Dive into Madness: Books Featuring Gradual Insanity
Explore these captivating novels where the main character's descent into madness is portrayed with chilling precision. Each story offers a unique first-person perspective, allowing you to experience the unraveling of sanity firsthand. Perfect for those who appreciate a deep psychological dive into the human mind.
The Yellow Wallpaper (Illustrated)
49 pages
It's a poignant exploration of mental health and the struggles women faced in society.
The Shining
506 pages
One of the true classics of horror, now with a new stunning cover look. THE SHINING is regarded as one of Stephen King's masterpieces. Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr Hallorann he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control. As winter closes in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. It is meant to be empty. So who is the lady in Room 217 and who are the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why do the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? Somewhere, somehow, there is an evil force in the hotel - and that, too, is beginning to shine . . .
We Need To Talk About Kevin
480 pages
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2010 ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD Eva never really wanted to be a mother; certainly not the mother of a boy named Kevin who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who had tried to befriend him. Now, two years after her son's horrific rampage, Eva comes to terms with her role as Kevin's mother in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her absent husband Franklyn about their son's upbringing. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about motherhood. How much is her fault? In Lionel Shriver's hands this sensational, chilling and memorable story of a woman who raised a monster becomes a metaphor for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.
Crime and Punishment
545 pages
Currently reading Crime and Punishment, which seems to delve into similar themes of psychological turmoil and moral dilemmas, promising an intense exploration of the human condition.
The Bell Jar
246 pages
'A modern classic.' Guardian 'A near-perfect work of art.' Joyce Carol Oates I was supposed to be having the time of my life . . . Working as an intern for a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. Esther's vision of the world shimmers and shifts: day-to-day living in the sultry city, her crazed men-friends, the hot dinner dances . . . The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, is partially based on Plath's own life. It has been celebrated for its darkly funny and razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, and has sold millions of copies worldwide. ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD' 'As clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing.' New York Times Book Review Reader responses: 'Plath's underrated humour shines through this startling account of 1950s 'normality'.' 'Very readable, often darkly funny, and feels fresh.' 'Plath's masterpiece . . . It's amazing how relevant this book still is.' 'So enthralling . . . So thought provoking, so vivid, that it's thoroughly engrossing.' 'I just couldn't put it down.' 'Ever better than I expected.'
House Of Leaves
This book is a unique and immersive experience that challenges the way you think about storytelling.
A Scanner Darkly
307 pages
Hugo Award-winner Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical science fiction novel of dystopia and drug addiction.
The Trial
240 pages
'Someone must have been telling tales about Josef K. for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.' A successful professional man wakes up one morning to find himself under arrest for an offence which is never explained. The mysterious court which conducts his trial is outwardly co-operative, but capable of horrific violence. Faced with this ambiguous authority, Josef K. gradually succumbs to its psychological pressure. He consults various advisers without escaping his fate. Was there some way out that he failed to see? Kafka's unfinished novel has been read as a study of political power, a pessimistic religious parable, or a crime novel where the accused man is himself the problem. One of the iconic figures of modern world literature, Kafka writes about universal problems of guilt, responsibility, and freedom; he offers no solutions, but provokes his readers to arrive at meanings of their own. This new edition includes the fragmentary chapters that were omitted from the main text, in a translation that is both natural and exact, and an introduction that illuminates the novel and its author. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
268 pages
Spellbound before his own portrait, Dorian Gray utters a fateful wish. In exchange for eternal youth he gives his soul, to be corrupted by the malign influence of his mentor, the aesthete and hedonist Lord Henry Wotton.
American Psycho
399 pages
An international bestseller and true modern classic Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and works on Wall Street; he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream – and its worst nightmare – American Psycho is a bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront.Celebrating 40 years of outstanding international writing, this is one of the essential Picador novels reissued in a beautiful new series style.
The Complete Wheel of Time
6358 pages
The Wheel of Time series is a gripping tale of a protagonist who wields magic while battling the inevitable descent into madness, making for a compelling journey of transformation from sheepherder to king.
Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness
282 pages
This nonfiction book is excellent and offers a gripping insight into the author's battle with a rare autoimmune disease that affects the brain.
Flowers for Algernon
324 pages
This book is a must-read because it offers a profound exploration of intelligence and human emotion.
Fight Club
226 pages
'Hypnotic, pitiless and told brilliantly' Bret Easton Ellis Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across America, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything. Fight Club is the invention of Tyler Durden, projectionist, waiter and dark, anarchic genius. And it's only the beginning of his plans for revenge on a world where cancer support groups have the corner on human warmth. Read the subversive, savagely funny novel that defined a generation.
The Horla and Other Stories
330 pages
Henri Rene Albert Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is considered one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless denouement.
The Metamorphosis
370 pages
It's a fascinating exploration of insanity that really makes you feel the chaos while reading.
Challenger Deep
281 pages
This book offers a profound insight into a teenager's experience with schizophrenia, all conveyed through amazing prose that makes it a must-read.
The Vegetarian
209 pages
FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE “[Han Kang’s] intense poetic prose . . . exposes the fragility of human life.”—The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY “Ferocious.”—The New York Times Book Review (Ten Best Books of the Year) “Both terrifying and terrific.”—Lauren Groff “Provocative [and] shocking.”—The Washington Post Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams—invasive images of blood and brutality—torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself. Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her. A Best Book of the Year: BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Time, Elle, The Economist, HuffPost, Slate, Bustle, The St. Louis Dispatch, Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly
1984
341 pages
This book explores the theme of forced insanity, making it a compelling read for those interested in the psychological effects of totalitarianism.
The Stranger
134 pages
With the intrigue of a psychological thriller, The Stranger—Camus's masterpiece—gives us the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach. With an Introduction by Peter Dunwoodie; translated by Matthew Ward. Behind the subterfuge, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd" and describes the condition of reckless alienation and spiritual exhaustion that characterized so much of twentieth-century life. “The Stranger is a strikingly modern text and Matthew Ward’s translation will enable readers to appreciate why Camus’s stoical anti-hero and devious narrator remains one of the key expressions of a postwar Western malaise, and one of the cleverest exponents of a literature of ambiguity.” –from the Introduction by Peter Dunwoodie First published in 1946; now in translation by Matthew Ward.
The Metamorphosis
224 pages
“When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” With this startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first sentence, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetlelike insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, “Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man.”
King Lear
241 pages
The text of the play included here, prepared by Craig Walker for The Broadview Anthology of British Literature, has been acclaimed for its outstanding introductory material and annotations, and for its inclusion of parellel text versions of key scenes for which the texts of the Quarto and the Folio versions of the play are substantially different. Also included in this edition are excerpts from a variety of literary source materials (including Geoffrey on Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, the anonymous True Chronicle Historie of King Leir, and Samuel Harsnett’s A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures); material on the historical Annesley case that raised many of the same issues as does Shakespeare’s play; and the happy ending from Nahum Tate’s version of the play, which held the stage for 150 years after its first performance in 1681.
Trump: The Art of the Deal
401 pages
President Donald J. Trump lays out his professional and personal worldview in this classic work—a firsthand account of the rise of America’s foremost deal-maker. “I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”—Donald J. Trump Here is Trump in action—how he runs his organization and how he runs his life—as he meets the people he needs to meet, chats with family and friends, clashes with enemies, and challenges conventional thinking. But even a maverick plays by rules, and Trump has formulated time-tested guidelines for success. He isolates the common elements in his greatest accomplishments; he shatters myths; he names names, spells out the zeros, and fully reveals the deal-maker’s art. And throughout, Trump talks—really talks—about how he does it. Trump: The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a brilliant entrepreneur—the ultimate read for anyone interested in the man behind the spotlight. Praise for Trump: The Art of the Deal “Trump makes one believe for a moment in the American dream again.”—The New York Times “Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivores and water is wet.”—Chicago Tribune “Fascinating . . . wholly absorbing . . . conveys Trump’s larger-than-life demeanor so vibrantly that the reader’s attention is instantly and fully claimed.”—Boston Herald “A chatty, generous, chutzpa-filled autobiography.”—New York Post
Das Spiel (Gerald's Game)
358 pages
Gerald und Jessie Burlingame haben sich in ihr einsames Sommerhaus zurückgezogen. Gerald möchte dem eintönigen Eheleben etwas Schwung verleihen und fesselt seine Frau ans Bett. Jessie hält gar nichts von den neuen Sexspielchen ihres Mannes und versetzt ihm einen Tritt – mit für ihn tödlichen Folgen. Mit Handschellen ans Bett gefesselt, beginnt für Jessie ein quälender Albtraum: Nachts bekommt sie unheimlichen Besuch ...
Diary Of A Madman - Nikolai Gogol (Stage-5)
54 pages
The book centers on the life of Poprishchin, a low-ranking civil servant and titular counsellor who yearns to be noticed by a beautiful woman, the daughter of a senior official, with whom he has fallen in love. His diary records his gradual slide into insanity. As his madness deepens, he begins to suspect two dogs of having a love affair and believes he has discovered letters sent between them. Finally, he begins to believe himself to be the heir to the throne of Spain. When he is hauled off and maltreated in the asylum, the madman believes he is taking part in a strange coronation to the Spanish throne. Only in his madness does the lowly anti-hero attain greatness.
The Virgin Suicides
258 pages
First published in 1993, The Virgin Suicides announced the arrival of a major new American novelist. In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters—beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys—commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family’s fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death. Jeffrey Eugenides evokes the emotions of youth with haunting sensitivity and dark humor and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time. Adapted into a critically acclaimed film by Sofia Coppola, The Virgin Suicides is a modern classic, a lyrical and timeless tale of sex and suicide that transforms and mythologizes suburban middle-American life.
Hunger
244 pages
A modernist masterpiece: the Nobel Prize winner’s first and most important novel A Penguin Classic First published in Norway in 1890, Hunger probes the depths of consciousness with frightening and gripping power. Contemptuous of novels of his time and what he saw as their stereotypical plots and empty characters, Knut Hamsun embarked on “an attempt to describe the strange, peculiar life of the mind, the mysteries of the nerves in a starving body.” Like the works of Dostoyevsky, it marks an extraordinary break with Western literary and humanistic traditions. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
The Shining
674 pages
It's a great, concise read by Stephen King, and I think it's actually underrated.
Shutter Island
327 pages
Die US-Marshals Daniels und Aule sollen im Fall einer Kindsmörderin ermitteln, die von der Gefängnisinsel Shutter Island geflohen ist. Als sie dort ankommen, erhalten sie verschlüsselte Botschaften, die sie immer tiefer in den düsteren Bau und die Machenschaften der Ärzte führen. Nichts ist so, wie es scheint. Dennis Lehanes raffiniert komponiertes Meisterwerk um Wahn und Angst in neuer Übersetzung.
I Am the Cheese
258 pages
This book dives into the mind of a character who is already on the edge, making it a gripping read that explores themes of identity and sanity.
Identical
592 pages
Beneath their perfect family façade, twin sisters struggle alone with impossible circumstances and their own demons until they finally learn to fight for each other in this poignant tour de force from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins. Sixteen-year-old Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family…on the surface. Underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. What really happened in the car accident that Daddy caused? And why is Mom never home, always running far away to pursue some new dream? The girls themselves have become hopelessly divided over the years. Sick of losing Daddy’s game of favorites, Raeanne turns to painkillers, alcohol, and sex to dull her pain her anger. Kaeleigh tries to be her father’s perfect little flower, but being the misplaced focus of his sexual attention has her seeking control anywhere she can—even if it means cutting herself and unhealthy binge and purge eating. Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept—from each other or anyone else. Before long, it's obvious that neither sister can handle their problems alone, and one must step up to save the other, but the question is…who?
Valis
307 pages
Horselover Fat begins receiving what he considers to be divine revelations that imply extraterrestrial forces are interfering in the affairs of the Earth.
Rage
480 pages
An account of the Trump presidency draws on interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, diaries, and confidential documents to provide details about Trump's moves as he faced a global pandemic, economic disaster, and racial unrest.
The Catcher in the Rye
207 pages
'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' The first of J. D. Salinger's four books to be published, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most widely read and beloved of all contemporary American novels. 'The handbook of the adolescent heart' The New Yorker
Out of Mind
138 pages
This book offers a unique first-person perspective on Alzheimer's and dementia, making it a compelling read that stands out from my high school literature list.
My Cousin Rachel
266 pages
This book is fascinating because it features a protagonist who loses his sanity and serves as an unreliable yet convincing narrator, making the story all the more intriguing.
Strangers on a Train
288 pages
"For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith." —Time The world of Patricia Highsmith has always been filled with ordinary people, all of whom are capable of very ordinary crimes. This theme was present from the beginning, when her debut, Strangers on a Train, galvanized the reading public. Here we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. "Some people are better off dead," Bruno remarks, "like your wife and my father, for instance." As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith's perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder. The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1951 film, Strangers on a Train launched Highsmith on a prolific career of noir fiction, proving her a master at depicting the unsettling forces that tremble beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life.
Surfacing
172 pages
Even though I hated the ending, it's still an interesting read, especially considering it was written early in Atwood's career.
Green Eggs and Ham
36 pages
Join in the fun with Sam-I-Am in this iconic Dr. Seuss classic about the joy of trying new things. And don’t miss the Netflix series adaptation! I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am. With unforgettable characters and signature rhymes, Dr. Seuss’s beloved favorite has cemented its place as a children’s classic. Kids will love the terrific tongue twisters as the list of places to enjoy green eggs and ham gets longer and longer...and they might even find themselves craving something new! Beginner Books are fun, funny, and easy to read! Launched by Dr. Seuss in 1957 with the publication of The Cat in the Hat, this beloved early reader series motivates children to read on their own by using simple words with illustrations that give clues to their meaning. Featuring a combination of kid appeal, supportive vocabulary, and bright, cheerful art, Beginner Books will encourage a love of reading in children ages 3–7.
The Caine Mutiny
494 pages
This book offers a gripping narrative of naval warfare and the moral dilemmas faced by its characters, making it a compelling read, especially with its iconic film adaptation featuring Humphrey Bogart.
Going Bovine
498 pages
The main character's struggle to distinguish hallucinations from reality adds a unique twist to the story, making it both thought-provoking and funny.
