i need literary advice

I need texts in which the author explores the "dark side of humanity". Does any one know any good books out there that relate to this theme? thank you.

Albert Camus' The Outsider (Or L'Etranger in the original text) is a great book about a man who is very much out of synch with the rest of society and does some morally questionable acts that seem dark to us but perfectly reasonable to him. Not a perfect relation to your theme but worth reading all the same!

handmaid's tale. lord of the flies. grendel.

almost every literary work explores the dark side of humanity

Albert Camus' The Outsider (Or L'Etranger in the original text) is a great book about a man who is very much out of synch with the rest of society and does some morally questionable acts that seem dark to us but perfectly reasonable to him. Not a perfect relation to your theme but worth reading all the same!

I agree, it's a good book. Are you looking for books that that have a general dark feeling though?

^not necessarily...I should have been more specific, altough the suggestions are good so far... espescially lord of the flies. thanks jen!

im looking for texts that have some of the following themes:

1. abuse of power

2. greed and corruption

3. deception and manipulation

4. wrathful nature of man

5. exploitation of others

6. internal conflict.

thanks for the help so far guys!

East of Eden by Steinbeck

^not necessarily...I should have been more specific, altough the suggestions are good so far... espescially lord of the flies. thanks jen!

 

im looking for texts that have some of the following themes:

1. abuse of power

2. greed and corruption

3. deception and manipulation

4. wrathful nature of man

5. exploitation of others

6. internal conflict.

 

thanks for the help so far guys!

Oh again, I'm recommending The Handmaid's Tale. It has all those elements.

The Human Stain by Phillip Roth (It was also made into a movie of the same title, starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman)

I think a really obvious suggestion I'm surprised I didn't think of before is Orwell's 1984. It's got

1. Abuse of power

2. Corruption

3. Deception and manipulation

4. Wrath

5. Exploitation of others (particularly the protagonist, and of historical records)

6. The whole story is an internal conflict!

A classic, and one of my favourites.

Look into sociology.

arundhati roy's the god of small things.

the collector, by john fowles.

my two favouritest writers/books.

I need texts in which the author explores the "dark side of humanity". Does any one know any good books out there that relate to this theme? thank you.

Wuthering Heights?

The Old Testament.

I think a really obvious suggestion I'm surprised I didn't think of before is Orwell's 1984. It's got

 

1. Abuse of power

2. Corruption

3. Deception and manipulation

4. Wrath

5. Exploitation of others (particularly the protagonist, and of historical records)

6. The whole story is an internal conflict!

 

A classic, and one of my favourites.

I agree with this. 1984 demonstrates the dark side of humanity on a large scale.

There's so many you could choose from, nearly all shakespeare's plays have this theme because the plot often involves a character that wants to advance themselves by making others fall. You could apply that theme to most novels really. Wuthering Heights could be good as well because it shows how bitterness and lack of compassion can bring out the dark sides of humanity.

Have you ever read Notes From the Underground from Dostoyevsky? It's short and very interesting, and quite dark.

Lots of stuff from Shakespeare, including Othello, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice.

Saturday by Ian McEwan comes to mind, too. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which some have already mentioned. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, for sure. Dante's Inferno -- that one's an interesting read!

Too many to even mention...

Ah..and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This was the basis for the film Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando just reminded me of The Godfather by Mario Puzo.

Thinking of Frankenstein also brought to mind Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park -- definitely a theme of the dark side of humanity -- greed, arrogance, trying to "play God," so to speak.

Have you ever read Notes From the Underground from Dostoyevsky? It's short and very interesting, and quite dark.

Oh, Dosty has a soft spot in my heart forever. A lot of his books go into the dark side - but always with a kernel of hope and spirituality at its core.

Plus, you can read most of his works online for free.

I love the Russian literature as far as this theme is concerned.

1984 is about the darker side of government...

Yeah, there is always Crime and Punishment. Of course you need a crane to lift it.

Conrad's Heart of Darkness is a classic and has all the elements you are looking for. I had to write a term paper on pretty much that same subject but only how it was used in Heart of Darkness.

And I am completely blanking on the name of this other book, but it is where a man winds up on an island and the man who lives there hunts him. If he can stay alive for a certain amount of time then he is allowed to go free. I want to say Deadliest Game, but I don't think that's it. Ah I can't remember! This is going to drive me crazy lol...