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Original poster

Surreal books?

43 replies

scentednappyhag · 03/04/2012 18:13

I'm looking for some suggestions for fiction that makes you concentrate IYSWIM?
My favourite books over the last year have been The House of Leaves and The Raw Shark Texts, and I've enjoyed books by Jasper Fford- looking for something along these lines... Aware this is probably a bit vague, but any suggestions would be highly appreciated! Smile

OP posts:
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SnowieBear · 08/05/2012 12:42

Louis de Bernières - honestly! Try this trilogy by him, it's in the best magical realism tradition of South American writers: "The War of Don Emmanuel?s Nether Parts", "Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord" and "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman".

Isabel Allende's early work and "A Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Garcia Marquez.

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2012 09:19

Have I mentioned Diamond Age? Another fantastic book by Neal Stephenson.

SillyBeardyDaddyman · 22/04/2012 18:48

cote cheers. Am shamelessly pilfering the suggestions here to populate my kindle Grin

CoteDAzur · 22/04/2012 15:45

Have you seen Neal Stephenson's Anathem? I'm not afraid of big books Smile

Thanks for the recommendation. I will take a look.

If you are into that kind of thing, Richard K Morgan's Altered Carbon is dark and interesting. It's about downloading consciousness into bodies.

SillyBeardyDaddyman · 22/04/2012 10:34

Try the otherland series by Tad Williams too, but be warned, it's a 4 book series and they're big books! They go in the same vein of transferring conciousness into computer worlds.

CoteDAzur · 22/04/2012 09:58

It's been about 20 years since I read Neuromancer so don't remember if the word "Matrix" was used in it, but I remember that it talked about a virtual environment people stepped in and out of voluntarily, rather than kept sedated within by hostile machines.

Anyway, Neal Stephenson did it better in Snow Crash, imho Smile

SillyBeardyDaddyman · 22/04/2012 09:50

cote they both use a virtual reality program referred to as "the matrix" which is accessed using a brain-computer interface...

CoteDAzur · 22/04/2012 09:42

Not sure about inspiring the matrix, but in that book William Gibson invented the word "cyberspace".

SillyBeardyDaddyman · 22/04/2012 09:40

Neuromancer by William Gibson. It's where they got the idea for the matrix!

CoteDAzur · 22/04/2012 09:28

I read a lot of speculative fiction, most of it quite "unreal" and some of it requiring serious brain power but I'd like to understand what you mean by "unreal" and "fiction that makes you concentrate" to suggest some books.

Also, how old are you? (If you are over 25, maybe Sophie's World will be a bit boring, for example) Do you like sci-fi? If yes, which sci-fi authors have you read & enjoyed? Would you be interested in reading about difficult topics like madness? Or books that are so challenging that they are brain-hurty? :-)

Off the top of my head, you might enjoy:
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Vermillion Sands by J G Ballard

These are "unreal" but not sci-fi, as well as fairly inoffensive and easy to read.

HanoverGirl · 19/04/2012 18:10

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Prolesworth · 18/04/2012 10:59

Another vote for The Unconsoled - reading it is like stepping into a dream

HerRancidSow · 18/04/2012 10:55

And in the spirit of Murakami, try Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled. If you can work out what is happening in that one, you'll be way ahead of me!

Toddy · 18/04/2012 10:39

I would also add Vurt and Pollen by Jeff Noon, and the Shadow Line by Amitav Ghosh.

MarySA · 16/04/2012 15:30

I also recommend Murakami. We read the Wind Up Bird Chronicles at my local book club. I thought I would hate it but I loved it.

Original poster
scentednappyhag · 11/04/2012 14:49

Wow, just caught up in all of these replies, my summer To Read list is looking fab! Thank you all Smile

OP posts:
echt · 09/04/2012 07:06

Ooh, I've just started The City and The City. You have read very attentively, I find so far, but I'm enjoying it, having read so little except for work far ages.

bran · 08/04/2012 22:27

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mumblesmum · 06/04/2012 00:11

The Master and Margerita (Bulgakov (sp?)
The Tin Drum (Grasse)

iklboo · 05/04/2012 19:33

Ummm not sure if it'd count as surreal but I've just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman & really enjoyed it.

moonblushtomato · 05/04/2012 18:51

Anyone mentioned Jasper Fforde???? Great books.

MegBusset · 05/04/2012 18:28

Thomas Pynchon - all excellent but The Crying Of Lot 49 is a good place to start
Kurt Vonnegut - Sirens of Titan
Jim Dodge - Stone Junction
Philip K Dick - The Man In The High Castle

fridakahlo · 05/04/2012 18:22

I don't remember house of spirits being surreal, it was very fantastical though.
Anything by Murakami tends to be very off the wall, my personal favourite is the wind up bird chronicle.

GrandPoohBah · 05/04/2012 18:14

Have you read Jasper Fforde's latest offering, Shades Of Grey? It's a bit different to his other stuff but very very good.

camdancer · 05/04/2012 17:49

Tom Robbins - Skinny Legs and All. One of those that most things make sense by the end of the book, except the bits that are just plain odd.