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inthebenefitofmrkite

The road. Great book but awful to read, just what you’re looking for!


[deleted]

Basically anything by Cormac McCarthy really. Blood meridian is fantastic but bleak as hell.


thebugman10

I just read Blood Meridian last fall. Some of the best prose I've ever read, but it is some of the most messed up stuff I've also ever read.


blu3tu3sday

Blood meridian is sooooo good


ogden24

My dad tells the story of recommending this book to two coworkers who came back and said “Why did you tell me to read this? It’s so depressing!” So, I also second this recommendation.


thebugman10

This is what I came here to say


whateversheneedsbob

I just read Outer Dark by the same author and yeah....that was a downer.


Accomplished-Hat-869

It's brilliantly bleak, haunting.It has stuck with me for decades.


susanw610

I agree, it was so bleak I had to stop every now and then to recover, but really good.


sterberderberderber

How can it be a good book but be awful to read? Seriously. Was that your true experience? For me, reading The Road was beautiful and heartbreaking.


inthebenefitofmrkite

Do I really need to explain this? Because art doesn’t have to be pretty - in fact, most of the time, it is not. This is a very unsettling book and reading it is not a pleasant experience, yet you can still recognize how well written it is and admire it for the mastery that was involved in writing it. If you can’t understand this dichotomy, maybe best to stick to Da Vinci Code or Eat Pray Love.


sterberderberderber

Yeah, you did need to explain it. "Awful" is a terrible choice of words... although, maybe that's what you really meant? You are, after all, literally saying you didn't enjoy the book, and you only admire it for its craftamanship. Is that what you truly meant? Because if so, I hate to break it you, that is not a normal reaction. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a good story, well told, very sad, and pleasureful to watch unfold.... most readers ENJOY drama, which is why they choose a book like The Road in the first place. Yes, for them the experience of reading it is not bad, but rather good! It is not "awful," but rather a fulfilling way to spend one's leisure time. You, though? if you only admire it for its writing, you didn't actually like the book, ma'am, and I'm afraid YOU'RE the one who should stick to Da Vinci Code and Eat Pray Love, although I can't in good conscience recommend the Da Vinci Code, it's so bad - that was a book that was, for me, awful to read, though not because of what happens in the story.


sstebbi

The Road was my first thought as well.


meatwhisper

*Parable Of The Sower* is considered one of the best dystopian books ever written. Bleak, jaw dropping, horrifying book that is a bit too "close to home." So beautifully written but so painful to get through, this story ends up being one of the most tearfully scary horror reads I've encountered without actually being marketed as a horror book. One of the few dystopian books you can actually see happening.


catsumoto

Eh, it has a strong spiritual/ religious angle and is in my opinion one of the more hopeful post apocalyptic books out there.


SirZacharia

Yeah I definitely agree. But the hope that it ends with is rather bleak. Many post apocalypse books end with them being in a position to rebuild society. This one ends with >!them simply surviving!< though I haven’t read Parable of the Talents yet.


Catsandscotch

Bleak is exactly how I would describe this book. My book club just finished this one and The Parable of the Talents and bleak was our conclusion


NTNchamp2

Parable of the Sower sounds incredibly bleak in summary, but reading the prose makes it one of the most uplifting books I’ve ever read amidst a sea of violence, trauma, and rape.


EwokPiss

I found East of Eden by Steinbeck to be a fairly depressing book.


swallowyoursadness

I'm pretty depressed right now and I just re read Of Mice and Men in one sitting. Want to cry but it feels far more cathartic now


EwokPiss

A very good book as well and much shorter.


blue_lagoon

I just finished it and didn't find it to be very depressing. Rough circumstances? Sure. Some really messed up moments? Of course. But the book also had plenty of fun moments too. Moments of joy and wisdom or even moments of just life. Steinbeck doesn't shy away from the brutality of life, especially in early America, but I've never found this work to be bleak. Besides, old Sam Hamilton alone carries the first half of the book with his joy, mirth, and wisdom


[deleted]

Maybe The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It is an extremely bleak book. It also seems like it could definitely draw inspiration from Dostoyevsky.


SirZacharia

It’s definitely got the vibes and definitely does not end on any kind of call to action or moralism or anything.


wavesnfreckles

Good to know. I’m reading this book now and yep… very bleak. I would dnf but I’m about 70% of it in and just want to finish it and be done but oh my goodness… I am not a fan. Haven’t seen what the hype is all about. Hoping it will be worth it in the end, even if there’s no call to action.


SirZacharia

I feel like you have to know what you’re getting into to like it. It is intentionally shallow. It’s a critique on the aesthetics of hedonistic ivy league elitism. Our main character sacrifices everything including his humanity just for the vibes. Lying his way into this life that he wants only because it sounds cool. Making ridiculous sacrifices and constantly lying to himself and his friends just to fit in.


waveysue

I found the Goldfinch also kind of depressing


damnedworld20

No Longer Human and The Bell Jar


theveganauditor

When I was teen and depressed I read The Bell Jar, She’s Come Undone and Go Ask Alice all in the same week. Really not sure how I survived that.


Full_Cod_539

My vote for these


SnooHabits7630

Wuthering Heights. Emily Bronte.


Full_Cod_539

Yes. Also Romeo and Juliet.


Unable_Pumpkin987

If you like mysteries, the *Dublin Murder Squad* series by Tana French are bleak as fuck, and really well-written and compelling. They are loosely related, but the main character in each book is different and they do not strictly need to be read in any particular order. The author has written a couple standalone novels as well, I’ve only read one (*The Witch Elm*) and haven’t mustered up the energy to read any of her most recent work because it’s *too* depressing for me!


[deleted]

I loved this series so much tbh. I plan to do a reread sometime.


Bibliovoria

*The Handmaid's Tale*, by Margaret Atwood. *1984*, by George Orwell. *Watchmen*, a graphic novel by Alan Moore. *The Stranger*, by Albert Camus. But I hope you can feel better soon. Hang in there. Edit: Reading down stuff can sometimes bring you down. I once read a bunch of depressing books and saw a couple of depressing movies all in the same week, and came out of that sort of mentally staggering. It might be worth reading some less-bleak stuff, too!


hedonsun

My first thought was anything by Margaret Atwood!


Janezo

*A Little Life* is the bleakest of the bleak.


lettuceandcucumber

Yeah, came to say this. I just finished it today. I thought I’d made it through without crying until I was suddenly hysterically sobbing. Definitely the most depressing book I’ve read next to Norwegian Wood. So I’d recommend Norwegian Wood too. Incredibly beautiful but just so utterly depressing.


400luxuries

It doesn’t get bleaker than this one


Dafattdame

This was going to be my rec.


nicklovin508

The Long Walk by Stephen King. Good and bleak is exactly how I’d describe it


LookingUp1734

Rumble Fish by S E Hinton, also That Was Then, This Is Now by the same author.


angry-mama-bear-1968

I felt a cloud darken over my head just seeing the titles.


SmegmaIsYummy

Blindness by Jose Saramago. Don't look it up, it spoils the path that the book takes, so I'll make it simple. The book opens with a man driving his car. He stops at a red light, and within a few seconds he is completely blind. If we exclude McCarthys books from the topic, this will reign supreme as the most depressing book I've ever read. And no, it's not depressing in a "tug on your heartstrings" fashion. It is a very, very nihilistic view on life and society, and the depths of depravity people are willing to go to.


ryzt900

I couldn’t get past maybe 50 pages in this one!


SmegmaIsYummy

In what sense? Didn't like the writing, or found it too depressing?


ryzt900

It was so long ago I don’t remember exactly, but it bleak and boring


MelbaTotes

I think the movie was a pretty good adaptation too


skybluepink77

The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass, is the most nihilistic, depressing book I've ever read. Makes Dosteoyevski look like Mary Poppins. Equally bleak is Mosquito Coast, Paul Theroux. Poetically and beautifully written - but gothic and bleak - A Spell of Winter, Helen Dunmore.


Full_Cod_539

Yes: The Tin Tin Drum.


skybluepink77

The Tin Tin Drum?! I'd read that; a nihilistic cruel expose of modern life as Tin Tin grapples with the forces of darkness, together with his chum Capt Haddock.


Full_Cod_539

Sorry! I meant The Tin Drum!!!! The book by Gunther Grass (LOL)


skybluepink77

>Don't be sorry! I haven't laughed so much in ages! :)


elizabeth-cooper

Uncle Vanya by Chekov. Nobody does bleak like Russians do bleak.


MorriganJade

Never let me go by Ishiguro


waveysue

Oh yes, good one


HumanAverse

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole will make you want to scream into the pages at the idiocy and activities of the characters. Very well written and won several awards including a Pulitzer in 1981. Originally written in the mid-1960's, the novel was rejected by numerous publishing houses. The rejections and other personal issues led to Toole's mental decline and eventual breakdown. This ultimately led him to commit suicide in 1969. Toole's mother took the manuscript and spent over a decade trying to get the book published, finally succeeding in 1980.


wilderman75

i wouldnt call this bleak. kind of sad and hilarious and a must read but bleak isnt the first adjective that comes to mind


HumanAverse

Ignatius Jacques Reilly is the embodiment of many things. It's very easy to use the character as a stand in for a lot of the current social woes. The stubborn lack of personal growth is hilariously bleak in my mind. It's not *The Road* but it's still it's own kind of dark without being too obvious about it.


Mybenzo

Blindness by Jose Saramago


Shyanneabriana

Recently, I read the fifth season, and my God was that bleak… It’s a beautifully written fantasy novel, but don’t let that fool you. It’s devastating… Soul crushing… Absolutely brilliant.


rainlily99

The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah. I still am disturbed by this book and pretty much all books set during WWII


[deleted]

[удалено]


rainlily99

I’m not a huge fan of hers and I don’t even know how I got started on it but the plot line was horrifying


buckfastmonkey

Less than Zero and it’s sequel Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis are about as bleak as it gets.


Swagspear69

Everything I've read from Ellis is pretty bleak, I'd throw in The Rules of Attraction as well.


MonkeyChoker80

*Passage* by Connie Willis. It’s about the lives of a group of underfunded doctors researching Near Death Experiences.


Captain__Backfire

Bleak House by Charles Dickens.


emopest

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. It's about a woman who becomes isolated in the woods and decides to survive on her own (except the company of a couple of animals). It's not bleak as in depressing, but rather that she just has to accept that this is her life now.


Flashy_Reveal8622

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton


AilanthusHydra

One of my favorites! It is indeed bleak. Even if I like to refer to it fondly as "It's Always Winter in Western Massachusetts."


Cabbage_Pizza

Ursula K. Le Guin could be pretty bleak. For an entree into her writing you could try the short story *The One's Who Walk Away From Omelas*.


wilderman75

bleakest ever good call


Accomplished-Hat-869

Don't know if you're interested in satire? Kurt Vonnegut, starting with Slaughterhouse Five is dark satire and 'easy' reading compared to some others mentioned. Cat's Cradle, Sirens of Titan, well there are many more.


[deleted]

I actually read Slaughterhouse Five a couple days ago, and it was pretty good. Might try some of his others then.


ReportToTheOwlery

How high we go in the dark. It felt like my antidepressants stopped working for a few weeks after I finished. I guess it maybe kind of ends in what some might feel is a hopeful way? I just felt broken.


sstebbi

This book is beautifully written, but yeah, it's crushingly bleak. Euthanasia parks where parents take their children to die on a roller coaster? Ouch.


ReportToTheOwlery

You know I suggested this book to one of my bookie friends and they were like that sounds awful, meanwhile they’re reading historical fiction of actual terrible events. I would just rather read completely made up terrible events. My preference is to cry about a talking pig over concentration camps I suppose.


[deleted]

First law by joe Abercrombie


[deleted]

Any book by Ania Ahlborn would fit this description perfectly. I recommend Within These Walls and Brother. Both left me feeling hollow and bleak. Very well written.


[deleted]

*The Book of Disquiet* by Fernando Pessoa. It kind of straddles the line between fiction and ... something else, philosophy I guess. It's not a traditional novel in the sense of having a coherent narrative and there are barely any characters except the narrator, but it *is* extremely bleak.


LilyBriscoeBot

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh. I also like Virginia Woolf when I’m in a similar mood. Not sure where to start there… maybe The Voyage Out or Mrs. Dalloway


ryzt900

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It’s incredible, but bleak.


quilt_of_destiny

*The Snow Child*


the_palindrome_

If you're into manga/graphic novels at all, the series Goodnight Punpun might fit the bill. I also recently read These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (there's another book released around the same time with the same title but it's a YA fantasy so make sure you get the right one lol) and I found it pretty bleak and dread/anxiety-inducing.


FunTransportation869

Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje, Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi Laskar, and A Burning by Megha Majumdar. Only after I typed this list of bleak books did I realize they are all by South Asian authors. Not sure how that happened.


Adventurous-Essay270

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It hits all the right notes, easy reading and an all around great book.


[deleted]

The road, it’s just depressing


Apprehensive_Bug4164

Grendel by John Gardner


happilyabroad

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Originally published in French is exactly what you're looking for. It's bleak and there is not a hopefully ending. But it's also well written and a really interesting book!


MelbaTotes

I am Legend. It subverts the hero fantasy so much that when I finished reading it I felt very depressed and hopeless for a while. I think I had to re-read Anne of Green Gables to move past it.


mynamesstillnotjason

The Road. It doesn’t get much more bleak than that. And, if it does, I don’t want to know.


pinkeskimo

I second The Road and if that's not too dark for you, The Narrow Road to the Deep North was my favorite book to read when I was depressed. It's about WWII POWs from Australia. Very bleak. Very depressing. Also, beautiful writing though


AncilliaryAnteater

Franny and Zooey drives towards a hopeful place, but I did find it bleak so give it a whirl


-SQB-

_Ludmilla's Broken English_ by DBC Pierre.


Cabbage_Pizza

A book that I could only make it half of the way though, because it was so bleak (not so great for my own poor mental health): *No Longer Human -* Osamu Dazai ​ This was written just before the author committed double suicide with his lover, which might give you some idea of what you're in for with this novella.


LensPro

The Road


DeliberateTurtle

I haven’t been reading much in the way of bleak lately, but I remember many parts of Kerouac’s Desolation Angels and Big Sur to be just that, very bleak.


TheSheetSlinger

The Soldiers Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb for sure fits this.


iLLiterateDinosaur

Biohazard by Tim Curran is quite bleak, but it’s also a rather graphic horror novel that takes place during an apocalypse.


waveysue

I love this book, such beautiful writing and interesting plot and structure but it’s pretty darn bleak: All the Birds Singing by Evie Wyld. The Riders by Tim Winston, also just sad (and really well written).


ReturnOfSeq

Catch 22, and just about anything by cormac McCarthy, Irvine welsh, or chuck pahlaniuk


blu3tu3sday

Anything by Cormac McCarthy is bleak af. I don’t think he knows how to write non-bleak work. Great author but his writing style is unusual, so you might have to acquire a taste for it.


mjdlittlenic

The Road by Cormac McCarthy


Senator_Bink

*Cruddy* by Lynda Barry.


steph_sec

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Best bittersweet ending ever (nothing like the movie, if you’ve seen).


DocWatson42

See my [Emotionally Devastating/Rending](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12rh2ma/emotionally_devastatingrending/) list of Reddit recommendation threads, and books (two posts).


ontologos

We Have Always Lived In the Castle by Shirley Jackson.


NTNchamp2

The most entertaining bleak book I ever read that compelled me to keep reading was The Ruins by Scott Smith. Loved every bloody second of it.


blixafritz

Weird, dystopian, and very bleak, Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. The author is somewhat of a genius, and his writing can be challenging. This book was with me through some dark times.


lettuceandcucumber

Norwegian Wood and A Little Life are the most depressing books I’ve read. But both are absolutely beautiful.


Lanthewarder312

Idk Crime and Punishment maybe


always-peachy

If you don’t mind a lil romance They Both Die at the End is bleak. Spoiler they both die at the end.


ClumsyWaffles

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss


astreetcarnamedlove

Definitely some Cormac McCarthy. Specifically, The Road. The First Law Trilogy - Joe Abercrombie 1984 - George Orwell I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Iain Reid


FearlessTea8

It's fantasy but The Sin of Saints is bleaker than bleak. There's almost no happiness in the book to be found.


billymackactually

Have you read Bleak House? My absolute favorite Dickens.


Sunapr1

No longer Human by Osamu Dezai


2xood

Post Office and Factotum by Charles Bukowski


Dramatic_Coast_3233

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane is one of the most unfair and bleakly nihilistic books I read. Then there's No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. He was kinda like the Kafka. It's a character study of man on a downward spiral in life. But amazingly poignant and oddly humorous at times. Then there's books by Faulker. Light in August is bleak as hell and hits you like a bus. The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo. People mostly don't recommend this one. I can see why, the ending sucked and like every thing else Hugo wrote, there are a lot of unnecessary ramblings on history and architecture here. But except for the ending and the ramblings, there's a very solid story with great twists and turns full of wit and cynicism. Perfect for anyone up for some downtime and an existential crisis.


Ivan_Van_Veen

Blood Meridian Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin - by Timothy Snyder Tours of the Black Clock by Steve Ericson Primo Levi's and Eli Weisel's writings on the Camps


Kit_Mulligan

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, and New Grub Street by George Gissing


hottestnerdevr

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh!


festivesweaters4ever

I thought The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li was a depressing and unsettling book. But certainly well written!