The sun shone, having no alternative, on nothing new.
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) in Murphy (1938)

This novel is about a man named Murphy who lives in London and is constantly trying to will himself into nonexistence. He begins working at a mental hospital. The patients' conditions are comforting to him. The novel follows him and his interactions with random odd people until his eventual demise. I don't think I would read this because although I enjoy reading darker material, I don't think I could handle reading hopeless material, which is basically what this is, as you can tell from the quote.

"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?" 
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) in The Sun Also Rises (1926) 

This book is about a man, Jake, and the woman he loves, Lady Brett Ashley. It's basically a huge messy love circle involving Jake, his friend, Brett's fiance, this random guy, and a 19 year old matador. They laugh, they fight, they get drunk, and generally make a mess of things. I'm not sure I would ever read this because Brett sounds like Daisy from The Great Gatsby and I can't stand her. I also can't deal with big messy love circles because the drama of them is too tiring and I honestly don't care too much to hear about it.