I’m looking for something where the understanding builds gradually, not big reveals, just a steady sense that things are clicking into place as you go.
gone girl had me piecing things together page by page instead of just waiting for some massive twist at the end.
tallisbrowne on
Under the skin by Michel Faber. It’s got some disturbing content and is not for the squeamish, but if you like horror/weird fiction at all, it’s really so good. The book starts with a woman driving around rural Scotland looking for hitchhikers, and the reader slowly comes to understand who she is and why she’s doing that throughout the book.
The hair carpet weavers by Andreas Eschbach is an excellent sci fi example of this. The premise is that, in an intergalactic empire, there is a planet on which the entire economy is devoted to weaving carpets out of human hair. The book is about why this is the case. It’s really creative, surprising, and strange.
stormbutton on
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone
Piranesi
Never Let Me Go
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things
The Murder of Roger Ayckroyd
Comfort Me With Apples (Valente)
The Secret History
Sharp Objects
Sundial (Ward)
Shutter Island
Under The Skin
Annihilation (Vandermeer)
We Need To Talk About Kevin
We Have Always Lived In The Castle
Yesteryear
Silence of The Lambs
The September House
auximines_minotaur on
I felt this way about Dune. Something about how he slowly reveals the way his universe works, instead of saying upfront “this is how the universe works.” I honestly think that’s half the magic of the book.
4 Comments
gone girl had me piecing things together page by page instead of just waiting for some massive twist at the end.
Under the skin by Michel Faber. It’s got some disturbing content and is not for the squeamish, but if you like horror/weird fiction at all, it’s really so good. The book starts with a woman driving around rural Scotland looking for hitchhikers, and the reader slowly comes to understand who she is and why she’s doing that throughout the book.
The hair carpet weavers by Andreas Eschbach is an excellent sci fi example of this. The premise is that, in an intergalactic empire, there is a planet on which the entire economy is devoted to weaving carpets out of human hair. The book is about why this is the case. It’s really creative, surprising, and strange.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone
Piranesi
Never Let Me Go
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things
The Murder of Roger Ayckroyd
Comfort Me With Apples (Valente)
The Secret History
Sharp Objects
Sundial (Ward)
Shutter Island
Under The Skin
Annihilation (Vandermeer)
We Need To Talk About Kevin
We Have Always Lived In The Castle
Yesteryear
Silence of The Lambs
The September House
I felt this way about Dune. Something about how he slowly reveals the way his universe works, instead of saying upfront “this is how the universe works.” I honestly think that’s half the magic of the book.