Hard to reflect on 2 books

2 books have troubled me for months. I read them early in the summer, then set them aside to deal with later.

I was expecting unfamiliar writing about an unfamiliar society. Instead I found my own kitchen. The food is processed and has brand names. The relationships are in my dna, the lack of connection is how things are. So I was appalled to be looking into the mirror.

The casual harshness, the dismissiveness towards others, the coldness, the fakeness, lack of knowing what matters, what is all this? How can it be so clearly laid out? Am I the only one to see this? Life in a palace of denial, so is our society in a similar state to the one in that country? What is going on?

If this writing demonstrates the symptoms, what is the disease? I feel ashamed and horrified.

Now I have written this I don't want to give the names of the 2 books or the country. Why is that? Would the writers be offended? Surely not. Having a strong reaction is a sign that I read carefully. I have a big problem though.