Some books carry within them the embryonic stage of change. That doesn’t mean they’ll be a revelation for everyone who reads them, but at least they have the potential to make us reflect, inviting us to question those things we take for granted. In fact, sometimes just one question is enough to trigger a snowball effect. And once we’ve broken free from the norms that trap us in conventional thinking, there may be no turning back because we’ll begin to see the world completely differently.
The 10 books we should all read at least once in our lives
1. “1984” by George Orwell
First published in 1949, this book is one of those timeless reads. George Orwell narrates a chilling future, a true political novel that gradually unfolds as a dystopian fiction. In fact, his book was the starting point that inspired “Big Brother,” which is why many believe that today we are rapidly entering that “Orwellian society,” where mass surveillance is practiced, information is manipulated like never before, and political and social repression is implemented covertly but decisively.
2. “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
This is this writer’s magnum opus, a novel that creates a seemingly perfect society in which everyone feels happy and content. Within its pages, we discover a world of genetic engineering, brainwashing, and tailor-made pleasures designed to make people forget their worries. However, as we delve deeper into this society, we realize its emptiness; we realize that the dream of eternal happiness is more of a numbing of the senses. Any parallels you find with reality are not mere coincidence.
3. “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
Many people classify this book as a horror novel. In fact, you’ve probably already read it. However, if we look deeper, we’ll realize it’s a chilling portrait of the human being and the lengths we’re willing to go to advance science or fulfill a dream. The book tells how Victor Frankenstein brings to life a horrible creature that he then condemns to isolation and loneliness. It’s undoubtedly a very interesting journey through the most tortuous emotional paths of humankind.
4. “The Trial” by Franz Kafka
Perhaps his most famous work is “The Metamorphosis” (which I also recommend), but this unfinished novel, which the writer asked to be burned after his death, is an even more terrifying tale. It tells the story of Josef K., a bank employee who is arrested. Josef tries to defend himself, but he’s not sure what for, so he ends up immersed in a stifling judicial process that completely takes over his life. He thus discovers that the courts he intends to appeal to are the most intellectually limited.
5. “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury
The title of this novel refers to the temperature at which the paper in books ignites. In fact, it’s a dystopian work set in a future where there are no books. The protagonist, named Montag, is a firefighter tasked with burning books because the government believes that reading fills citizens with anxiety and makes them ask too many questions. His goal is to make people happy, and to do so, he must eliminate books. What would such a society be like? This work provides us with some terrifying answers, especially if we can find some parallels with the present.
6. “Essay on Blindness” by José Saramago
One day, a strange phenomenon befalls humanity: everyone loses their sight. How will they manage to survive? Will they help each other, or will the most brutal struggle for survival ensue? If only one person could see, what would they do? These and other questions are answered throughout the book as the author peels back the veil on the worst of human nature. It’s an excellent allegory; in fact, Saramago himself explained: “I don’t think we went blind, I think we are blind, blind who see, blind who, seeing, don’t see.”
7. “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
When it was published, this book went virtually unnoticed, but it later became a bestseller and remains relevant today. The novel tells the story of a small group of children who embark on a journey, but their plane crashes on a deserted island. These children are then forced to survive without adult authority. How will they do it? What kind of social organization will they establish? Little by little, the most brutal instincts of human nature begin to emerge.
8. “The Giver of Memories” by Lois Lowry
Set in a futuristic society, the novel narrates Jonas’s life in a seemingly ideal world where everyone feels content. However, to achieve this, they have had to erase the memories of humanity’s past and deny many emotions. As this teenager, whose mission is to preserve memories, delves deeper into them, he realizes how terribly sick and superficial a society without emotions to unite it is.
9. “The Stranger” by Albert Camus
This novel explores the moral and emotional nakedness of humanity when forced to confront a reality that seems alien and absurd. The protagonist, Meursault, is a person who lives with an indifferent attitude and commits a crime, yet he cannot manage to feel pity or remorse. This extraordinary apathy toward his existence, and even toward his own death, manages to infect the reader, who begins to glimpse what a society would be like in which feelings of alienation and anonymity are heightened.
10. “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by Jean-Dominique Bauby
I didn’t want to end the list with a bad taste in my mouth, as these are very “intense” reads that sometimes take on a pessimistic tone. This book is also an intense read, but in a different sense, as it aims to teach us to value and be grateful for each of the small things we have and which we sometimes don’t enjoy enough. The autobiographical novel narrates, without sentimental artifice, the life of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who at 43 suffered a massive stroke and, upon emerging from a coma, discovered he was completely paralyzed and could only move his left eye. Thus, through a code he established, he managed to dictate this short book, which is truly a beautiful ode to life and to enjoying every moment, consciously and fully.
Happy reading!
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