The 52 Book Club: 2025 Challenge discussion
2025 Challenge
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40 -- Stream Of Consciousness Narrative

Some readers consider The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe as horror.
Many of Stephen King's most famous novels employ some stream-of-consciousness: The Shining, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematery, The Institute are but a few such examples.
Shirley Jackson's two most famous books, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, are old school horror. Not much blood and gore, but creepy all the same.
And then there's I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid.
Peter Straub has been known to use the narrative device as well, but I'm not familiar with his work enough to name a particular book. I only know what some customers used to say about him when I worked at a bookstore.





Following Penny's thoughts with the care home she finds herself in is quite scary!


Without giving anything away to others would this count? It beginnings with dialogue from a murdered person but later it’s not that simple.


I would NOT recommend but fits the bill. However, does it put you in another head and scream and cringe , yes.

Beautiful Losers
These don't STRICTLY fall into the category of stream of consciousness, but they do emit the same *feeling*...
Or maybe: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close ??

Following Penny's thoughts with the care home she finds herself in is quite scary!"
Yes, this book was disturbing!!! So good though!


Beloved by Toni Morrison
HAPPY READING!!"
Such a good book! One of my favorite authors!

Interested to hear your thoughts on this book... I know it was the big hit of last summer, but I didn't have a favorable reaction to it, to say the least...

Other books that are written without quotation marks for dialogue and written in stream-of-consciousness style are The Listeners and Solar Bones.
I am yet to read Ducks, Newburyport but it is experimental fiction written in a single long sentence, and judging from the online preview would also fit this prompt.

This was a beautiful book. I read it for this prompt too.

Oth..."
I am going to read Ducks for this prompt. I started its but due to the single sentence structure it is hard to find a stopping place sop i am waiting for spring break when I'll be able to dedicate long stretches of time to it. I like what I read so far
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (other topics)Shatter Me (other topics)
Shatter Me (other topics)
The Great When (other topics)
A Death in the Family (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Douglas Adams (other topics)Tahereh Mafi (other topics)
James Agee (other topics)
Jenny Offill (other topics)
Toni Morrison (other topics)
More...
Stream of consciousness is a narrative style that tries to mimic the way we think. It shows a character’s internal thoughts in a realistic way, often capturing incomplete and non-linear ideas, sensory impressions, incomplete grammar, repetition, etc. It doesn’t just show what a character is thinking but replicates the experience of thinking.
For this prompt, you may choose a book entirely written in stream-of-consciousness narrative, or choose a book that uses stream-of-consciousness for only specific parts or certain characters.
While a stream-of-consciousness narrative is more than just an interior monologue, we always allow creativity for prompts. Some books contain elements of the stream-of-consciousness narrative style (for example: The Catcher in the Rye) and you’re welcome to stretch this prompt to include books with a more structured, interior monologue style.
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