Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (first part of the Gormenghast trilogy), because of the wonderful flowing prose. The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche, because on

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake (first part of the Gormenghast trilogy), because of the wonderful flowing prose. The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche, because once I truly understood the full text of aphorism 125 (The Madman, with the famous line 'God is dead'), I felt liberated. It's an extremely powerful aphorism and 'God is dead' is a poor summary.