One of the craziest books I ever read was Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. My memory of it persists to this day, and I read it all the way back when I was in high school. It's about a professional Bolshevik revolutionary named Rubashov, who has dedicated his entire life to the Revolution, including assassinating people he knew whom the Party had designated "enemies of the people." Rubashov now finds himself caught in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. At first, he is resistant, hoping his lifelong loyalty to the Party will exonerate him. Then, as his interrogation proceeds, he realizes that his doom is a forgone conclusion. He spends the last 100 pages of the book rationalizing to himself why the Party and the Revolution should demand his execution. It's a real mind-twister of a book.
One of the craziest books I ever read was Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. My memory of it persists to this day, and I read it all the way back when I was in high school. It's about a professional Bolshevik revolutionary named Rubashov, who has dedicated his entire life to the Revolution, including assassinating people he knew whom the Party had designated "enemies of the people." Rubashov now finds himself caught in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. At first, he is resistant, hoping his lifelong loyalty to the Party will exonerate him. Then, as his interrogation proceeds, he realizes that his doom is a forgone conclusion. He spends the last 100 pages of the book rationalizing to himself why the Party and the Revolution should demand his execution. It's a real mind-twister of a book.