,

Vote for your favorite works of surrealist literature!

Blake Butler, the David Lynch of books, shares with Goodreads his top five works of weirdness in honor of his new domestic dreamscape, There Is No Year. See his picks here!

1

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4.11 avg rating — 559,815 ratings
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2

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4.14 avg rating — 319,420 ratings
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3

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3.88 avg rating — 7,866 ratings
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4

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3.94 avg rating — 406,858 ratings
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5

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4.11 avg rating — 154,926 ratings
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6

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4.28 avg rating — 433,184 ratings
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7

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3.98 avg rating — 13,178 ratings
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8

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 23 ratings
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9

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3.53 avg rating — 13,573 ratings
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10

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4.25 avg rating — 4,002 ratings
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11

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3.64 avg rating — 26,057 ratings
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12

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3.74 avg rating — 192,531 ratings
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13

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3.92 avg rating — 34,052 ratings
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14

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3.95 avg rating — 343,829 ratings
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15

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3.96 avg rating — 23,422 ratings
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16

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3.91 avg rating — 77,579 ratings
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17

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 11 ratings
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18

by
3.94 avg rating — 143,767 ratings
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19

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3.91 avg rating — 1,479,084 ratings
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20

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3.46 avg rating — 99,579 ratings
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21

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3.81 avg rating — 78,747 ratings
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22

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3.49 avg rating — 808 ratings
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22

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3.76 avg rating — 278 ratings
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24

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4.22 avg rating — 643 ratings
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25

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3.90 avg rating — 80,370 ratings
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26

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3.71 avg rating — 1,216 ratings
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27

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3.89 avg rating — 7,130 ratings
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28

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3.77 avg rating — 12,455 ratings
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29

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4.08 avg rating — 3,211 ratings
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29

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3.87 avg rating — 3,859 ratings
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31

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4.35 avg rating — 40 ratings
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32

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3.64 avg rating — 173 ratings
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32

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4.28 avg rating — 57 ratings
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32

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4.39 avg rating — 327 ratings
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35

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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36

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3.95 avg rating — 35,697 ratings
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37

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4.12 avg rating — 8 ratings
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37

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3.96 avg rating — 84 ratings
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37

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3.53 avg rating — 3,342 ratings
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40

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4.22 avg rating — 27 ratings
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41

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3.88 avg rating — 1,908 ratings
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42

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4.18 avg rating — 82 ratings
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43

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4.39 avg rating — 140 ratings
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43

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4.16 avg rating — 109 ratings
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45

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4.04 avg rating — 84 ratings
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46

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3.82 avg rating — 59,064 ratings
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46

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3.71 avg rating — 3,899 ratings
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48

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4.22 avg rating — 1,621 ratings
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49

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3.84 avg rating — 711,811 ratings
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49

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4.20 avg rating — 5,596,591 ratings
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51

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3.97 avg rating — 1,298,902 ratings
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52

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3.70 avg rating — 1,472 ratings
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53

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4.50 avg rating — 58 ratings
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53

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3.87 avg rating — 176 ratings
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55

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4.05 avg rating — 79 ratings
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55

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4.19 avg rating — 58 ratings
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55

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4.10 avg rating — 84 ratings
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55

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3.65 avg rating — 6,416 ratings
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59

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4.38 avg rating — 21 ratings
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59

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3.79 avg rating — 1,389 ratings
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61

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3.41 avg rating — 7,801 ratings
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61

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4.52 avg rating — 23 ratings
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63

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3.60 avg rating — 15,036 ratings
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64

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3.80 avg rating — 268 ratings
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64

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3.82 avg rating — 22 ratings
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66

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3.86 avg rating — 8,081 ratings
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66

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4.32 avg rating — 22 ratings
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66

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3.44 avg rating — 255 ratings
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69

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3.92 avg rating — 347 ratings
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70

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5,423 ratings
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70

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4.11 avg rating — 19 ratings
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70

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3.98 avg rating — 500,561 ratings
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73

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3.58 avg rating — 5,128 ratings
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74

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3.57 avg rating — 7,813 ratings
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75

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 84 ratings
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75

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4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
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77

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4.50 avg rating — 14 ratings
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77

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4.12 avg rating — 20,751 ratings
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79

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4.11 avg rating — 59,698 ratings
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80

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4.21 avg rating — 2,822 ratings
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81

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4.18 avg rating — 224,016 ratings
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82

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3.94 avg rating — 882 ratings
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83

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3.91 avg rating — 671,663 ratings
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84

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3.54 avg rating — 9,144 ratings
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85

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3.80 avg rating — 3,585 ratings
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86

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3.75 avg rating — 6,980 ratings
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87

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3.54 avg rating — 519 ratings
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88

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3.54 avg rating — 7,691 ratings
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89

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4.11 avg rating — 125,607 ratings
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90

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3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings
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91

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3.67 avg rating — 377 ratings
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91

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4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings
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91

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3.48 avg rating — 27 ratings
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91

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3.45 avg rating — 86 ratings
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91

by
4.17 avg rating — 6 ratings
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91

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4.92 avg rating — 26 ratings
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91

by
3.34 avg rating — 29 ratings
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91

by
3.93 avg rating — 14 ratings
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91

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4.18 avg rating — 2,149 ratings
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91

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2.86 avg rating — 14 ratings
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268 books · 232 voters · list created April 5th, 2011 by Jessica (votes) .
255 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jessica 1358 books
352 friends
Kate 443 books
17 friends
Bob 406 books
38 friends
M. 6 books
123 friends
Erin 2263 books
40 friends
Kiara 714 books
31 friends
Paul 70 books
7 friends
Travis 171 books
4 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-15 of 15 (15 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Alex (new)

Alex Mikkelsen Just what I was looking for...nice!


message 2: by David (new)

David Great list. I might add The Unconsoled


message 3: by Milt (new)

Milt Hollyfield I might add "Pedro Paramo" by Juan Rulfo.


message 4: by [deleted user] (new)

What a great list! Thank you.


message 5: by Arsalan (new)

Arsalan I don't know why but Kafka On The Shore doesn't strike me as surreal.


message 6: by Jonathan (new)

Jonathan Echevarria Does John Dies at the End count as surreal?


message 7: by Kay (new)

Kay Murphy I am always baffled by what is considered surrealism. I am a huge fan of Murakami. I never thought of him as a surrealist. I don't think the category he fits in has been invented because he invented it.


message 8: by Mark (new)

Mark Folse Murakami falls into a gap between surrealism and magical realism, closer to the latter. I have no idea what Kafka on the Shore is doing at the top of the list, ahead of the Windup Bird Chronicles.


message 9: by Jonathan (new)

Jonathan Echevarria Thought Horns was based on Kafka in some way.


message 10: by Arsalan (new)

Arsalan John wrote: "Poe would be closer to the definition than Murakami, even"

Exactly!


message 11: by Kay (new)

Kay Murphy Do we want to look at the classic French description of surrealism? Or pretend like wwe are all talking about the same thing?


message 12: by Jiminy (new)

Jiminy I think The Forlorn Exotic should be somewhere on this list. It's insane.


message 13: by Erin (new)

Erin Milt wrote: "I might add "Pedro Paramo" by Juan Rulfo."

I think Pedro Páramo is generally considered the first magical realist novel, although it seems to me that the line between magical realism and surrealism is blurred and some books could be considered either or both. What constitutes surrealism (“officially”?) seems especially murky to me and perhaps there is more than one valid definition.


message 14: by MaximusMidnight (new)

MaximusMidnight I think I Crawl Through It fits this?


message 15: by William (new)

William Vaudin I now own all five of the top five on this list.


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