Weirdest / Strangest Book

[RayofSunshine18]

What is the strangest / weirdest (in your opinion) book that you have ever read but HAD to finish?

Mine is Better to Eat you With by Amber Garza

House of Leaves. Beyond odd. It’s like different books/stories in one. It’s a narrative of a story. So you have the storyteller’s perspective/book of what happened to him, and the story that he’s talking about. Lots of footnotes, editors notes, odd layout to the text…..sometimes you have to rotate the book to read it. The actual story being described by the narrator is freaky and odd. Plus there’s sort of a third storyteller just to complicate things further. At the centre of it all is a very unsettling horror story.

Massive book, not available on kindle.

House of Leaves. Beyond odd.

I have such weird, fragmented memories of this book. Like the "tunnel" of text that burrowed its way horizontally through the pages. And other pages that weren't what they seemed ... and some very unsettling images of a house that from the inside, had a door opening into a long tunnel, but when you looked outside there was just an ordinary wall ...

I’ve just finished The House on the Borderland which was very odd - it’s about the end of the universe, a duplicate house, and weird evil pig-like creatures. Nearly made Piranesi make sense 😆

@NooNakedJacuzziness I first read The House on the Borderland aged around 13. Utterly terrifying- those pig things. The author William Hope Hodgson also wrote some very good ghost stories. The Whistling Room is particularly scary.

I did think it was very well written @pollyhemlock- just not quite what I was expecting! The author seemed to have lead a very interesting/tragic life and I’d be interested to read his other books so thanks for the recommendation

Seconding Under The Skin, and We Who Have Never Known Men.

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. Loved it.

For me, it has to be George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. I've recommended it to anyone who will listen.

An amazing, unusual and fascinating book which consists of a variety of conversations, thoughts and reminiscences by ghosts of those buried in the graveyard where the young son of Abraham Lincoln will be interred the next day. It's very funny, very thought provoking and quite bizarre.

I loved Lincoln In The Bardo

I bought this book a number of years back but haven’t had the ‘courage’ to read it yet, given the reviews! 🤣

Magnus Mills is a fantastic writer, so clever and so funny. I enjoyed his Scheme for Full Employment too.

The Third Policeman - one of my faves

The Age of Wire And String - like learning a whole new language

Service Unit by Adrian Tchaikovsky, I listened to it. It was narrated by the author which can go either way IME but worked well in this case. It was quite sweet but really quirky even for sci-fi which is often odd.

The fade by Robert Kramer. Read this as a teenager

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky not service unit

Love this thread - have added many to my Amazon basket.

I almost exclusively read horror and ghost stories but have always been nervous of House of Leaves - this thread has made me feel braver, so might give it a go (have a copy, but have never opened it).

Loved Piranesi and hated lemon cake.

My addition is Lost in the Garden by Adam S Leslie - I’m still not sure whether I liked it or not.

Also absolutely loved The Elementals by Michael McDowell - possibly weird in a more straightforward way (if there is such a thing) but really enjoyed it.

Oh! And Strange Pictures by Uketsu - I’ve never read anything like it before.

Lorelei’s Secret.

I still think about sometimes.

Agree on Piranesi. Listened to the audio book, no idea what was going on.

A few years ago my book club read A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman. Completely bonkers. The entire book club was confused!

placemarking😀

I loved both of those books. I wonder if he has published anything recently.

The Master And Margarita - just bonkers but entertainingly so.
Cloud Atlas - had to keep going but it was bloody odd in parts. I still liked it.

I loved Piranesi, I didn't think it was hard to understand 🤷🏻‍♀️ but it was certainly distinctive.

Edited - wrong thread!

The bloody endless footnotes! I gave up. But Radio 4 had a brilliant play based on it maybe you can find it in Sounds?

House of Leaves is fantastic.

Also, in a similar vein, The Raw Shark Texts.

And We Have Always Lived in the Castle (completely different but very unsettling and also wonderful).

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Wild Sheep Chase, both by Haruki Murakami.

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier.