Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Free Will
The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
by Sophocles
Ancient tragedy of a family's fall from grace due to a fateful prophecy.
English versions of Sophocles’ three great tragedies based on the myth of Oedipus, translated for a modern audience by two gifted poets. Index. ... (Barnes & Noble)
Sophie's World
by Jostein Gaarder
A journey of philosophical discovery told through a young girl's exploration of the world.
Sophie Amundsen is a 14-year-old girl who lives in Lillesand , Norway. The book begins with Sophie receiving two messages in her mailbox and a postcard addressed to Hilde Møller Knag. Afterwards, she ... (Wikipedia)
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A man's struggle to make sense of the horrors of war and the chaotic nature of life.
The story is told in a non-linear order, and events become clear through flashbacks and time travel experiences from the unreliable narrator , who begins the novel by writing "All of this happened, ... (Wikipedia)
On the Genealogy of Morals
by Friedrich Nietzsche
Exploration of morality, power, and the origin of human values.
On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) is a book about the history of ethics and about interpretation. Nietzsche rewrites the former as a history of cruelty, exposing the central values of the ... (Goodreads)
The Great Divorce
by C.S. Lewis
A spiritual journey through Heaven and Hell, exploring the consequences of our decisions.
The narrator inexplicably finds himself in a grim and joyless city, the "grey town", where it rains continuously, even indoors, which is either Hell or Purgatory depending on whether or not one stays ... (Wikipedia)
Lord of Light
by Roger Zelazny
A cosmic struggle between ancient Hindu gods and a man, who uses technology to gain freedom.
Lord of Light is set on a planet colonized by some of the remnants of "vanished Urath", or Earth. The crew and colonists from the spaceship Star of India found themselves on a strange planet ... (Wikipedia)
The Dispatcher
by John Scalzi
A man discovers an ability to revive the recently dead, leading to a chaotic and dangerous situation.
Listening Length: 2 hours and 18 minutes One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? ... (Goodreads)
Onyx
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
A teenage girl's journey to find her place in the world, full of supernatural secrets and danger.
BEING CONNECTED TO DAEMON BLACK SUCKS… Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though ... (Goodreads)
A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess
A teenage gang's journey of rebellion, exploring the nature of morality and personal choice.
In Anthony Burgess's influential nightmare vision of the future, criminals take over after dark. Teen gang leader Alex narrates in fantastically inventive slang that echoes the violent intensity of ... (Goodreads)
Paradise Lost
by John Milton
Epic poem of the Fall of Man, exploring the depths of human nature and the consequences of sin.
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of ... (Goodreads)
Cloud Atlas
by David Mitchell
A dynamic narrative spanning centuries, exploring the interconnectedness of humanity.
The book consists of six nested stories; each is read or observed by a main character of the next, thus they progress in time through the central sixth story. The first five stories are each ... (Wikipedia)
Leviathan
by Paul Auster
A mysterious stranger's dark and somewhat surreal journey of self-exploration.
The story is told by Peter Aaron about the victim, Benjamin Sachs, his best friend whom he first meets as a fellow writer in a Greenwich Village bar in 1975. Peter decides to try to piece together ... (Wikipedia)
Discourse on Method
by René Descartes
Philosophical exploration of the power of human reason and the nature of reality.
By far the most widely used translation in North American college classrooms, Donald A. Cress's translation from the French of the Adam and Tannery critical edition is prized for its accuracy, ... (Goodreads)
The Sirens of Titan
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Intergalactic odyssey exploring the meaning of life and the human condition.
Malachi Constant is the richest man in a future North America. He possesses extraordinary luck that he attributes to divine favor which he has used to build upon his father's fortune. He becomes the ... (Wikipedia)
The Discovery of Heaven
by Harry Mulisch
An epic tale of three men's search for a divine stone, testing the boundaries of faith and science.
An angel -like being is ordered to return to Heaven the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments . The divine being, however, cannot himself travel to Earth, and on several occasions in the book ... (Wikipedia)
That Hideous Strength
by C.S. Lewis
A battle between good and evil, as a group of revolutionaries attempt to overthrow a sinister scientific organization.
The book, written during the final period of World War II , takes place at an undetermined year "after the end of the war". Mark Studdock is a young academic who has just become a Senior Fellow in ... (Wikipedia)
The Dice Man
by Luke Rhinehart
A man discovers the power of randomness and uses it to make his life decisions.
As stated at the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy user site: ... (Wikipedia)
I, Robot
by Isaac Asimov
A collection of science fiction stories exploring the relationship between humans and robots.
Isaac Asimov's I, Robot launches readers on an adventure into a not-so-distant future where man and machine , struggle to redefinelife, love, and consciousness—and where the stakes are nothing less ... (Goodreads)
His Dark Materials
by Philip Pullman
An epic fantasy adventure across multiple universes, pitting good against evil.
In Jordan College, Oxford , 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua and her dæmon Pantalaimon witness the Master attempt to poison Lord Asriel , Lyra's rebellious and adventuring uncle. She warns Asriel, then ... (Wikipedia)
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)
The End of Eternity
by Isaac Asimov
A renegade scientist unravels the secrets of time travel, challenging the status quo.
Andrew Harlan is an Eternal, a man whose job it is to range through past and present Centuries, monitoring and, where necessary, altering Time's myriad cause-and-effect relationships. But when Harlan ... (Goodreads)
Blood Song
by Anthony Ryan
A narrative of a young man's rise to fame and power, and the battles he must face.
“The Sixth Order wields the sword of justice and smites the enemies of the Faith and the Realm.” Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order. ... (Goodreads)
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler
A groundbreaking exploration of how subtle influences can shape decisions and improve people's lives.
From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics, Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein: a revelatory look at how we make decisions,New York Times bestseller,Named a Best Book of the Year by, ... (Goodreads)
The Tales of Dr. Faustus, Sorcerer
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
An exploration of human ambition and the consequences of making a deal with the devil.
Goethe’s Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him ... (Goodreads)
Antigone; Oedipus the King; Electra
by Sophocles
Tragedy of family strife and the consequences of prideful actions.
This volume contains three masterpieces by the Greek playwright Sophocles, widely regarded since antiquity as the greatest of all the tragic poets. The vivid translations, which combine elegance and ... (Goodreads)
Beyond Good and Evil
by Friedrich Nietzsche
A philosophical exploration of morality and truth, challenging conventional morality and religious beliefs.
Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil is translated from the German by R.J. Hollingdale with an introduction by Michael Tanner in Penguin Classics. Beyond Good and Evil confirmed Nietzsche's ... (Goodreads)
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A surrealistic, satirical commentary on the horror of war and the loss of innocence.
The story is told in a non-linear order by an unreliable narrator (he begins the novel by telling the reader, "All of this happened, more or less"). Events become clear through flashbacks and ... (Wikipedia)
Time Out of Joint
by Philip K. Dick
A man discovers reality is not as it seems, and he must find a way to uncover the truth.
Ragle Gumm lives in the year 1959 in a quiet American suburb. His unusual profession consists of repeatedly winning the cash prize in a local newspaper contest called "Where Will The Little Green Man ... (Wikipedia)
The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
by Will Durant
History of the philosophical thought, spanning centuries of influential thinkers.
A brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the great philosophers, from Plato to Dewey. Few write for the non-specialist as well as Will Durant, and this book is a splendid example of ... (Goodreads)
The Problem of Pain
by C.S. Lewis
Exploration of the philosophical and theological implications of pain and suffering.
For centuries Christians have questioned why, if God is good and all-powerful, he allows us to suffer pain. C.S. Lewis sets out to disentangle this knotty issue, but adds that, in the end, no ... (Goodreads)
Demons
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A fictional exploration of the human condition, examining the darker sides of our nature.
The novel is in three parts. There are two epigraphs, the first from Pushkin's poem "Demons" and the second from Luke 8:32–36. After an almost illustrious but prematurely curtailed academic career ... (Wikipedia)
Huis clos: suivi de Les Mouches
by Jean-Paul Sartre
An exploration of the moral implications of choice, the ultimate freedom of human beings.
Three damned souls, Joseph Garcin, Inèz Serrano, and Estelle Rigault, are brought to the same room in Hell and locked inside by a mysterious valet. They had all expected torture devices to punish ... (Wikipedia)
Pandemonium
by Lauren Oliver
A teenage girl's fight for freedom and for a chance to make her own choices.
The book follows up the events of Delirium . Lena is now in the Wilds alone, and the sequel begins by switching the chapters from the present "now" and the past "then" point of view of Lena until ... (Wikipedia)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
by Tom Stoppard
A humorous exploration of fate and free will, seen through the eyes of two minor characters in Shakespeare's "Hamlet".
Hamlet told from the worm's-eye view of two minor characters, bewildered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Echoes of Waiting for Godot resound, reality and illusion mix, and where fate leads heroes to a ... (Goodreads)
The Dead Zone
by Stephen King
A man awakens from a coma with supernatural powers, and must grapple with the consequences.
As a child in 1953, Johnny Smith falls unconscious while ice-skating, then mumbles a prophetic warning to an adult who later suffers an accident. In an unconnected incident, a young, emotionally ... (Wikipedia)
Look Who's Back
by Timur Vermes
A satirical novel about a fictional Adolf Hitler, who wakes up in modern-day Germany.
Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up from a 66-year sleep in his subterranean Berlin bunker to find the Germany he knew entirely changed: Internet-driven media spreads ideas in minutes and ... (Goodreads)
Cruel Beauty
by Rosamund Hodge
A young woman's battle of wits with a powerful, wicked fairy tale villain.
If you’re excited about the upcoming Disney film Beauty and the Beast , starring Emma Watson, don’t miss Cruel Beauty . The romance of, Beauty and the Beast, meets the adventure of, Graceling, in ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Fall
by Albert Camus
A man's journey into alienation and despair, driven by a sense of absurdity in life.
The Fall, ( French :, La Chute, ) is a philosophical novel by Albert Camus . First published in 1956, it is his last complete work of fiction. Set in Amsterdam , The Fall consists of a series of ... (Wikipedia)
Keeping Faith
by Jodi Picoult
A mother's legal battle to keep her daughter's faith against a court ruling.
When Mariah White catches her husband, Colin White, having an affair with another woman for the second time in their marriage, he files for divorce and gives her full custody of their child, Faith. ... (Wikipedia)
Carrion Comfort
by Dan Simmons
A group of powerful psychics with the ability to control the minds of others use their powers for sinister purposes.
The story begins in 1942, with a man named Saul Laski who fears for his life while at the Chełmno extermination camp built by Germans during World War II in Poland . He is determined to resist being ... (Wikipedia)
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
by Steven Pinker
The exploration of the science of human nature, including the implications for society.
In The Blank Slate , Steven Pinker explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. He shows how many intellectuals have denied the existence of human nature by ... (Goodreads)
The Minority Report
by Philip K. Dick
A dystopian future where technology is used to predict and prevent crimes.
In the world of The Minority Report, Commissioner John Anderton is the one to thank for the lack of crime. He is the originator of the Precrime System, which uses precogs—people with the power to see ... (Goodreads)
Death Note, Vol. 9: Contact
by Tsugumi Ohba
Light and L's battle against one another intensifies as the forces of justice and evil clash.
Light has always been confident in his ability to out-think everyone, but L's protégés are proving to be more of a challenge than he anticipated. The more Light mentally maneuvers, the tighter the ... (Goodreads)
The Future of Us
by Jay Asher
Teenagers explore the possibilities of the future, based on choices they make in the present.
Josh and Emma are about to discover themselves—fifteen years in the future. It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long—at least, up ... (Wikipedia)
The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
by Sam Harris
Examines how science can be used to understand and guide morality.
Sam Harris' first book, The End of Faith , ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people - from religious fundamentalists to ... (Goodreads)
The Myth of Sisyphus
by Albert Camus
An essay on understanding the absurdity of life, and realizing there is meaning in even the most mundane tasks.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, ... (Goodreads)
Making History
by Stephen Fry
An exploration of the past, present, and future, and the power of human choice.
The story is told in first person by Michael "Puppy" Young, a young history student at Cambridge University on the verge of completing his doctoral thesis on the early life of Adolf Hitler and his ... (Wikipedia)
Timequake
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A man is forced to relive the life he lived before, discovering the beauty of second chances.
Vonnegut uses the premise of a timequake (or repetition of actions) in which there is no free will . The idea of determinism is explored—as it is in many of his previous works—to assert that people ... (Wikipedia)
Clariel
by Garth Nix
A young woman's struggle to define her own identity in a dangerous world of magic.
Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped ... (Goodreads)
Chapterhouse: Dune
by Frank Herbert
A family's quest to restore balance to a chaotic universe, while uncovering secrets of the past.
The Bene Gesserit find themselves the target of the Honored Matres, whose conquest of the Old Empire is almost complete. The Matres are seeking to assimilate the technology and superhuman skills of ... (Wikipedia)
Existentialism is a Humanism
by Jean-Paul Sartre
A philosophical exploration of the human condition, and the implications of freedom and responsibility.
It was to correct common misconceptions about his thought that Jean-Paul Sartre, the most dominent European intellectual of the post-World War II decades, accepted an invitation to speak on October ... (Goodreads)
Ethics
by Baruch Spinoza
Exploration of morality and the laws of nature, framed in a rationalist argument.
Published shortly after his death, the Ethics is undoubtedly Spinoza's greatest work - an elegant, fully cohesive cosmology derived from first principles, providing a coherent picture of reality, and ... (Goodreads)
How We Decide
by Jonah Lehrer
Examining the science of decision making, exploring how we arrive at our choices.
The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions. Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or ... (Goodreads)
Friday
by Robert A. Heinlein
A man's quest for freedom, navigating a future world of robots, aliens and interstellar travel.
The book's narrator is Friday Jones (often going under cover name Marjorie Baldwin and using both surnames somewhat interchangeably). Friday is a genetically engineered human (known as an Artificial ... (Wikipedia)
Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
by René Descartes
Philosophical treatise on the nature of knowledge and reality, examining the limits of human understanding.
La figura de Descartes como filósofo no ha sido objeto de unánime interpretación. Sobre todo en la actualidad se juzga y pondera su obra. no menos que su personalidad, de manera diferente. Para ... (Goodreads)
Hocus Pocus
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A darkly comedic tale of a man's struggle to cope with the absurdity of life.
Eugene is fired from his job as a college professor after having several of his witticisms surreptitiously recorded by the daughter of a popular conservative commentator. Eugene then becomes a ... (Wikipedia)
Fifteen Dogs
by André Alexis
A group of dogs gain human intelligence and experience the highs and lows of life.
Over drinks at Toronto's Wheat Sheaf Tavern, Hermes and Apollo get into a debate about whether animals could live happily if they had the same cognitive and speech abilities as humans. , They decide ... (Wikipedia)
Wake
by Lisa McMann
A teenage girl discovers she can enter strangers' dreams and must use her newfound power to prevent a disaster.
The book begins with multiple flashbacks, all leading to Janie's extraordinary powers and where she stands in the present day. Janie Hannagan is an independent, 17-year-old senior at Fieldridge High ... (Wikipedia)
The Magus
by John Fowles
A man's search for truth, enlightenment and freedom amid a web of deception.
The story reflects the perspective of Nicholas Urfe, a young Oxford graduate and aspiring poet. After graduation, he briefly works as a teacher at a small school, but becomes bored and decides to ... (Wikipedia)
An Enchantment of Ravens
by Margaret Rogerson
A forbidden romance between a mage and a faerie, tested by dark secrets and magical forces.
An instant, New York Times, bestseller! An Indie Next Top 10 Pick A Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Winner “A funny, action-packed, and sweet romance.” —,School Library Journal ,(starred review) “A ... (Barnes & Noble)
We Are the Ants
by Shaun David Hutchinson
A coming-of-age story of a young gay man who must make a life-altering decision.
From the “author to watch” ( Kirkus Reviews ) of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving. Henry Denton ... (Barnes & Noble)
Mist
by Miguel de Unamuno
A study of the power of faith and reason, exploring the depths of human existence.
The plot revolves around the character of Augusto, a wealthy, intellectual and introverted young man. He falls in love with a young woman named Eugenia as she walks past him on the street, and he ... (Wikipedia)
Deathnote I
by Tsugumi Ohba
A high school student discovers a supernatural notebook and uses it to wreak havoc.
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects–and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human ... (Goodreads)
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
by David Eagleman
Uncovering the complex inner workings of the mind, exploring the neuroscience of identity and decision-making.
If the conscious mind—the part you consider you—accounts for only a tiny fraction of the brain’s function, what is all the rest doing? This is the question that David Eagleman—renowned neuroscientist ... (Goodreads)
Genesis
by Bernard Beckett
A young woman's quest to understand the power of free will, told through a captivating game of philosophy.
The entirety of the novel consists of Anaximander, a new candidate for The Academy, participating in a gruelling auditory entrance exam. The Academy consists of the most elite class in society and ... (Wikipedia)
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
by Christopher Hitchens
Selection of essays, articles, and excerpts from some of the greatest minds in atheism.
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great , a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages with never-before-published pieces by ... (Goodreads)
Free Will
by Sam Harris
An exploration of the implications of determinism, examining the role of free will in our lives.
Belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of ... (Goodreads)
Job: A Comedy of Justice
by Robert A. Heinlein
An entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of faith and morality.
The story examines religion through the eyes of Alex, a Christian political activist who is corrupted by Margrethe, a Danish Norse cruise ship hostess—and who loves every minute of it. Enduring a ... (Wikipedia)
The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism
by Ayn Rand
A philosophical exploration of the concept of egoism, advocating for rational self-interest.
Ayn Rand here sets forth the moral principles of Objectivism, the philosophy that holds human life–the life proper to a rational being--as the standard of moral values and regards altruism as ... (Goodreads)
Day Watch
by Sergei Lukyanenko
A thrilling supernatural battle of good and evil, as two opposing forces fight for control of the city.
Walking the streets of Moscow , indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Others . These beings possess supernatural powers and can enter the Twilight , a shadowy world that exists ... (Wikipedia)
The Consolation of Philosophy
by Boethius
A philosophical journey of self-reflection, exploring the true nature of happiness and existential purpose.
Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek ... (Goodreads)
The Adoration of Jenna Fox
by Mary E. Pearson
A young girl's struggle to uncover her past and find her identity amidst a future of genetic engineering.
Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was ... (Barnes & Noble)
مهزلة العقل البشري
by علي الوردي Ali Al-Wardi
An exploration of the human mind, uncovering its inner workings and limitations.
كتب الدكتور علي الوردي هذا الكتاب فصولاً متفرقة في أوقات شتى وذلك بعد صدور كتابه "وعّاظ السلاطين" وهذه الفصول ليست في موضوع واحد، وقد أؤلف بينها أنها كتبت تحت تأثير الضجة التي قامت حول كتابه المذكور، ... (Goodreads)
Flashforward
by Robert J. Sawyer
Humanity faces a dilemma when the entire population experiences a glimpse of the future.
Lloyd Simcoe, a 45-year-old Canadian particle physicist, oversees a run of the Large Hadron Collider . He works with his fiancée Michiko Kamura, who has a daughter, Tamiko. The experiment ... (Wikipedia)
Everything Matters!
by Ron Currie Jr.
Junior Thibodeau knows the date of the apocalypse, and his life is shaped by this knowledge. But can he change the inevitable?
Junior Thibodeau is born with the exact details of the end of the world by a comet and grows up with a troubled childhood, surrounded by his quiet but powerful ex-Marine father, his ... (Wikipedia)
Sweet Evil
by Wendy Higgins
A young girl discovers her supernatural powers and struggles to find her place in a dangerous world.
Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series will be drawn to Wendy Higgins's sexy, thrilling Sweet Evil series. What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad ... (Barnes & Noble)
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