Awesome books

AWESOME BOOKS

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20 APRIL 2025

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This article contains a list of my favourite books.

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Cloud Atlas

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This highly creative novel rekindled my love of fiction. Cloud Atlas is a +collection of six tales linked across time. As the novel unfolds, each story +riffles over the previous ones, like a pack of playing cards.

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Ender’s Game

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In this sci-fi novel, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a young boy, is drafted to lead a +squad of young children in an offensive against an alien race. It’s a complex +story that touches upon various political and philosophical issues. Those +perceived as gifted by others (and alienated for it) will likely connect with +Ender.

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Flowers for Algernon

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This novel, written as a series of progress reports, tells the story of Charlie +Gordon, a developmentally disabled man who acquires superhuman cognitive +abilities through an experimental medical procedure. For some reason, I felt a +deep connection with Charlie. If I had to pick a favourite book on this list, +that would be this.

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Dead Souls

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Nikolai Gogol is one of the most original authors I’ve read. Dead Souls is the +story of Ivanovich Chichikov, a traveling merchant who trades dead serfs. +Instead of simply describing them, Gogol develops realistic characters in +minute detail by employing theatrical clashes between them.

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The Overcoat

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Gogol’s The Overcoat is one of the finest short stories I’ve read. Akaky +Akakievich, an impoverished government clerk, must buy a new overcoat. I +recommend reading Gogol before Dostoyevsky. What Gogol invented, Dostoyevsky +perfected.

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Demons

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After reading Demons, a story about an attempted revolution, I realized that +Dostoevsky’s reputation is well-deserved. Dostoyevsky was a great observer of +the human psyche. The depth with which he depicts his characters is +unparalleled. Demons is a book that anyone aspiring to bring about change +through revolution must read.

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The Outsider

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Camus’s quote, “In our society, any man who doesn’t cry at his mother’s funeral +is liable to be condemned to death,” summarizes the book quite well. To +appreciate the philosophical elements of this absurdist novel, you may also +want to check out The Myth of Sisyphus.

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Frankenstein

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I’m not sure why I found this story so charming. Perhaps it’s a deep-felt +empathy for Victor Frankenstein. Maybe it’s the rustic descriptions of places +I’d never seen. After reading the book, I traveled Frankenstein’s trail from +Germany through Lucerne, Geneva, and Scotland.

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde needs no introduction. I’m drawn to +Stevenson’s writing style the same way I am to Mary Shelley’s. Both writers +evoke deep feelings and paint vivid images using simple language. The economy +of their language lacks neither precision nor power. If I could write like any +author, I would choose Mary Shelley or Stevenson.

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Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four

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Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984 are inseparable, visionary novels +that depict dystopian futures from two extremes. For some reason, I felt Brave +New World lacked something despite being the more prescient of the two. It may +be Orwell’s eloquence overshadowing Huxley’s brilliance. In any event, these +two books are more relevant today than they’ve ever been.

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Memoirs of a Madman

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Another one of Gogol’s brilliant short stories. Presented in the form of +Aksenty Ivanovich’s diary, the story documents the government clerk’s descent +into madness. His obsession with social status and self-aggrandizement leads +him on a trajectory of envy, wounded pride, and outright insanity.

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by W. D. Sadeep Madurange