4,118 books
—
27,007 voters
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
“I am not sad, he would repeat to himself over and over, I am not sad. As if he might one day convince himself. Or fool himself. Or convince others -- The only thing worse than being sad is for others to know that you are sad.”
― Everything Is Illuminated
― Everything Is Illuminated
“People don't save other people. People save themselves.”
― The Marriage Plot
― The Marriage Plot
“Can it be, thought I, that my sole mission on earth is to destroy the hopes of others? Ever since I began to live and act, fate has somehow associated me with the last act of other people's tragedies, as if without me no one could either die or give way to despair! I have been the inevitable character who comes in at the final act, involuntarily playing the detestable role of the hangman or the traitor. What has been fate's object in all this? Has it destined me to be the author of middle-class tragedies and family romances--or a purveyor of tales for, say, the Reader's Library? Who knows? Are there not many who begin life by aspiring to end it like Alexander the Great, or Lord Byron, and yet remain petty civil servants all their lives?”
― A Hero of Our Time
― A Hero of Our Time
“He dreams he's with a very sad kid and they're in a graveyard digging some dead guy's head up and it's really important, like Continental-Emergency important, and Gately's the best digger but he's wicked hungry, like irresistibly hungry, and he's eating with both hands out of huge economy-size bags of corporate snacks so he can't really dig, while it gets later and later and the sad kid is trying to scream at Gately that the important thing was buried in the guy's head and to divert the Continental Emergency to start digging the guy's head up before it's too late, but the kid moves his mouth but nothing comes out and Joelle van D. appears with wings and no underwear and asks if they knew him, the dead guy with the head, and Gately starts talking about knowing him even though deep down he feels panic because he's got no idea who they're talking about, while the sad kid holds something terrible up by the hair and makes the face of somebody shouting in panic: TOO LATE.”
― Infinite Jest
― Infinite Jest
Utopian and Dystopian Reading Group
— 904 members
— last activity Sep 14, 2026 06:29PM
This group is for anyone interested in Utopian and Dystopian Literature to discuss anything from Thomas More's Utopia to present day fiction. Everyone ...more
el’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at el’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by el
Lists liked by el










































