I have a shelf full of classics and philosophy. I love the existential dread and the deep thinking. But I want to read something written in the last 30-40 years. Is there any modern fiction that matches the intensity of Crime and Punishment or The Metamorphosis?

I am specifically looking for:

  • Psychological spiraling (characters losing their minds)
  • Moral dilemmas (like Crime and Punishment)
  • Isolation/Loneliness (like The Metamorphosis)

Don't be afraid to suggest something widely popular if it fits the vibe!

Please do not suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar (too intense).

  • Perhaps the Hunger Games? Susan Collins invented the battle royale genre it’s very popular.

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  • The Count of Croste Mistborn

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  • I don’t read but I watched a video about Mistborn being like this

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  • Any Murakami or Mein Kampf would suffice.

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    Wow! Great recs. You must be able to read minds (or intensity).

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  • Project Hail Mary changed my life

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  • Have you heard of Dungeon Crawler Carl? He is psychological (he thinks in the books) and spirals (cause he’s in a maze). He has the moral dilemma of killing the vampire mother of a human goat or something idk. He is isolated because he is in a maze.

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  • Have you considered Harry Potter? It's basically the 21st century version of the books you listed. Less racism and boring Victorian prose and more cool shit like wizards and jelly beans that taste like random crap.

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    Less racism? Voldemort is LITERALLY Trump, moran

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    Less racism

    House elves, goblins and mudbloods might disagree. Fuck them.

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    Mudbloods is our word. Check yourself

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  • Malazan, obviously; it's only for the deepest of thinkers.

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    Do I study things like metaphysics in my free time? Yeah, yeah I do. I've read Art of War, The Prince, and many, many other tomes that people would consider too 'dense' to be light reading or enjoyable reading. But that isn't ALL I like to read. I don't always want to have to sit and ponder the deeper meanings of words or interpret subtext. I don't want to have to be paying FULL attention at all times, otherwise I'll miss key details. Do I love Malazan? I absolutely do. Is it a headache to get through at times because of the dense, extremely detailed writing style that absolutely does not hold your hand or make it easy for you to get certain information? It certainly does.

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  • The Orgasm in the Agora series by Olivia Thrashwallop is a dark romance reimagining of Thucydides and it tells the story of a gorgeously complex suburban wife who could change society and knows better than everybody and is also railed by a series of Greek dudes with huge dicks over 9 books.

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    I looked this up on Goodreads and was automatically added to 14 historical fiction groups.

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  • i think you might prefer the book humpty dumpty... the main character is broken irrevocably.

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  • 40 years is modern? It was before the popularization of the internet

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    It is when you are an untold genius of unintelligible autodidactic spheres of alienation and intensity such as myself. Forty years is mere milliseconds in the infinity of my struggle.

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  • Crime and punish me daddy by Thrustoevsky

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  • Snow Falling on Cedars, or In the Lake of the Woods

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    Is that the one about the dendrophilic genderqueer centaur fuckstallion who marries a harem of fairies?

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