10 books that will make you think (and that can change your life)

What they say about a good book can change your life is totally true. There are countless good stories out there, but it is true that there are some stories that are especially stimulating. And since we don’t want you to miss any of the important ones, we have prepared this list of books that will make you think.

Regardless of their genre, audience or length, these books have the ability to invite reflection. Let many of the universal themes and conflicts with which we all identify run through our heads.

Fantastic stories, children’s stories, essays, reports or the great American novel. Behind any book or any genre there can be that story that stimulates our creativity.. Because there are stories that turn everything we believe in upside down.

And we hope that some of these titles that we propose invite you to a healthy and enriching reflection. Here are 10 books that will make you think:

1. 1984, George Orwell

A book that no one misses is 1984, by George Orwell. It is set in a futuristic universe in which what is known as Big Brother holds political power. A person whom no one has ever seen, but who completely controls the future of society.

Our protagonist is located in the Ministry of Truth, where he works. It is a place that filters and censors all artistic and editorial manifestations that may go against the regime. The goal: shape the story of history to preserve power.

2. The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

After 84 days without catching a single fish, old Santiago goes out to sea like every morning in the hope of putting an end to his bad luck. A story about old age and need that is embellished by seafaring prints loaded with truth.

The man ends up facing a swordfish that is too big for him. But regardless of whether he manages to capture it or not, the story shows Santiago the value of bravery. In addition to managing to become brotherly, as he says, with the uncontrollable forces of nature. Without a doubt, a story that we should all read at least once in our lives.

3. On the road, Jack Kerouac

On the Road is a novel with an important generational component. It could be considered, if not the best, the most representative of Jack Kerouac’s work. A song to the beat generation that tells us the journey of a young New Yorker with literary aspirations.

The story revolves around his friendship with Dean Moriarty, a troubled young man who, after leaving reform school, decides to wander around the country in search of intense experiences. Despite his lack of control, the protagonist admires his partner more and more, even when he leaves him stranded in the middle of the fevers in Mexico City.

4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson

If the beat generation has been of any use, it is to inspire a multitude of writers in subsequent decades. Countless journalists, poets and writers took the license to write about reality from different perspectives, all with an important literary component.

And in the midst of this current, the work of Hunter S. Thompson stands out, who finds his greatest achievement in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What was originally going to be a journalistic report about a race in the Nevada desert turns into a depraved drug parade in the middle of a jungle like Las Vegas.

Full of humor and sarcasm, this search – with no apparent direction – leads the reader and Thompson himself to an uncomfortable truth: the death of the American dream.

But don’t be fooled by the crazy adventures of Thompson and his sidekick, because believe us, this is one of those books that will make you think.

5. A Season in Hell, Arthur Rimbaud

If you are really willing to witness uncomfortable truths, you should read A Season in Hell. The collection of poems by Arthur Rimbaud, one of the cursed poets of 19th century France, is echo of the death and rot of Western culture.

The verses focus on the poet’s experience, a misunderstood young man who is torn between his passion and his old religious conscience. A composition of rupture in which poetry and life appear fiercely opposed.

6. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol

Behind a fantastic and bizarre story, such as that of Alice, hides a deep network that entangles all the logical processes that we know. The Chesire cat, the Absolet caterpillar or the incomprehensibility of the Mad Hatter. A series of boxes that, although it may not seem like it, have a powerful and intricate internal logic.

And this is precisely what Alice in Wonderland is about: the irony of many behaviors imposed in society. At the end of the day, Carrol’s story is nothing more than a succession of surreal events with no apparent connection, just as it would occur in a dream.

7. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Little Prince is a true classic. It tells the story of an aviator and a man from space who looks like a prince. A magical and surreal book that talks about how deep friendship can beof the value that a friend has.

The work of Saint-Exupéry deals with topics such as universal language of feelings or the wisdom of those who look at everything with pure eyes. And how beauty can reach the hearts of both children and adults, as long as it is not filtered by prejudice.

8. The Stranger, Albert Camus

Although this work by Albert Camus was conceived as an essay – it really is – it still tells the story of a modest worker who lives in Algiers. In a state of strangeness and indifference towards himself, the protagonist inexplicably kills an Arab.

From here, we witness the adventures of an absurd hero who assumes his condition as a murderer and condemned to death. No excuses, no defenses or lies. A book that tells us about the awareness of what is real and its ability to achieve the true experience of being and feeling.

9. Dune, Frank Herbert

On the occasion of the latest film adaptation, you have surely heard of Frank Herbert’s Dune. It is one of the main representations of science fiction literature in the 20th century.

It tells the story of Paul Atreides, a young heir to the throne who must move to the planet of Arrakis, the place where the Empire extracts “the spice”, the most sought-after substance in the universe.

Disguised as intergalactic travel, spaceships and political intrigue, Herbert aims to show us the main global conflicts of his time. War, immigration and even the expansion of consciousness through certain toxic substances. Without a doubt, Dune is the ABC of fantasy and science fiction.

10. Artificial paradises, Charles Baudelaire

Finally, we would like to end with a book specially designed to stimulate the reader’s reflection. This is about artificial paradises, by Charles Baudelaire. This is a test that the French poet focuses on the consumption of wine and hashish. His main idea was to collect the effects that both substances produce on the body and soul.

Based on his work, artificial paradises refer to any substance or drug that is consumed with the intention of stimulating the artist’s creativity. A quality that, according to Baudelaire, is nothing more than an illusion, since Our judgment is affected by the altered perception of reality produced by narcotics. Without a doubt, one of those books that will make you think.

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