Help Fictional books that can bring a new perspective on life and willingness to live?

[BeautifulMosaics]

I'm searching for exactly what the title says. I'd prefer ficton unless you find you have a non-fiction book that is exceptional.

For me I'm reading "The Next Person You Meet In Heaven" and surprisingly it made me feel quite emotional when Annie is reunited with her mother in heaven. It made me think about how I benefit from the efforts and sacrifices of those before me - especially my mother who is still here thank the Lord

I wouldn't say it has lessened my suicidal ideation and planning but who knows, maybe a book will come along that will, or maybe the culmination will.


I also suggest having an offical thread with a template posters can follow to add to this library of inspirational books.

 

[timf]

Enjoyable fiction books transport you to a world you want to visit. For example, I enjoy the WEB Griffin Marine Corps series because they allow entrance to a world where competent people get rewarded and the good guys won. Unfortunately these sort of escape adventures can leave one disappointed with the real world upon one's return.

If you want to feel better about yourself and the world you live in, you can read real history and be thankful that you are smarter than the idiots who started WWI or most of the other "important" and "successful" people in history.

The book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Tenboom is both inspirational and historical.

 

[Celerity]

This isn't a book, but I was inspired by parts of the PBS documentary about Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. It necessarily has elements of woo and since we're talking about a religion, but even the mysticism-free account of his life was way more relatable than I thought it would be.



Something about his near-fatal dive into asceticism spoke to me. Neither the doc's narrator or any of the Buddhist commentators draw any comparison between this failed attempt at enlightenment and suicidal ideation, but as a Western atheist looking at the bare bones facts of the story, the parallels are unmistakable to me. He almost destroyed his body in an effort to attain peace. Though the thought processes are different, the same motive guides the hand of the suicidal person.

Anyway, when I saw that moment in the story - when he almost died of starvation but chose to live - it gave me a weird hope that I too could turn away from the call to death that has plagued me for most of my life now.

 

[LostSoul1609]

I'm searching for exactly what the title says. I'd prefer ficton unless you find you have a non-fiction book that is exceptional.

For me I'm reading "The Next Person You Meet In Heaven" and surprisingly it made me feel quite emotional when Annie is reunited with her mother in heaven. It made me think about how I benefit from the efforts and sacrifices of those before me - especially my mother who is still here thank the Lord

I wouldn't say it has lessened my suicidal ideation and planning but who knows, maybe a book will come along that will, or maybe the culmination will.


I also suggest having an offical thread with a template posters can follow to add to this library of inspirational books.

"Siddharta" by Herman Hesse, at the end it fills you with this innate love for everything and for life itself.
"Tales of the Kolyma" from Šalamov also gives me some hope, the fact that he actually kept wanting to live out of spite of everything that was done to him, it's the kind of relentlessness that I don't have in my life and admire in others, same with Dostoevskij's "House of dead people"

 

[Celerity]

"Siddharta" by Herman Hesse, at the end it fills you with this innate love for everything and for life itself.
"Tales of the Kolyma" from Šalamov also gives me some hope, the fact that he actually kept wanting to live out of spite of everything that was done to him, it's the kind of relentlessness that I don't have in my life and admire in others, same with Dostoevskij's "House of dead people"

I've been meaning to read that novel by Hesse in part because another author I like has referenced Hesse. Have you read any other books of his?

 

[Chancerator]

I agree with "Siddhartha"! "The Alchemist" is a tear-jerker (cliche, I know). If you're looking for something a little different: "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. Also, sometimes I love going back to the young adult classics. "The Bridge to Terabithia" and "The Giver" are two of my favorites.
Finally, a nonfiction book to try: "When Breath Becomes Air." Quick read, lots of cathartic tears. ;)

 

[Celerity]

I agree with "Siddhartha"! "The Alchemist" is a tear-jerker (cliche, I know). If you're looking for something a little different: "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. Also, sometimes I love going back to the young adult classics. "The Bridge to Terabithia" and "The Giver" are two of my favorites.
Finally, a nonfiction book to try: "When Breath Becomes Air." Quick read, lots of cathartic tears. ;)

Hmmm… best not read my latest thread in Off Topic. I'm sorry if that post offends you. Just absolutely was repulsed by the prose in The Alchemist. For every one quotable section, 10 others hit a bad nerve. At least you actually answered OP's question though (unlike me).

 

[Chancerator]

Hmmm… best not read my latest thread in Off Topic. I'm sorry if that post offends you. Just absolutely was repulsed by the prose in The Alchemist. For every one quotable section, 10 others hit a bad nerve. At least you actually answered OP's question though (unlike me).

Haha. Not offended. I'm a writer by trade...I certainly wouldn't consider The Alchemist an exceptional work of art. I just happened to read it during a particularly suicidal point in my life, and it made me experience the warm fuzzies or something. Thought it was worth a mention, but it should definitely come with a disclaimer lol.

 

[Celerity]

Haha. Not offended. I'm a writer by trade...I certainly wouldn't consider The Alchemist an exceptional work of art. I just happened to read it during a particularly suicidal point in my life, and it made me experience the warm fuzzies or something. Thought it was worth a mention, but it should definitely come with a disclaimer lol.

Been there. I read some stuff by Pema Chodron that moved me. Tried to read in a different mood, and it just did not compute anymore.

What kind of writing do you do?

 

[Chancerator]

Been there. I read some stuff by Pema Chodron that moved me. Tried to read in a different mood, and it just did not compute anymore.

What kind of writing do you do?

Mostly narrative nonfiction/memoir. I dabble in fiction every now and then, but I can never seem to get the stories off the ground. (Granted, I can't seem to get anything off the ground these days....but I think that's the crushing weight of depression...)