I recently discovered China Miéville and absolutely loved the two books of his I've read so far (Kraken and Railsea). I'm also a huge fan of Terry Pratchett, whose books are somewhat like this but a little more comedic/ironic. The Murderbot Diaries is kind of like this, though more serious. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk was kinda similar, but more of a satire/sarcastic style book which isn't really what I'm looking for. Besides that I can't name any examples of this type of thing off the top of my head…
What I loved about the Miéville books was that the plot was just insane, stupid and comedic, but written like it was serious, and the characters reacted to it seriously. This is hands down my favorite style of writing because it's comedy that pretends it's melodrama, but I'm having so much trouble finding more books like this!
by angelic_creation
4 Comments
Mieville is also my favorite writer. Kraken had me laughing out loud multiple times.
Maybe try The Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin?
J.G Ballard is your man:
– High Rise: The well-heeled residents of a futuristic high-rise block descend into barbarism
– Millennium People: A middle-class revolution where accountants and psychologists riot, but sweep up after themselves
– Crash: Car crash fetishism played entirely straight
– Concrete Island: A man finds himself marooned on a motorway roundabout and ekes out a Robinson Crusoe style existence from what he can scavenge from his car
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Oh, to add:
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, a lonely, neo-gothic story about a deranged, murderous teenager called Frank on a lonely Scottish island