Looking for something depressing...

[Gronk]

I've only read a few of them but I found Thomas H. Cook's novels very dark and depressing.

[samhy]

I agree about Flowers for Algernon.
Last exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr is very dark, difficult to read and has no punctuation. I was so proud for not giving up when I finally turned the last page!
The Awakening by Kate Chopin might seem light in comparison but it brings some food for thought.

[Yolina]

Lautreamont's Maldoror (must be read several times ... I absolutely love that book ) I have no idea though as to how good (or not) the English translations are.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

try reading twitter or 4chan posts

the very best from our current illiterate caveman culture

Too bad the OP specified "deep and depressing". Although I suppose twitter et al could be "deeply depressing"

[xg4bx]

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is the thrilling tale of Marlow, a seaman and wanderer recounting his physical and psychological journey in search of the infamous ivory trader Kurtz. Traveling upriver into the heart of the African continent, he gradually becomes obsessed by this enigmatic, wraith-like figure. Marlow's discovery of how Kurtz has gained his position of power over the local people involves him in a radical questioning, not only of his own nature and values, but of those that underpin Western civilization itself.

[Froide]

I agree with many of the suggestions posted above. However, your list is incomplete without such titles as these bestselling classics (which you might want to begin with, since February is Black History Month in the US, and the authors I've listed are black):

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart,

James Baldwin's Native Son,

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

[elemenoP]

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. No need to "resort" to dystopia when there are plenty of depressing things happening in the world around us!

eP

[Marcy]

One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by Marcy

One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

I couldn't finish it, it depressed me soooo badly! Did it at least have a decent ending?
S

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by silverraven

I couldn't finish it, it depressed me soooo badly! Did it at least have a decent ending?
S

I couldn't tell you. I gave up after the dog thing.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by Marcy

I couldn't tell you. I gave up after the dog thing.

Glad it wasn't just me. I think I remember what you are talking about when you say the dog thing. I have tried to erase as much of that book as possible from my memory. Just too depressing to even think about.....
S

[Darth_Bane]

Originally Posted by silverraven

Glad it wasn't just me. I think I remember what you are talking about when you say the dog thing. I have tried to erase as much of that book as possible from my memory. Just too depressing to even think about.....

Had you read further, something even more depressing happens that makes the dog thing pale by comparison.

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by Darth_Bane

Had you read further, something even more depressing happens that makes the dog thing pale by comparison.

I'm okay with not making it past the dog thing then. At that point I hit my absolute depressing tolerance and couldn't make it any farther.

I'm an ebook hoarder. I keep everything, even if I hate it. I keep books I got for my kid that he's now too advanced for. But this book got forever deleted in the hopes of it perhaps eventually deleting itself from my brain too. Hasn't worked so far.

Did you make it to the end? Anything uplifting at all there, if so?

[piperclassique]

Depressing? Deep? Albert Camus will do it for you.

[tamborine]

Scandanavian crime fiction is generally pretty depressing. And the last page of The Troubled Man, the final book of Henning Mankell's Detective Wallander series, was the without a doubt most depressing thing I have ever read.