3 Books That Will Make You Think Deep - A Blog Post

As a book lover, there’s no better feeling than reading a book that stays with you for a long time. Finishing a book that you have fallen in love with and had a big impact on you is a bittersweet feeling. Bittersweet, because while you love the book and the characters so much, you feel empty, thinking that you will never be able to read something like that again. And that’s quite true, in my opinion.

Last week, I looked over my small (but very actively growing) library and chose three books that made me think a lot about different things. Obviously, these are my thoughts and interpretations, so feel free to leave yours in the comment section below.

Let’s start with, as many would call it (and I agree), one of the best books to start your journey in the classic literature.

The book follows a beautiful young boy named Dorian Gray who ends up selling his soul in order to stay young for the rest of his life.

This book made me think a lot about the concept of beauty which is one of the main themes. It shows the length people are willing to go in order to be appealing to others. Oscar Wilde did an amazing job showing this in Dorian’s character.

Influence is also a big part of this book. From the very beginning of the story, Dorian is heavily influenced by one of the characters, Lord Henry. Even the book Lord Henry gives him has an impact on Dorian. His influence is what causes Dorian’s life to shift into a completely different direction that also arises questions of morality.

After finishing this book, I couldn’t help but think about these two things. How they are relevant today. Especially in the form of social media. We see beauty online — people and the lives they live — and we want the same thing. And sometimes we are ready to give up a lot in order to have those things. And in the end, all of this ties to influence. These people, and their lives, influence us to redirect our lives. Is it worth it? Does it guarantee the lives we want to live? In my opinion, there are no guarantees.

I still remember the first time I read this book. I was still studying at university back then. I was in the middle of the book when I realized that this would become my all time favourite book. Years have passed, I have read many books since then, but whenever someone asks me what my favorite book is ,I don’t have to think about my answer at all.

The story of Gregor Samsa is heartbreaking. Imagine, one day you wake up and realize that you have changed. You are a human-sized bug. You are no longer needed. People no longer treat you the way they used to, all because you are different now. That’s exactly what happened to him.

This book made me think a lot about how alienating people are to other people’s changes; how as soon as they realize someone is no longer beneficial to them, they end up distancing themselves from them. It’s a sad reality people face today.

Such a good book with a very strong message. I advise you to read it if you haven’t already!

Before talking about this book, I want to make a disclaimer: I am not recommending this book, since it contains lots of triggering topics and I want everyone to read it after they’ve checked the trigger warnings and feel mentally ready to embark on this journey.

The book starts by following four best friends throughout their lives from college to when they are in their early 50s. However, the book mainly focuses on one of the characters, Jude.

A lot of the times we find ourselves mad or frustrated about how people around us act, without realizing that the reason why they act a certain way could be because of something that they are not ready to discuss with us, or with anyone, for that matter.

Of course, it is in our nature to help the people we love, but the sad truth is, sometimes they are not ready to take our helping hand. Sometimes, what they require from us is to just be present in their lives. This book really made me realize that. I could see people trying to help Jude, and I 100% understood them, but seeing how Jude wasn’t ready to give some things up made me realize how difficult it is for people like him to open up and accept help from others.

It’s important to know that, sometimes being in someone’s presence helps them more than you might think. It is not our job to just help people, but to be by their side and let them know that once they are ready, they can count on us.