fiction files redux discussion

I'm really interested in reading books that are unlike any other book I've ever read before. It's all relative of course, but the books that are REALLY unique are kind of rare... when I come across one it always makes me happy. Do y'all have any you want to share? Here're some that I can think of:

The Story of Mary Maclane by Herself. A 19 year old self-defined "genius" living in Butte Montana in 1902 writes a book about herself. Kind of reads like a cross between a diary, a manifesto, and poetry. Very strange.

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke. A free form novel incorporating history, folklore, memories and ruminations on poverty and death, with a dash of metaphysics thrown in for good measure. This novel feels like a well-woven tapestry told with urgency.

In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. Strange blend of surrealism and playfulness. Very imaginative.

The Palm-wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola. I must confess I couldn't finish this one. It just seemed too random to me. But still, very unique. A blend of folk-tale, surrealism, and broken English. Every other page had me saying "WTF am I reading?"

The Land of Laughs, House of Leaves, and Let the Right One In

I believe the titles speak for themselves in the field of horror or dark fictions. You can check out fiction files group reads also for more various titles. Welcome to the fiction files if you are new to this!

hi jimmy! welcome to the group! i think you would like

The Red Robins, by Ken Koch (which can be found in the The Collected Fiction of Kenneth Koch, an altogether fabulous book.)

The Poet Assassinated, by Appolinaire (sorry, i didn't look up spelling)

Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine, by Stanley Crawford(I prostletize for this book a lot, but it's only because it's insanely good.)

Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson (we read this as a group, and a lot of people had adverse reactions to it, but it is nothing if not unique.)

Kangaroo, by Yuz Aleshkovsky (again i didn't look up the spelling, but i think it's right. this is a strange book about a man living in soviet moscow, who is accused of raping a kangaroo in the zoo at least a hundred years before he was even born, and probably before there was even a moscow zoo. it's kind of like garcia marquez crossed with solzenhitzen [agh, the spelling again, i am so lazy this morning!:])

i'll think of some more, maybe

I read The Gulag Archipelago about a year ago and it was unlike anything I've read before or since.

Such a strange mix of history and surrealism...

It gave me insight into contemporary Russian fiction... and really, any fiction that seeks to describe what it's like to live in a terribly oppressed society.

There's something to be said for the idea that a lot of colonial, post-colonial and behind-the-Wall Cold War lit has to be written using a surreal approach because otherwise it wouldn't be comprehensible to anyone.

I really like the previous commments about surrealism and definetely will touch upon these themes when writing. It really make me think about my approach in writing.


Will have to check out these books also! : D

"A History of the World in 10 and a Half Chapters" by Julian Barnes is, according to one of my friends, a book the likes of which has never been written. So I suppose I'll throw my vote into the ring here on that book.

Check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/History-World-1...

you want something that's unlike anything else? Try Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

And welcome to Fiction Files!

Hy Jimmy, welcome to the group!

How has nobody yet mentioned Austerlitz by Sebald?

hi jimmy! welcome aboard the ss dorkapalooza. it is really nice to see some new people reinvigorating the old stomping grounds -- you have even roused me from my hibernation. :)

anyway, unique reads: i just wrote a review of one of my favourite books, the sundial by shirley jackson. it's out of print and hard to find but i think well worth a read simply because it is kind of a frankenstein monster: part drawing room, part creepy haunted house, all bizarre dream.

i also really love locos by felipe alfau. there are other books like it now but it languished for years without anybody paying attention to it. it can be read forwards or backwards and is an interesting early take on metafiction.

i have two books by steve erickson to read, our ecstatic days, and rubicon beach that were recommended by patrick (slow rabbit). i am a bit intimidated by the structure but hopefully it will all be okay.

also, patty is entirely right about the david markson book. i couldn't finish it because the staccato style was crazy-making for me. :)

thank you for your recommendations. i am very interested in reading the story of mary mclane, and in watermelon sugar is one of the last brautigan books i have left on my list to read. my favourite of all of them was introduced to me by ben, and it's the hawkline monster. have you read that? i just think it's marvellous. i think i've read it six times in the last year, if not more. :)

Thanks for the welcome and the recommendations! I've only read In Watermelon Sugar and Trout Fishing in America by Brautigan. And some of his poems too. I'll try and find Hawkline Monster. I really like Brautigan, he cracks me up, and he has so much fun and imagination in his books.

I also wanted to mention Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino as a totally unique book. Each chapter describes a different city and is told in the voice of Marco Polo, as if he were reporting his findings to Kublai Khan. The cities are guided by a kind of philosophy, and the book ends up being a strange sort of meditation. I loved it.

Hello Jimmy and welcome. I second Invisible Cities. Interesting book.

You might also try Magnetic Field by Ron Loewinsohn. Reminded me a bit of Calvino... and to tie the above message together... Loewinsohn and Brautigan worked together.

Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young is a 1,200 page novel about a woman daydreaming while taking a bus ride. It helps you get through the book if you enjoy daydreaming about women daydreaming while taking a long bus ride. Eventually it ends.

oh, and The Third Policemanand At Swim-Two-Birdsby Flann O'Brien

Patty wrote: "oh, and The Third Policemanand At Swim-Two-Birdsby Flann O'Brien"

I love the Third Policeman!

Jimmy:

"If on a Winter's Night a Traveller" -- Italo Calvino (hilarious, staggeringly clever and concise)

"Mulligan Stew" -- Gilbert Sorrentino (the ultimate novel about writerly frustration)

"Tough, Tough Toys For Tough, Tough Boys" -- Will Self (great short stories: inventive, ludicrously smart and hilarious).

Martyn wrote: "you want something that's unlike anything else? Try Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

I've started reading that in between each book. I'll read one book, then 50 pages of Joyce. I really recommend that for those interested in the incredible feats of mastery Joyce pulls off.

I agree, MJ. IoaWNaT is fun!

MJ wrote: "Martyn wrote: "you want something that's unlike anything else? Try Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

I've started reading that in between each book. I'll read one book, then 50 pages of Joyce. I really re..."

hmmm. interesting. and you don't find yourself backtracking each time you restart?

hmmm. interesting. and you don't find yourself backtracking each time you restart?

No no. I'm reading it merely for the pleasure of reading it. Am I following the... erm... plot? No.