Have you ever read a book that haunted you — that turned you off so much that you felt worse for having read it, even though it was technically a well-written book?
In this New York Times article, two writers related their experiences with books that had an impact the opposite of what they had hoped.
One ended up reading a really graphic, old-school medical book when she was too young to understand the terminology. She asked her father how venereal diseases were contracted, and he answered, “running around.”
The next day, his words returned to haunt me, naturally at recess. Had no one warned the other kids about the physical horrors and the premature death they might endure if they participated in races and games?
I had similar experiences when reading Stephen King at a fairly young age. The man loves menstrual imagery, much to the shock and fright of an 11-year-old girl reading “Carrie.” The thought of girls chanting “plug it up” in a locker room still gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Another book that traumatized me, and maybe I’m the only one here, was Albert Camus’ “The Stranger.” We read it in 12th grade English class as an example of existentialism, but I maintain that it is a study in psychopaths instead.
The protagonist was probably the worst person in the world. He didn’t care about anyone or anything. Killing a man did nothing to him. And after I read it I felt like I was walking inside a storm cloud for a week. Camus managed to taint my worldview for a solid spring week when I was an optimistic and bright-eyed 18-year-old — so, well done Camus, if that was your goal.
It’s lucky that I’m older and wiser now, and books don’t have such a powerful impact on my psyche.
Or do they?
I recall that gut-wrenching feeling when I finished each and every one of Gillian Flynn’s novels. The characters in “The Secret History” give “The Stranger” a run for its “psychopath” money. The circumstances in “Room” felt like stabs to the heart, over and over again.
But damn if they aren’t good books.
Have you ever read a book that haunted you or changed your life for the worse?
