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Original poster

long, challenging novels not many people have heard of - recommendations please?

117 replies

highlandcoo · 12/12/2023 17:54

I have a tradition going with my nephew .. he's very well-read and every year I take on the challenge of sending him something he hasn't already come across. I've often chosen English translations of books set in Eastern Europe or Russia but I don't always succeed in finding a book he hasn't read.

In recent years I've sent:

Second Hand Time
The Pear Field
The Tsar of Love and Techno
Angel Maker
The Gone-Away World
The Story of a Life

I wondered about Prophet Song this year but would like one or two other novels to add to it. Any suggestions gratefully received.

TIA 😊

OP posts:
Pallisers · 12/12/2023 18:01

In A Dark Wood Wandering by Helle Haasse

SerenityNowInsanityLater · 12/12/2023 18:02

Leica Format by Dašia Drudić.

Squeaky2023 · 12/12/2023 19:19

A Suitable Boy - by Vikram Seth
Shantaram - by Gregory David Roberts
U.S.A. - by John Dos Passos

Fulshaw · 12/12/2023 19:20

Love In the Time of Cholera

ComfyBoobs · 12/12/2023 19:21

This Thing of Darkness

NoLostCause · 12/12/2023 19:23

4, 3, 2, 1 - Paul Auster

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

mynxy · 12/12/2023 19:26

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser

MissPettigrewIsWFH · 12/12/2023 19:26

Master and Margarita? Might not be obtuse enough. Readable to begin. With and then goes off on a brain bending trip!

LydiaGwilt · 12/12/2023 19:26

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

AudiobookListener · 12/12/2023 19:27

Solenoid by Cărtărescu

MerylSqueak · 12/12/2023 19:29

A Fine Balance is fantastic.

If you want linf and obscure, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Well regarded but I can't say I love it.

Withinthewhirlwind · 12/12/2023 19:30

Fortunata And Jacinta by Benito Perez Galdos

MerylSqueak · 12/12/2023 19:30

Also anything by Saul Belliw. Not much read now but I love him.

AppropriateAdult · 12/12/2023 19:35

Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess?

CatChant · 12/12/2023 20:00

The Transylvanian Trilogy or The Writing on the Wall (They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided) by Miklos Banffy.

The Cairo Trilogy (Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street) by Naguib Mahfouz.

The Lymond Chronicles (The Game of Kings, Queens’ Play, The Disorderly Knights, Pawn in Frankincense, The Ringed Castle, Checkmate) by Dorothy Dunnett.

Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake.

The Quincunx by Charles Palliser.

The Salterton Trilogy, The Deptford Trilogy and The Cornish Trilogy all by Robertson Davies.

Decimbir · 12/12/2023 20:02

Something by Italo Calvino?

Sadik · 12/12/2023 20:03

Too Like The Lightening by Ada Palmer - very good, but also very dense!

maybejustonemoretime · 12/12/2023 20:04

Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell

Shf · 12/12/2023 20:05

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford. Possibly not that long but it’s a corker of an unreliable narrator.

WhompingWillows · 12/12/2023 20:05

Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren.

Sadik · 12/12/2023 20:06

Or what about An Instance of the Finger post Iain Pears.
Or the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell is less read nowadays & definitely long & challenging

OhComeOnFFS · 12/12/2023 20:06

The Tin Drum, by Gunter Grass. Amazing book.

Savourycrepe · 12/12/2023 20:08

All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski