Reading Challenge: The Ten Most Disturbing Books of All Time

[Tressa]

Yes, it probably makes one more angry than sad. It turned my stomach in knots.

[Char]

Exactly! I kept thinking someone was going to do something and noone did.

[Tressa]

That's the horror in the book. The fact that no one did anything until it was too late.

[Jon Recluse]

That's about par for the course, Tressa.

Too little, too late, or nothing at all.

[Tressa]

That about covers human nature.

[Jon Recluse]

I think we need to redefine human.

[11811 (Eleven)]

I still think the incident it was based on was far more disturbing, simply because it was non-fiction. House of Evil

[Tressa]

Jon Recluse wrote: "I think we need to redefine human."

After reading the heinous headlines of crimes these days, I think we are due for a redefining of the word.

[Tressa]

11811 wrote: "I still think the incident it was based on was far more disturbing, simply because it was non-fiction. House of Evil"

Of course. A few months ago I read about the crime again at Crime Library. Still disturbing no matter how well I know the story.

[11811 (Eleven)]

I'm not familiar with Crime Library. Gonna check that out now.

[Tressa]

I've been visiting the site for about 10 years. I liked it better before it was bought out by truTV.

[Teawench]

Gosh darn GR for not telling me there were other posts. Yes, I think part of my handicap for We Need To Talk About Kevin is that I don't have kids so I don't understand that whole mentality. I love my niece & nephews but I'm also so glad that they aren't mine.

I think The Girl Next Door is going to be my next read. Just need to remember to grab the library card.

And finally: Bleh on truTV owning Crime Library. :-P

[Tressa]

Ha. I thought you had just tired of the conversation. I wouldn't have the same feelings if I were childfree either. You sound like my sister—she doesn't have kids and doesn't want them.

[Teawench]

I knew I didn't want kids in grade school. What really irritates me is all the people that insisted I'm wrong. And I love to death the people that applaud the fact that I know I wouldn't be a good parent.

[Tressa]

Some people aren't kid people, or just don't want to be bothered with them. Trust me, what I wouldn't give for more than a day here and there of complete peace and quiet. But I love my son more than anything in this world and am glad I have him. But we tried for four years until we got a miracle, before that we happily were childfree.

[Teawench]

I am definitely not a kid person. And it ticks me off when other people try to tell me different.

Huh...seems my library system doesn't have The Girl Next Door. That's annoying seeing as how I could have sworn they had it a couple of weeks ago.

[Tressa]

Maybe it was stolen.

[Teawench]

It would have to several copies that were stolen because of ILL. I guess I'll have to pick a different one from the list :-( And my big plans of using the University library have fizzled. They don't have much except the same translation of Blindness that I tried reading before.

[11811 (Eleven)]

Teawench wrote: "I love my niece & nephews but I'm also so glad that they aren't mine. ..."

I'm with you 100% on that one.

[Char]

Nice to see you back Teawench! I thought you had tired of the discussion as well.
Yes, I think we came to the conclusion that someone who was not a Mom would view the story differently. It was a nice discussion though and thanks for starting it off. : )

[Jeremy]

Tressa, I wish you worked with me at the library for ordering. I have been pushing for more independent works. Sadly, once our horror/dark lit rotates off the new shelf, it gets submerged in all the old fiction such as Harold Robbins, Danielle Steel, and Nora Roberts...Now that is the true horror.

[Tressa]

Our budget has been slashed in half. I no longer work down in the fiction department, so who knows what the collection looks like now. I did push for books such as Pilo Family Circus and some other non-mainstream horror titles. When I was there the horror books weren't put on the paperback racks where they get deleted after a year, but went straight to our permanent collection. But I'm only a peon here and didn't have too much control.

[Jeremy]

I'm sneaking some good ones in...I also order graphic novels, and true crime. Circulation has gone up since I have been doing these sections, which is *AWESOME*.

[Tressa]

Then I would say you're doing your job, Jeremy! Horror fans must represent. Sometimes some seedy characters would come in and ask for the serial killer books; kind a scared me.

[Jeremy]

Understood. After taking Criminology, working in a bookstore for 9 years with a huge used true crime (and horror) section, at the library in a low economic downtown, the types of people I get are usually younger-middle-aged women...which was the same demographic buying the Harlequin romances by the garbage bag full. :0

[Tressa]

What is it with middle aged women and true crime stories? I think it gives them a thrill to wonder how close they are to becoming a victim on a daily basis.

[Char]

What kind of true crime selections do your libraries carry? When I was a teen I devoured the TC section of my library within a year or so. The section was very limited in my area back then. TC seems a lot more popular now. Is that reflected in your libraries?

Tressa, LMAO! Do the romances let the middle aged women know that they could've been the next seductee?

[Tressa]

Charlene wrote: "Tressa, LMAO! Do the romances let the middle aged women know that they could've been the next seductee? ..."

Hoping beyond hope, I'm sure. Ugh, I read an article yesterday about the baby boom that should happen around a year from now from all the women reading Fifty Shades of Grey and screwing their husbands to death.

Our true crime section is big, but I'm at a large central location.

[Char]

Oh man, I wish I hadn't asked. LOL

Gator said he was reaping the benefits when his wife read it, so I think you might be right about that.

[Tressa]

Charlene wrote: "Gator said he was reaping the benefits when his wife read it, so I think you might be right about that."

Haha. Hadn't heard this one. That's what titillating lit will do, though.

[Jeremy]

...now they are coming in for the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and the many knockoffs on the shelves or hastily written/published as we speak.

[Tressa]

Yeah, that's the way it goes, Jeremy. Patrons think they can walk in and walk out with some popular book, not knowing there are a thousand reserves on it. Then we get all the hastily written knockoffs. At one points romances about men who fall for women with babies were popular. Every cover would have a hunk cradling a baby, trying to melt your heart enough to check it out. Then it was culinary mysteries. Can't remember the other genres that took off in a short while. ETA: Oh, the vampire romances; then the shapechanger romances.

[Ron]

Koo Stark starred in the movie version of 120 Days. She once had a well-publicized fling with Prince Charles. It's fairly gratuitous, but the thing about de Sade is when not writing some really disturbingly sick porn, he was a fairly complex thinker. Even in one of his pornographic tracts 'Philosophy in the Bedroom', he includes a pamphlet entitled 'Once Again You Frenchmen if You Would be Republicans' that takes on the ontological proofs of god. The actual 'crimes' that got him thrown into the Bastille in the first place were fairly minor. His writing was much more extreme than his lived excesses.

[Walter]

I wouldn't categorize this novel as horror precisely, but would definitely describe it as disturbing, though perhaps more so on an intellectual rather than a visceral level: Katherine Dunn's Geek Love.

[glenda]

Walter wrote: "I wouldn't categorize this novel as horror precisely, but would definitely describe it as disturbing, though perhaps more so on an intellectual rather than a visceral level: Katherine Dunn's Geek L..."

Wow! That definitely looks to be an interesting read, Walter. Thanks for the share!

[Walter]

Anytime. :)

[Char]

I recently read Geek Love and I would have to agree. It's unlike anything I've ever read and contained within a lot of things to think about.

[Kim]

Tressa wrote: "http://www.popcrunch.com/the-10-most-...

What do you think?

10. Blindness
9. Requiem for a Dream
8. Naked Lunch
7. We Need to Talk About Kevin
6. The Road
5. Americ..."

You know, I read 7,6,5, and 1, and they're ranked in a good order if you're putting them on this list. I know this might seem off, but I really enjoyed The Road and We Need to Talk About Kevin. The Road really taught me to appreciate the light in times of darkness, and Kevin taught me that there needs to be a more open understanding of why not every woman wants to be a mom or enjoys every second of it if she does.
As a mom, I got a lot out of that book. I don't think she was responsible for what happened, and I think the author makes that pretty clear. It would be an interesting book to pair with The Girl Next Door and then discuss whether adults and parents are really to blame for what their children do.

[Char]

Kim, I've also read Kevin. I think it's one of the most disturbing books ever.
Prior to reading it, I always thought I needed to like at least one character in a book to keep me engaged. That book proved to me that I was wrong. : )

[Julissa]

Walter wrote: "I wouldn't categorize this novel as horror precisely, but would definitely describe it as disturbing, though perhaps more so on an intellectual rather than a visceral level: Katherine Dunn's Geek L..."

I really liked Geek Love, although it was disturbing. I also found Haunted to be disturbing (although it's not a horror story either.)

I absolutely loved Kevin...It got me thinking about "nature vs. nurture."

[Char]

Same here, Julissa.
I did like Geek Love and found myself to be somewhat intrigued by it. The whole weird thing with the 'surgical' cult? Very strange, disturbing and yet, also compelling.

[Addy]

Was looking at all these books...wow! One word. Disturbing! There are some brave souls out there, but there are a few I may try to read. Keep you all posted. I have seen Requiem for a dream though. Thought it was pretty crazy. Cant imagine what the book must be like.

[Chris]

I haven't read "Requiem for a Dream", but if it is like his "Last Exit to Brooklyn" then it is like wallowing in a. sewer. I took nothing out of that book and felt it was just displaying, in a pointless. way, the worst of mankind. Like watching the news which features acts of torture and depravity. There is no point.

Contrasted with a masterpiece like "Night" which describes acts much more horrific and disturbing, but in a way that you truly feel that you are exploring, with a purpose, the darkest hours of humanity. You emerge disgusted, shaken, but changed, and hopefully wiser and wanting to rebel against the horror.

[Addy]

Just read a sample from Naked Lunch. I dont know what I just read. Is there like cliff notes for this book?...lol

[[deleted user]]

1. killer fiction
2. final truth
3. The pig-ed lee
4. through the window
5. survivor
6. high life- stokoe
7. only child (stranglehold)
8. hogg
9. duet for the devil
10. psychopathia sexualis

[David]

The list for most disturbing is a very original list. I guess it's just everyone's taste differs but McCarthy's THE ROAD is disturbing, but, I don't think that it holds a candle to his other book BLOOD MERIDIAN, and I don't even think that should be on the list.

But, Stephen, I think has got a really good list going there. DUET FOR THE DEVIL by Randy Chandler, and Winter Damon is one of the most wild rides ever. I have a signed copy by both authors and Edward Lee (who does the introduction saying that this book is worse than anything he's ever written). And, that's saying a lot considering that he wrote THE TERATOLOGIST with James.

[Tallie]

I'm really surprised that the Wasp Factory and Let The Right One In wasn't on this list. Not to say that the rest don't diserve a place on here. Especially The Girl Next Door *shivers*

[Ron]

Addy wrote: "Just read a sample from Naked Lunch. I dont know what I just read. Is there like cliff notes for this book?...lol"

Burroughs used to live a bit north of here. His daughter was born in a hospital about 20 minutes away. The County Clerk in Naked Lunch is Based on the Clerk of San Jacinto County. Burroughs, of course, was an entrepreneur...he had a pot farm.

[David]

I would probably say Beware by Richard Laymon. So much rape and violence in the book. It is very disturbing.

[Kirsty]

Serial Uncut by Jack Kilborn/Blake Crouch disturbing read seen at the point of view of various 'serial killers' Loved this book!