A Good Thriller discussion

Hi y'all.

Yep, I'm looking for books that feature dysfunctional families. The weirder, the better. Doesn't necessarily have to be a thriller. I'm fine with a bit of humor or horror as well.

Thanks in advance!

Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill is still the gold standard here.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It's an extremely long book, over a thousand pages, but worth it. A masterpiece IMO

@Aditya Never read a play before. Seems interesting. Yeah, I'll take that challenge. :)

@David That's a whole lot of book! No problem, although I do prefer to read books that size in my own language. Unfortunately it hasn't been translated. Not yet anyway. Oh well. Another challenge I'll take!

Thanks a bunch, guys!

Marco wrote: "@Aditya Never read a play before. Seems interesting. Yeah, I'll take that challenge. :)

@David That's a whole lot of book! No problem, although I do prefer to read books that size in my own langua..."

Sorry, I didn't realize when I responded that you are in the Netherlands. I hope you enjoy it, if you do decide to read it.

Apparently there isn't a Dutch language audiobook of it either, unfortunately.

I can recommend a much shorter novel, A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines. Its really nothing like Infinite Jest other than it meets your requirement of showing a dysfunctional family. I read it originally decades ago and thought it was very moving and depressing, and am about to start it again, mainly to see if I still like it as much.

Oh, I read 'em in English as well, it's just a little more demanding and takes more time. It's probably going to take me quite a while to finish a book the length of Infinite Jest , haha. I'll give it a try though!

A Kestrel for a Knave.. Never read it, but I did see the film. Long time ago. Don't remember much of it, but gave it 8 stars on IMDb, so yeah, I'll give that one a go as well. Have you seen Kes?

Marco wrote: "Oh, I read 'em in English as well, it's just a little more demanding and takes more time. It's probably going to take me quite a while to finish a book the length of Infinite Jest , haha. I'll give..."

Yes, I saw the film a long time ago, before I read the novel.

I loved Kes, the Ken Loach movie. There is a Long Day's Journey Into Night movie too from 1962. It's three hours long and bleak but I enjoyed it. It has some great performances.

Yes, I also thought the filmed version of Long Day's Journey into Night, with Katherine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson was excellent, and that the ending was totally haunting.

I thought Jade's family was pretty dysfunctional in Endless Love, which started as a teen romance and ended almost as horror. Great writing, though it was made into an awful movie.