Post the most fucked up/controversial book you've ever read

[Nikita42]

The most fucked up book I've ever read was Geek Love http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_Love by Katherine Dunn. I enjoyed the book, but it was seriously messed up.

[comic boy]

American Psycho was pretty warped.

[squishyg]

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. Kiddie incest, kiddie murder, kidnapping. Perfect for Y.A. readers!

I remember being 12 and checking it out of the library and I couldn't believe what I was reading.

[demonfork]

Better Yet:










JRock

Ive read it cover to cover more than once and some of the books many, many times....Just curious, what did you find so fucked up about it?

[john9blue]

Unless you've never read the Bible.

i have probably read about half of the bible. is that enough to qualify it for my list? lol

[BigBallinStalin]

Has anyone here read Fight Club? And is it worth reading if one enjoyed the humor of the film?

[Gypsys Kiss]

I found The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks fairly disturbing.......

[BGtheBrain]

****

[thegreekdog]

Has anyone here read Fight Club? And is it worth reading if one enjoyed the humor of the film?

Yes, and it's like 20 pages so there's no real cost to reading it.

[BigBallinStalin]

Has anyone here read Fight Club? And is it worth reading if one enjoyed the humor of the film?

Yes, and it's like 20 pages so there's no real cost to reading it.

Hold the phone!

Paperback: 224 pages

http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Club-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0805062971



I suspect the Spanish Inquisition...

[Ace Rimmer]

I spent some time thinking about a controversial or fucked up book I've read. I can't think of one. Apparently my interest in science fiction and fantasy, to the exclusion of all other genres, has made me vanilla.

You've never read any L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)?

Battlefield Earth was a great pulp sci-fi book (except the ending, I really think the book was changed during its rereleases by the scientologists, I can't remember one part from reading it 20 years ago). The movie was as horrible as everyone who ever watched it said.

His Mission: Earth series was the most fucked up series I ever read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Earth_%28novel%29

[thegreekdog]

I spent some time thinking about a controversial or fucked up book I've read. I can't think of one. Apparently my interest in science fiction and fantasy, to the exclusion of all other genres, has made me vanilla.

You've never read any L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)?

Battlefield Earth was a great pulp sci-fi book (except the ending, I really think the book was changed during its rereleases by the scientologists, I can't remember one part from reading it 20 years ago). The movie was as horrible as everyone who ever watched it said.

His Mission: Earth series was the most fucked up series I ever read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Earth_%28novel%29

I have not... I'll add Mission: Earth to my list.

Has anyone here read Fight Club? And is it worth reading if one enjoyed the humor of the film?

Yes, and it's like 20 pages so there's no real cost to reading it.

Hold the phone!

Paperback: 224 pages

http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Club-Novel-Chuck-Palahniuk/dp/0805062971



I suspect the Spanish Inquisition...

Hey, I used the qualifer "like." 224 pages, 20 pages, it's all short to me.

[thegreekdog]

One group of books (at the top of my favorites list) was refreshingly honest at the beginning - The Book of the New Sun. The narrator/main character admitted that some of what he was telling might be a lie (I thought that was pretty cool). It's not really fucked up or controversial, but I highly recommend Gene Wolfe.

[jbrettlip]

The most fucked up book I read growing up was "The day they scrambled my brains at the funny farm". I had to google search about 10 minutes to find the title. It was a knock off of Cuckoo's nest, much more violent and sexual. In my search I found a link with annoying music, but apparently you can read the whole book on line. If you are into insulin shock, electroshock, fights, solitary or lesbians raping each other with candles....you should read it. You can guess why at 16 I read this a few times....
http://www.maxraven.com/novel/chapters/index1.html

[anonymus]

Genuinely OT: (John and Scotty pushing their usual thread jacking snooze-fest material)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_%28novel%29

Was arguably one of the most messed up books i've ever read.

And yes I throughly enjoyed the satire.

read it, kind of liked it but prefer most of his other books i must say..
cant recall the name of it but a bunch of people locked in a house on a writers retreat telling short stories while they all go insane(er) was kind of entertaining..

there is a swedish book called; "Äldreomsorgen i övre kågedalen" ("the elderly care in the upper kåge-valley" roughly translated) written by Nikanor Teratologen (its a pseudonym but cant recall his real name)
it is all about a old man called morfar (grandpa) and a young boy called pyret (like a cute nickname for something small) it cause quite the controversey in sweden and is throughout an extremely disturbing read.. pretty much breaks any tabu/law/social norm in a way that almost makes it feel normal..

i doubt there is any translations but for truly disgusting read i recommend learning swedish and then reading it..

/

[PLAYER57832]

My friends dad was a cop and had a paper copy of the anarchists cookbook. I dont know if it really was hard to get or not, but considering we were teenagers and found the thing, i couldve done some bad things with that info

I have seen a book by that name advertised. I cannot be sure its the same one.

[Baron Von PWN]

Pierse Anthony's Tyrant of Jupiter series. Those were some fairly messed up books. Good but pretty bizarre at times, lots of weird sex scenes and strange political ideas.

Also glen beck's book "arguing with idiots" It wasn't so much the contents that were fucked up, though they were pretty bad. It was the ridiculous impossible to read layout, oh and good luck trying to check any of sources.

[InkL0sed]

Greekdog: what about Foucault's Pendulum? Kinda sorta fucked up, no?

[Symmetry]

The Bible is definitely way up there in terms of most controversial. Off the top of my head I couldn't name another book that caused so many deaths between people who read and agreed with it, but interpreted it in different ways, or how it should be edited or translated. I don't know enough about schisms in Islam to talk about the Koran and controversies over its interpretation.

I wouldn't say either was fucked up though.

[thegreekdog]

Greekdog: what about Foucault's Pendulum? Kinda sorta fucked up, no?

Fucked up? Not sure. Awesome? Yes. I need to read it again.

I guess maybe I'm being too extreme with my definition of "fucked up" or "controversial." I think Chuck Pahulniak is probably the most controversial and fucked up writer I've heard of; but he literally writes fucked up stuff on purpose. I don't think Umberto Eco writes fucked up stuff on purpose (he's not like the fucked up writer guy).

[BoganGod]

Has anyone here read Fight Club? And is it worth reading if one enjoyed the humor of the film?

Yeah, read fight club is pretty cool. Check out - Choke by the same author as fight club. It is choke as in choke the chicken, a lovely little book about a sex addict who's mother believes him to be the child of christ...... Rather out there. I liked it

[Johnny Rockets]

Better Yet:










JRock

Ive read it cover to cover more than once and some of the books many, many times....Just curious, what did you find so fucked up about it?

Basically how an entire belief structure can completely ignore rock hard scientific evidence.
I visited the temple grounds in Utah. Very beautiful. I listened in on a handful of tour guides while I was walking around, and although I don't like to ridicule someones faith (too much...) the sheer "blindness" ( and strength..) of it was impressive.

Anyway, my .02

Other decent fucked up reads:

Memoirs of a dirty old man - Charles Bukowski
Great book, messed up lifestyle, but amazing contemporary writing.

Stitches - David Small
Done in an illustrated format about the authors childhood and his bat-shit insane mother.
A book I will keep forever, but will never read again.

Stranger than Fiction - Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck. 'nuff said.


Rockets

[Ace Rimmer]

I spent some time thinking about a controversial or fucked up book I've read. I can't think of one. Apparently my interest in science fiction and fantasy, to the exclusion of all other genres, has made me vanilla.

You've never read any L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)?

Battlefield Earth was a great pulp sci-fi book (except the ending, I really think the book was changed during its rereleases by the scientologists, I can't remember one part from reading it 20 years ago). The movie was as horrible as everyone who ever watched it said.

His Mission: Earth series was the most fucked up series I ever read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Earth_%28novel%29

I have not... I'll add Mission: Earth to my list.

THAT WAS NOT A RECOMMENDATION! Do you not see in Wikipedia where it is called "the worst sci-fi series of all time"???

[thegreekdog]

I spent some time thinking about a controversial or fucked up book I've read. I can't think of one. Apparently my interest in science fiction and fantasy, to the exclusion of all other genres, has made me vanilla.

You've never read any L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)?

Battlefield Earth was a great pulp sci-fi book (except the ending, I really think the book was changed during its rereleases by the scientologists, I can't remember one part from reading it 20 years ago). The movie was as horrible as everyone who ever watched it said.

His Mission: Earth series was the most fucked up series I ever read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Earth_%28novel%29

I have not... I'll add Mission: Earth to my list.

Oh... by fucked up you mean it sucked. I haven't added it to the list, so I won't.
THAT WAS NOT A RECOMMENDATION! Do you not see in Wikipedia where it is called "the worst sci-fi series of all time"???

[BigBallinStalin]

I spent some time thinking about a controversial or fucked up book I've read. I can't think of one. Apparently my interest in science fiction and fantasy, to the exclusion of all other genres, has made me vanilla.

You've never read any L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology)?

Battlefield Earth was a great pulp sci-fi book (except the ending, I really think the book was changed during its rereleases by the scientologists, I can't remember one part from reading it 20 years ago). The movie was as horrible as everyone who ever watched it said.

His Mission: Earth series was the most fucked up series I ever read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Earth_%28novel%29

I have not... I'll add Mission: Earth to my list.

Hey, guys! Mind if I lump my statement in here too?!
Oh... by fucked up you mean it sucked. I haven't added it to the list, so I won't.
THAT WAS NOT A RECOMMENDATION! Do you not see in Wikipedia where it is called "the worst sci-fi series of all time"???