5 More Novels That You Should Read In Your Lifetime

© Doubleday

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? - Philip K Dick

This is the source material on which Ridley Scott based his landmark 1982 film Blade Runner, however Dick's novel provides a vastly different experience to that of its film adaptation. A surface level indicator to this is the fact that the term "blade runner" appears nowhere in this novel, and was in fact an original idea introduced by Scott for the film. The set-up remains the same, however; in a post-apocalyptic future it is Rick Deckard's job to hunt down and "retire" (kill) six advanced androids (or "Andys") who have mutinied and escaped from Mars to Earth. The philosophical themes that provide the backbone of the film are very much the focus here, substantially more so than any action that has been elaborated on to make more palatable to a cinema-going audience. As such, it is a slow, methodical read that you will either find yourself slipping into or being incredibly bored by. It is a book that took me two goes at to understand, but once you start to understand the register that it is going for you will understand the genius of this book. It asks you to look at yourself and the people around you and ask what it is that actually makes you human. And not in a superficial, surface level way that a coincidentally placed piece of origami does, but in a meditative, considered way that takes its time. It's a relatively short read, due in part to the way the final act is so bluntly and mercilessly truncated into simply transference of information, but in typical Philip K Dick fashion it is a profoundly intrusive book that really affected me. Don't expect a word for word transcript of Blade Runner, because that is very much not what this book is. 

© Little, Brown and Company

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

This book will take over your life for at least a month or two, not least due to its length. It follows four major plot threads, linked by a film called "Infinite Jest", said to be so entertaining that people lose all interest in anything else other than watching it, and eventually die. There is so much to say about this book that I think I will try to tackle it in its own essay some day, but suffice it to say that Infinite Jest is as far from conventionally structured as you can stray. Despite having been labelled with terms such as hysterical realism, satire, tragicomedy, and post-postmodernism (whatever that means), I don't think any combination of those does Infinite Jest justice. The reason this book works despite its apparent impenetrability is Wallace himself, the endlessly entertaining, witty and sarcastic voice that threads through everything. Even when perhaps the events transpiring were not grabbing my attention, I wanted to pick up the book just to return to the world of Wallace in all its fierce intelligence and razor sharp wit. Another major element of the novel that I think is perfectly executed is its use of endnotes, some of which have their own footnotes. Effective in its lampooning of academic literature, there is no way of telling whether or not when you flip to the back of the book there will either a key piece of story or just Wallace standing there flipping you off. There are 388 endnotes, in which some of the most compelling narrative development occurs, but also in which endless mundane definitions, chemical formulas and references find their home. There is even a reference in the novel to a screenplay, which is found in its entirely under a single endnote. Most importantly, is how despite the endless cynicism, satire and postmodernism, there is an emotional core to the novel. It is in equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, often when you least expect it. That is a rare thing, a novel that literally rewrote the rule book for what a novel can be and still manages to be emotionally compelling. I suggest reading with two bookmarks to make flipping back and forth easier. It is probably the longest and potentially most difficult book you will read, but that is kind of the point, and it is more than worth the effort. 

© DC Comics

Watchmen - Alan Moore

The only graphic novel to be featured in Time Magazine's list of 100 best English-language novels, and for good reason. It has all the complexity and nuance of the best novels, and is a deconstruction of superhero culture that is as relevant now as it was during its run between 1986 and 1987. It takes you behind the showmanship and glamour of the traditional superhero and lets you in on the reality of such ridiculousness - they are humans with the same ugly, messy, morally ambiguous and painful lives as the rest of us. Add to that a healthy dose of cold-war paranoia and nuclear tensions and you've got yourself perhaps the most iconic graphic novel of all time. Featuring iconic characters such as Rorschach, Dr Manhattan, The Comedian, Ozymandias and many more, its an unfiltered and confronting examination of the psychology of people that decided to put on a mask and do something about the things they perceived as evil in the world. 

© Olympia Press

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

To say that this novel was and continues to be controversial would be an understatement. It follows a humble and decidedly unreliable narrator under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert and his obsession with 12-year-old girl Dolores Haze, with whom he becomes sexually involved after becoming her stepfather. For such a controversial subject matter there is actually surprisingly little sex in Lolita, and the majority of the novel takes place in Humbert's mind as he narcissistically takes us through his day to day activities and thoughts. There are definitely shocking moments throughout, however, that are notable even today for their taboo nature, but don't let that distract from that which it is servicing - one of the most morally ambiguous and rich explorations of flawed character in literature. Not only is it not the only classic work of literature to contain scenes of an erotic nature (think of Ulysses or Lady Chatterley's Lover), but readers expecting a book that was described by a critic as "sheer unrestrained pornography" upon release are disappointed and bored by a book that ultimately has two chapters of eroticism, both within the first half of the book. You cannot help but empathise with Humbert despite the fact that he is a paedophile, something that gives the experience of reading Lolita a real sense of tension and cognitive dissonance that is nothing short of delicious as a reader looking for challenges to wrestle with. It's often forgotten how funny Lolita is, too. 

© HarperCollins

Naked Lunch - William S Burroughs

My God, where to start. There aren't many books that leave you feeling like you need to take a shower. Naked Lunch has such intense, unrelenting energy running through it that its impossible to tear your eyes away from its depictions of what can only be described as hell on Earth. It is genuinely disorientating, disturbing, hilarious of the darkest, most jet-black variety, stomach churning and inventive. Readers who are familiar with Burroughs' work will no doubt have either already read Naked Lunch or at least be familiar with it, but for the uninitiated it is the story of junkie William Lee as he travels through the US, Mexico, Tangier, and eventually the hellishly dreamlike Interzone. It is largely derived from Burroughs' own experiences with drugs, and I can only imagine that it is the closest thing to a literary representation of life as a junkie, in the same way that Enter The Void is a cinematic representation of one giant DMT trip. It is consistently insane and surprising, but I think one of the coolest things about this book is its structure. In more accessible (barely) variation of his famous "cut-up" style of writing, the chapters or "routines" are shuffled around so as you can supposedly read them in any order you choose. Unsurprisingly this makes for a very disjointed and disorientating read, but that's the point. It is one of the more recent books that have been subjected to an obscenity trial, so it's worth remembering that before picking this one up, but in my opinion it is nothing short of genius.