This might seem dumb, but I have a question...

Any recommendations that could provided from the inspirational authors? Possibly notable ones, given the subject of this thread, one could guess I am not a prolific reader.

Ehhh, I'm not sure about that. Evangelion's philosophy is very different from the soul-crushing pessimism of Ligotti's work. Although I would agree that some of Ligotti's works feature atmospheres similar to that of something like The End of Evangelion.

"The Sickness Unto Death" - Soren Kierkegaard
"Nausea" or "No Exit" or "Being and Nothingness" or "Existentialism is a Humanism" - Jean-Paul Sartre (the first two are fiction while the last two are essays)
"The Phenomenology of Spirit" - Hegel
"The Instrumentality of Mankind" - Cordwainer Smith
"The Andromeda Strain" - Michael Crichton

I also suggest watching "The Prisoner" (the 1960s British show) if you want to watch something that is very much the Western live-action equivalent of Evangelion. Also "2001: A Space Odyssey" if you haven't seen it

Eva has substance but bear in mind these Japs just name drop a bunch of shit to mystify. You're better off in the long run just pursuing literature as opposed to pursuing cuhrazy Eva cuhraziness.

What you're looking for are the existentialists and hard science fiction.
In that spirit, read Nausea by Sartre to get you up to speed and hooked then The Stranger/Myth of Sisyphus by Camus.

Here's how Nausea starts.
>The best thing would be to write down events from day to day. Keep a diary to see clearly—let none
of the nuances or small happenings escape even though they might seem to mean nothing. And above
all, classify them. I must tell how I see this table, this street, the people, my packet of tobacco, since
those are the things which have changed. I must determine the exact extent and nature of this change.

Here's what the middle of the book looks like:
>Sensational news. Little Lucienne's body has been found! Smell of ink, the paper crumples between my fingers. The criminal has fled. The child was raped. They found her body, the fingers clawing at the mud. I roll the paper into a ball, my fingers clutching at the paper; smell of ink; my God how strongly things exist today. Little Lucienne was raped. Strangled. Her body still exists, her flesh bleeding. She no longer exists. Her hands. She no longer exists. The houses. I walk between the houses, I am between the houses, on the pavement; the pavement under my feet exists, the houses close around me, as the water closes over me, on the paper the shape of a swan. I am. I am, I exist, I think, therefore I am; I am because I think, why do I think? I don't want to think any more, I am because I think that I don't want to be, I think that I ... because . . . ugh! I flee. The criminal has fled, the violated body. She felt this other flesh pushing into her own. I ... there I ... Raped. A soft, criminal desire to rape catches me from behind, gently behind the ears, the ears race behind me, the red hair, it is red on my head, the wet grass, red grass, is it still I? Hold the paper, existence against existence, things exist one against the other, I drop the paper. The house springs up, it exists; in front of me, along the wall I am passing, along the wall I exist, in front of the wall, one step, the wall exists in front of me, one, two, behind me, a finger scratching at my pants, scratches, scratches and pulls at the little finger soiled with mud, mud on my finger which came from the muddy gutter and falls back slowly, softly, softening, scratching less strongly than the fingers of the little girl the criminal strangled, scratching the mud, the earth less strong, the finger slides slowly, the head falls first and rolling embraces my thigh; existence is soft, and rolls and tosses, I toss between the houses, I am, I exist, I think therefore I toss, I am, existence is a fallen chute, will not fall, will fall, the finger scratches at the window, existence is an imperfection.

I just wanna help people cry. :'(

But in all seriousness, point taken. EVA has some light to it, while Ligotti doesn't really have any. I guess I'm thinking more in terms of general themes. Human fragility, an inhospitable cosmos, etc.

They do share similar themes, but they're outlook on life couldn't be more different. Although I would still recommend that OP read Thomas Ligotti, mainly because he's probably the greatest modern cosmic horror author and has some fucking haunting stories.

The list of lit approved books is both infinite and nonexistent, because the space of its library extends out interminably, but has no content to occupy its shelves and racks.

All the same I thought house of leaves was fun, I didn't really have gripes. All of the writing was on point imo, and each chapter is like it's own experimental short piece. A wonderful puzzle book. I think Borges would have been very endeared if he had read it.

> I am looking for some books that really fuck with you psychologically and make you question everything.

Well I don't know about that, but if you are looking for something that has the topic of loneliness as its core with a presentation of horror, I'd suggest the works of Salinger.

Keep in mind the horror will not be on the scale of third impact since the world is not at stake.

I dont think this is what captures what Eva is about. General horror or general existential angst is close but they are present because of loneliness. However I dont think the works of Salinger perfectly capture that either.

this

revalations

Bible
Civilization and its Discontents by Freud
Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Jung

I don't think anime would be the same without Freud and Jung.

Don't skip the rest of the Bible just to read Revelation, it's one of the hardest books in it.

The Book of Jobbers much like Asuka

fpbp