1. “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad
This book is deep. You can’t read this book just on face value; it will either show you something unreal, or it will show you nothing at all. It depends on how you go into it. I thought it was an amazing story that goes straight to the back of the mind. The river goes through civilization, past primal cultures and ends with a man isolated from his previous life in the jungle. And he preferred to stay. Why?
This is a thinking book I believe every Platypus should read.
2. Kate Chopin, “The Awakening”
Kate Chopin wrote these amazing novellas during the cusp of last century. She was interesting because of how she wrote about women. Previously to the 20th century, women in literature who dabbled in sin were killed. Slowly during the late 1800s and early 1900s, women were not being killed in literature. This is pretty significant, and it is a reflection of a changing society during this time.
“The Awakening” is a story of a Platypus in her time. Strong, yet vulnerable. Loving, yet skeptical. Fragile, yet still independent. This is a quiet book. You will just sit and breathe after finishing this one. It will always be one of my favorites.
There will always be a special place in my heart for “Summer.”
Edith Wharton was born into New England elite in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Even after writing amazing novels, which I have always enjoyed, She never felt like she fit in with her peers, and after her husband squandered her own inheritance on his mistress, she left for France. There she began to redefine herself. And that is where she wrote “Summer.”
4. “Frankenstein” Wolstonecraft
Frankenstein is for the mother.
Hear me out.
Imagine a woman who longs to have children, to raise a family and to be a mother. Now imagine that every child she had died within the first year. Bear that in mind when you read “Frankenstein,” the story of the man who could create life, only to have it destroy him.
This is a chilling story of a mother’s grief, and definitely for the darker Platypus.
5. “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card
You should just read this. I was beside myself for a month after finishing “Ender’s Game.”
It just captures so much of the mental turmoil and isolation that can befall us at times.
My favorite was actually “Ender’s Shadow,” but you must read “Ender’s Game” first.
The Platypus Directive 