10 narrative books to see the world with different eyes

Your mind needs to be fed just as your body does. As a big fan of books, here’s a list of ten books that you absolutely need to read and that will help you see the world with different eyes. Most of them are classics, well, I guess there’s a reason they are.

Most of these books have different layers of meanings, so be careful while reading them:

• The secret garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I had read it as a kid and absolutely loved it. Recently I decided to read it again and found out there was more to discover than what I had perceived as a 9-year-old.
• Invisible cities by Italo Calvino. This is the only book, except The secret garden, that I’ve read twice. It’s my all-time favourite and I could not let it out of my list. It’s a book about Marco Polo, an Italian tradesman, and his conversations with Kublai Khan about the cities he has visited.
• 1984 by George Orwell. I don’t have much to say: an incredible classic, that shapes your political views and helps you think on your own in this world.
• The alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I read it a lot ago and have confused memories about it, but what I surely remember is the feeling I got at the end: absolutely a must.
• The little prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The French writer had a simple narrative style, that’s comprehensible for everyone, but that hides all the deepest meanings of life.
• Into the wild by Jon Krakauer. A biographical book about Alexander Supertramp’s incredible trip to Alaska and the people he met along the way.
• The bell jar by Sylvia Plath. Not sure if this is a classic, but you should definitely give it a read. It’s a semi-autobiographical novel by the American poet, mainly describing her thoughts through the events of her teenage years.
• The kite runner by Khaled Hosseini. A great book to understand the reality of Afghanistan, which looks so distant from us but is, in fact, so close, and the characteristics of a true friendship.
• Lolita by Vladimir Vladimirovič Nabokov. A disturbed love-story between a grown-up man and a young girl, through the eyes of the protagonist, that makes you question your values and views.
• The old man and the sea by Hernest Hemingway. One of the greatest books of all times, through a simple, linear story, Hemingway was able to describe both a great friendship and a though character, withouth ever mentioning emotions directly.