these are books i've read that were very memorable to me. it's not that i didn't like the others i read, but these ones 'rocked my world'. i hope this inspires you to check out at least one of them...
books
Fathers and Sons: this book, essentially, is the clash of the old romantic era and the new nihilistic era. here, a young boy brings home a friend to his father's estate, a scientist who follows nihilism and science. this conflicts with the father who owns serfs and land, and believes in the arts. it is important to remember that russian nihilism was not like the nihilism shown in the current era - it was a form of protest against the government who believed in serfdom and monarchy.
Stargirl: this was probably the first book i read that stuck with me, about 9-10 years ago. a somewhat popular boy catches himself watching the new girl. the new girl is an oddity, she dresses weird and she acts weird and she has a weird pet. in interacting with her, he begins to learn that public opinion isn't everything. it made me cry as a kid, and began my love for weird person x normal person .
Schoolgirl: for an middle-aged man, osamu dazai wrote a teenage girl pretty well. an unnamed highschool girl goes through the day while dealing with the death of her father, a story that had hints of the rising imperialism in japan. the way the unnamed character's mood changed from upset to happy to envious causes the reader to feel her emotions themselves. although it was written in 1939, the emotions she felt are so similar to ones a modern-day school girl would feel.
The Grapes of Wrath: to be honest, i read this for an assignment in APUSH, but quickly got enamoured. a man makes his way to the west during the great depression alongside the dusbowl and family problems. the most moving moments to me aren't the story itself, but the snippets of outside moments where everyday farmers and countrymen are affected not only by the great depression but modernization as a whole. there's a part that's always stuck to me where a man stands to an official saying his father and his father's father all lived on this land, they farmed and they killed and they built their own house. and the offical tells him life just doesn't work that way, and since he can't pay for his house they're kicking the family out. in these passages, there isn't any quotations, and barely any commas.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: a classic, and probably a great inspriation to many. a young girl goes to another world, a wonderland, and finds many curious things. i really do love this book, along with the attitude of alice herself. there is something special about a curious girl.
Are We There Yet?: i picked this book up in my school library on a whim, and was taken aback. two brothers, one a laidback teen and the other a serious salaryman, are instructed to go on a trip to italy with each other to bond. as someone with only an older sister, i never understood how brothers work but this opened my eyes. the addition of a love interest was necessary i suppose, but i am not sure how i feel about it.