DEBAUCHED

The 120 Days of Sodom, by The Marquis de Sade

“To be truly happy in this world a man ought not merely fling himself into every vice, but should never permit himself one virtue.”

If searching for an authority on all things hedonistic, one need look no further than the scandalous aristocrat and quintessential libertine that is the Marquis de Sade. His infamous 1785 erotic novel The 120 Days of Sodom is all the more shocking for the period in which it was written. Filled with the most graphic sexual imagery one could possibly imagine, it makes 50 Shades of Grey look like Winnie the Pooh.

 

SCANDALOUS

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”

Aside from being perhaps the most quotable book in English literature, Wilde’s only novel is a fascinating study on the darkest desires that drive humans. The reader witnesses a young man’s soul descend into total corruption when blessed (or cursed) with eternal youth and beauty, with the effects on his soul being mirrored in his eponymous portrait.

 

 

 

Everyman

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

“A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse. His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad.”

Lucky Jim tells the story of James Dixon, a reluctant medieval history lecturer at a redbrick university and his various scrapes and faux-pas during a cringe-inducing weekend spent with his boss. Its charm lies in its comic depiction of everyday awkwardness and his farcical booze-fuelled misadventures

 

Uplifting

The Poetry of Kate Tempest

Some of them are bound from greatness,
some of them are bound to waste it,
just like every generation that is being
and all those still to come.
They got the potential to change everything,
and we love them cause they are still so young

Kate Tempest is a performance poet from London. At only 26 she has exceptional social consciousness and a complete mastery of her art. She’s on this scale because her poetry is dizzyingly exciting but completely truthful and her hopeful message is one that inspires all who hear it. Kate is currently touring the UK with Scroobius Pip.

 

INSPIRATIONAL

The Alchemist by Paul Cohlo

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

The Alchemist is a short legend about following your dreams and self-discovery that has inspired millions for decades. It tells the story of a young shepherd who dreams of discovering treasure and resolves to do so, and of the characters he meets on the way. The final moral is one that every new university student should take to heart: live in the singular pursuit of your dreams.