Human nature is as complex as a kaleidoscope of unpredictable changes.
Even good people can make mistakes in certain situations;
And the seemingly cold bad guys will also show a warm side.
These 5 books will take you to appreciate the multifaceted nature of human nature and make you re-examine the depths of your own and others' hearts.
After reading these, you will no longer be able to judge others for good or bad.
1. "Crime and Punishment".
Author: Dostoevsky Douban score: 95
Is human nature inherently good or evil?
This question echoes like a thousand years in the ears of every thinker.
However, Dostoevsky the Great has given a new interpretation to this question with a copy of Crime and Punishment.
This book, like a deep mirror, reflects the complexity and contradictions of human nature.
The main character, Raskolnikov, who admires Napoleonic heroes and is convinced that killing a bad guy can save more ordinary people.
So, he took the extreme action of killing the old woman who was a loan shark and her sister.
However, things did not turn out as he expected, and his conscience was tormented violently.
The plot of this work may not be complicated, but the first-person description is like an invisible magic hand, pulling you tightly into the protagonist's world.
You seem to be able to feel the entanglement before he kills, the fear, despair, and regret after the killing
The feeling of extreme nervous tension is like your own personal experience.
Through this story, I realized that there is never a clear line between good and evil.
They are entangled in human nature in an extremely complex and difficult way to balance.
2, "Oblomov".
Author: Goncharov Douban score: 92
Oblomov, arguably the number one slacker in the history of literature, had been slacking off since 1859 and had lived a life without motivation.
He grew up in a family of landlords and lived in a privileged environmentThere are only three things that need to be done every day: eating, sleeping, being in a daze with nothing to do, or fantasizing.
This state of life plunged him into a deep void, and even when he met his beloved, he could not muster the courage to change his lifestyle, and he ended up failing because he could not adapt to the outside world or make up his mind.
Although the story of this book was written more than 160 years ago, contemporary readers have given it 92 high scores.
This protagonist is both envious and sympathetic, and at the same time unsettling.
Because through his image, we are able to recognizeIf a person loses the ability to act and only blindly follows the natural life of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages,
Then he is like a candle in the wind, even if it is lit, it will quickly go out.
3, "Rashomon".
Author: Ryunosuke Akutagawa Douban score: 88
Many writers are passionate about dissecting and depicting human nature, but in my heart, Ryunosuke Akutagawa stands out for his unique style and perspective.
He is not satisfied with showing the good and evil of people on the surface, but is good at digging into the elusive dark side of people's hearts.
He uses one bizarre story after another to present these hidden shadows in front of us.
And this collection of short stories is his masterpiece.
Take the short story of the same name** as an exampleThe story takes place in a catastrophic year, where a family will stumble upon an old woman pulling out the hair of a dead man.
The general angrily confronted him, but the old woman defended herself.
She argued that the dead man was not a good person, and had disguised the poisonous snake meat as fish meat ** to others.
After hearing this, the general fell into deep thought, and then snatched the old woman's clothes.
He believes that in such a world where the moral bottom line is blurred, it is acceptable to do evil by himself.
The story is short, but it has a profound meaning.
It reveals the rapid distortion of human nature in extreme circumstances, as well as the irresistible selfish instincts deep within each person.
This in-depth exploration and meticulous depiction of the complexity of human nature gives Ryunosuke Akutagawa's work a depth of thought and artistic charm that transcends the times.
4. "A Publicized ** Case in Advance".
Author: García Márquez Douban score: 87
As the title suggests, this book is about a case that has been publicized in advance.
The story takes place in a closed and backward town, where someone brazenly threatens to kill a young man.
The entire town knew about the threat, but no one informed the young man.
When ** came as scheduled, people instead excused themselves and used various excuses to evade responsibility:
"I thought it was just a joke!”，
"I thought someone would tell him. ”，
"I just want to see if ...... happens”
The story may not be complicated or suspenseful, but it left a deep impression on me.
After reading it, I can't help but start from the first page again.
And what is even more shocking is that this book exposes a fact that is both shocking and terrifying:
In a backward and ignorant social environment
Human apathy breeds contagion like a plague and can eventually lead to collective evil.
5, "Dog Heart".
Author: Bulgakov Douban score: 86
In order to explore the secret of regaining youth, a doctor implanted the deceased's pituitary gland and ** into a dog's body.
However, unexpectedly, the dog gradually turned into a bastard who does all kinds of evil.
Although the doctor was initially tolerant of humanitarianism, the dog became a human being.
Eventually, the doctor couldn't take it anymore and decided to remove the pituitary gland and restore the dog to its original shape.
This absurd story made me think deeply about human nature.
At first, I would have wondered if the dog was so bad after becoming a ** because of its original bestiality.
However, when I thought about it deeply, I realized that it was the human heart that was driving it now
Therefore, all its despicable deeds originate from human beings themselves.
This dog is more like a person who suddenly has a human heart but has not been domesticated by civilization.
In this state, the boundaries between the human heart and the animal heart, between the human nature and the animal nature, become blurred.