Books that haunt you...

Have you ever read a book with a certain passage or theme in it that is forever burned into your brain? So every time you see a certain thing or hear a certain thing you think of it.
Flowers for Algernon is that book for me. Everytime I see a mouse in a maze on TV or whatever I always think 'Oh poor Algernon' and get kinda depressed. The thing is, I read that book when I was in eighth grade which is a long time to be haunted by a mouse and half the time I can't remember the title which also starts bugging me. My thought process then sounds like this: "Oh poor poor- darn it what was that poor mousie's name? Oh what was the book name? I'm so depressed AND irritated now! ACK! poor mousy that I can't remember"

Just wondered if anyone else had weird thought associations like that...8)

Every time I teach the alphabet to my children I think of Dr. Seuss' ABC, in particular, the picture of the Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz for letter Z. It always scared me. It still does. I would read up to Z and then quickly shut the book so that crazy creature couldn't stare out at me with its freakish eyes. This has made life very hard, as you can't escape Z.
No wonder I have sleep problems.

well, the only problem i had with a book is when i was in middle school, i was into reading the Clue books... that is till i started having bad dreams that i was one of the cast members( one dream i think had one of the people actually comming in the window :S). THEN i decided that i should just stop reading it. the movie doesnt bother me, but i doubt ill want to read the books ever again =P
(

Oh, I read the thread title and thought of a book called The Haunted Bookshop. I used to go to this used bookstore, and eyed that book there a few times. On one of those occasions, I was just staring at the book when it suddenly moved! It scared the h e double tooth picks out of me! From then on I was convienced it was possessed or something. ;)

#1 MEM:
Yep! I've read books like that. Don't laugh, but I wish I could remember which books. I'm tired right now.

In the twilight when i picture James and Victoria it scares me.

The Fortress of Solitude. The ending is a shocker. I cried and cried and I never do that.

The Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card (I tried to touchstone it, but the right book isn't on the list, it's in my library though) haunts me. The twist ending had me crying for nearly an hour after I finished. Even now, two years later, I get teary when I think about it.

I recently finished The Remains of the Day, and certain lines from it have stayed with me. The narrator's voice is so dignified and sedate, but there are two points when the depth of his emotion is clearly conveyed (both, by the way, might be considered spoilers, though it's my opinion that you can't really "spoil" classic literature).

Through the whole book, the narrator has been reflecting on his former employer, a man whom he greatly respected, but who was on what turned out to be a very unpopular (and, at some points, morally wrong) political path. The narrator finally admits: "It is hardly my fault if his lordship's life and work have turned out today to look, at best, a sad waste -- and it is quite illogical that I should feel any regret or shame on my own account." The reason this is so emotionally evocative is that, throughout the book, the narrator has been discussing the qualities that make a 'great' butler (his profession), and one of the things he values is being of service to those who serve the greater good of humanity. By admitting that his employer failed in this, he is in some ways admitting that he failed, as well.

The second line that stays with me is very near the end of the book: "Indeed -- why should I not admit it? -- at that moment, my heart was breaking." Such an admission, from a character who has seemed cold and nearly emotionless throughout the book, hits with the impact of a fist to the stomach.

Ah, yes, the old unreliable narrator. That technique is used to perfection by Ishiguro. Remains is the best example of it.