There's a scene in American Psycho where the protagonist and his cohorts marvel at the texture, color, feeling, essence, and the overall composition of, wait for it, a business card. I love this scene in the movie. To appreciate something so completely, to some, might be the key to understanding the appreciation of life itself. Working in the 80's swanky metropolis business scene must have been a stunning time to be alive. Similar to American Psycho, I've compiled a list of other books and movies that provide that same deep feeling through description or visuals or both. These items give you that same perception of something in front of your eyes, between your fingers, or in your element that seems so palpable it leaves you in awe.
Science fiction is no stranger to new planets. In the novel, The Book of Strange New Things, what struck me is the author’s ability to make you feel you are standing in front of the native population you meet on this new planet. The description is something that refuses to leave my memory.
Life on an American Indian reservation and what it means to leave. Thinking about the skeletons in your closet. The story in The Only Good Indians scratches my brain with its gritty and relatable situations.
I have read many space adventure books, but I’ve never experienced waking up from hypersleep or Torpor, as it’s called in To Be Taught, If Fortunate, until I read this book. You become a fellow traveler along with the crew to other worlds.
The stress of watching something terrible happen and being helpless to stop it. That feeling is something most film directors hope to achieve with horror and thrillers, but watching The Phone Call (available at herrickdl.kanopy.com), opens a new window was so heartfelt and human. It was sincerely touching and emotional.
My voice is something I take for granted. Only when I get a cold and can’t speak, I feel the frustration of losing the ability to make myself heard. In Vox (available on Overdrive), understand how a country changes when millions of people cannot make themselves heard.
