Something that breaks traditional storytelling norms, whether it's nonlinear timelines, unconventional formatting, mixed media elements, or a narrator that messes with the reader. Like House of Leaves, Cloud Atlas, or If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler.
by AlaricVass
8 Comments
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
This is my favorite kind of book
Least to most weird
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez: multilayered, fluid POV. About two men transporting a god through a war torn country
Radiance by Catherynne Valente: 1920s retrofuturist sci fi murder mystery. Golden age of Hollywood flavor. Nonlinear, metatextual, parts are told in different pastiches (pulpy noir, Victorian classic, children’s story)
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu: police procedural parody that bleeds into real life. About Asian American identity both in media and more broadly. Very funny. Mostly told in a screenplay format
Ooh ooh I have one for you! It’s a lot of fun and I think definitely fits your need.
*Redshirts* by John Scalzi.
Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino is also a good one of his. Ulysses by James Joyce, The Death of Virgil by Hermann Broch, Awake and Sublunar by Harald Voetman, The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector, A Briefing for a Decent Into Hell by Doris Lessing, Solenoid and Blinding by Mircea Cărtărescu
Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray! Even if you’ve seen the movie (which is not nearly as good), the ending is completely different.
Igi by Jemal Karchkadze. Primordial story telling.