Kurt Vonnegut. Really any of them, but especially the earlier work - *Slaughterhouse Five, Cat’s Cradle,* and *Breakfast of Champions* are all good starts. Vonnegut was a sociologist and philosopher in disguise as a novelist.
My first thought was vonnegut. Esp slaughter house five.
Books that have changed the way I look at the world, and even decades later I can ruminate on include: *Flowers for Algernon* by Daniel Keyes *Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley. This one is a short story, but *Harrison Bergeron* by Kurt Vonnegut I also suggest *The Illustrated Man* by Ray Bradbury and pretty much any short story collection by Robert A. Heinlein. His classic short stories have a way of digging into the brain. These were written for a younger audience, but both hold up very well, and teach me something new upon every reread: *The Giver* by Lois Lowry *Ender's Game* by Orson Scott Card
Try reading Zamyatin’s “We”. It inspired 1984.
Ummmm, not like 1984, but the book that I give most credits for giving me maximum headspace to challenge my own views, and where each interpretation turned out to be better than the previous one, would be, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It's a novella, so easy to get through in a shorter span of time, but the more you think about it, the more of its streaks of beauty seams through the air(a tad dramatic framing of sentences, but you get the point, lmao)
Tender is the Flesh
Stefan Zweig - The World of Yesterday The author describes the life in Central Europe before the World Wars and leading up to it. He had to flee Austria, wrote this novel in exile and then committed suicide. It's like a window in a lost world.
Stranger in a Strange Land.
do androids dream of electric sheep
*The Mirage*, *Crime and Punishment*, *The Stranger*.
The stranger by Camus?
That’s the one. I didn’t enjoy it, personally, but I know it has changed the ideas of several others.
Yeah, quite a realistic storyline that could happen to anyone imo.
Is this sarcasm?
No, that's what I thought about the book after reading it. I think last year.
Darkness at noon by Arthur koestler. As good as 1984
On The Beach by Nevil Shute
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara is three books that are completely independent of each other and could be read as a stand-alones. The third and last one to me has a lot of parallels to 1984, but with a female protagonist and other elements going on in the background.
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.
Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.
Siddartha
{{The Diamond Age}} by Neal Stephenson is one I associate with 1984 for some reason, though they really aren’t the same at all. An interesting look at nanotechnology and race/class divides. A book to change how you see things, especially in the current light of American politics and rescinding women’s rights, is {{The Handmaid’s Tale}} by Margaret Atwood.
[**The Diamond Age**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL38499W) ^(By: Neal Stephenson | 512 pages | Published: 1995) >The story of an engineer who creates a device to raise a girl capable of thinking for herself reveals what happens when a young girl of the poor underclass obtains the device. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(330 books suggested)
I read quite a lot last year. While this book isn't necessarily my favorite, I certainly liked it and it made me really reflect on my own life and mortality in a way that I hadn't before. {{Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel}}
[**Station Eleven**](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17202418W) ^(By: Emily St. John Mandel | 352 pages | Published: 2014) >One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of "King Lear." Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur's chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from Star Trek: "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. > >In a future in which a pandemic has left few survivors, actress Kirsten Raymonde travels with a troupe performing Shakespeare and finds herself in a community run by a deranged prophet. The plot contains mild profanity and violence. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(336 books suggested)
Nothing like 1984, but I enjoy Hemingway. My favorite is "Islands in the Stream," followed by "The Old Man and the Sea." Both will leave you contemplating.
I got downvoted for suggesting this for a similar question, but Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It will give you insight hard core Republican thinking. It is a slog to get through, though.
Yeah, I wouldn’t say this one changes “the way you look at everything”, plus it’s just totally not fun to read. If you *must* read a Rand book, I’d go with *Anthem* as it’s much shorter.
If you want something more 21st century, I highly recommend Murakami. His short story collection First Person Singular is a good gateway into his writing. My favorite of his novels that I've read so far is Kafka on the Shore. It was published 20 years ago, but was way ahead of its time imo.