Hello Yea Forums, I used to read a lot of fantasy and scifi books in high school. However, university and depression killed by drive to read so I've gone about 3 years without having finished a book. But now I really have the urge to actually finish a couple of books this summer, but the thing is I don't know what to read.
I'm not really interested in scifi or fantasy anymore. I'd like to read something realistic. Maybe a little nostalgic and depressive, with a protagonist in his 20s. Something smart but not too hard to read because I'm kind of a fucking retard. Any suggestions?
I'll check it out. Anything with a male protagonist though?
Easton Brown
Smart, but not hard? I've got you covered. James Joyce's Dubliners is is a collection of short stories positively dripping with ennui. Not exactly depressive but frustrated. Lolita is an absolute page-turner. The Exorcist had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Lincoln Lopez
catcher in the rye but there are a lot of people who hate it so idk
maybe catch 22? it's a funny book but also quite depressive (infinite jest also, which is long and can be hard to read sometimes but you should really read someday)
also, there is the stranger by albert camus and nausea by sartre (i dislike both of them but it feats on your requirements and also nausea is harder to read than the stranger)
small books by russian authors in order to be able to read their bigger works
hemingway maybe?
Dylan Roberts
the underground man definitely, it's short, funny and entertaining
Jeremiah Garcia
The Bell Jar will make any normal person hate women.
Sebastian Morgan
Just want to give a heads up, OP's girl, Kiki reed, is a known scammer.
Stay safe frens.
Jonathan Mitchell
Crime and Punishment.
David Sanchez
Stoner by John Williams. I personally don't think it's as great as most of Yea Forums thinks it is. But, it checks all your criteria. Not too difficult of a read, relatively short, depressive, and a male protagonist. The novel covers the protagonist at a lot of different points in his life, some in his 20's
Noah Perry
There are good women in the world
chances are you will not be immediately titillated by them. Thanks
Alexander Martinez
females exploiting their sexuality are all scammers
Sebastian Foster
Thanks!
Alexander Rivera
Please note: this woman is a lesbian. Do you think this is easy? Obviously not.
None of you could even come CLOSE to what I'm doing. You know it. She knows it. It's why she's going to follow my command. She's a fucking lesbian and she knows she is going straight for me, that's why she is raining hellfire down upon me lol :3
Mason Turner
Anthony Burgess
Bentley Morales
t.manlet
Elijah Adams
>the bell jar if you don't hate women
If he doesn't already he will by the end of reading it.
Blake Gray
It's not funny
Wyatt Lee
It doesn't really have a lot of a following here, but I very much enjoyed The Doubter's Almanac by Ethan Canin. It is about a mathematics student who fairly early into his academic career solves a problem that has been the prize of mathematicians for generations and then spends the rest of his life coming to terms with his best achievement coming so early into his life.
Surprised nobody mentioned The Elementary Particles yet. It's smart but written at a freshman (college) reading level, and it has exactly the atmosphere you're describing.
The Trial is a top-notch pick too, although the dialog might be hard to follow at first since it isn't formatted in the usual way. It's also a bit more on the fantastical side.
Honorable mentions to: >Dubliners (short stories that pretty much all involve some sort of nostalgia) >The Metamorphosis (same author as The Trial, but shorter and easier to read) >The Sorrows of Young Werther (a sadboi classic)
>1) go to public library >2) browse shelves, find something that interests you >3) check out book, or maybe 2 >4) success!
Ethan Evans
Good recommendations.
Daniel Phillips
My local library is literally just YA, romance, self help and cookbooks
Gavin Flores
Anything by Hemann Hesse
Lucas Ramirez
based
Bentley Gutierrez
Norwegian Wood
Gabriel Carter
Hunger Games.
Jose Sanders
>I'm not really interested in scifi or fantasy anymore. I'd like to read something realistic. Maybe a little nostalgic and depressive, with a protagonist in his 20s. Something smart but not too hard to read because I'm kind of a fucking retard. Any suggestions? Literally Crime and Punishment.
Andrew Sanchez
Actually this. Sorry I didn't read your post properly, don't read
