What books will be an axe to the frozen sea inside me?
January 31, 2011 12:36 PM Subscribe
What fiction should I read next? (Enclosed please find a ridiculously, excessively long (and yet incomplete) list of some books I've enjoyed, both to assist and as a thank-you.)
I'm desperate for recommendations of great new-to-me books! I'm finding it harder and harder to find amazing fiction which is an axe for the frozen sea inside me, as Kafka demands. Please suggest some?
Here are some helpful examples of fiction I've loved (in no particular order):
• The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
• Vox & The Fermata by Nicholson Baker
• The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
• The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
• Arcadia & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• All in the Timing by David Ives
• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• The Scar & The City and the City by China Mieville
• Accelerando, Glasshouse, & Saturn's Children by [Metafilter's very own] Charles Stross
• Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang (not actually fiction, but it had that sort of flow to it)
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• Set This House In Order by Matt Ruff
• The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
• A Fire Upon the Deep & A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation (both volumes) by M.T. Anderson
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
• The Orphan's Tale (both volumes) by Catherynne M. Valente
• No one belongs here more than you. by Miranda July
• Fairy Tales of Frank Stockton by Frank Stockton
• the Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein
• the His Majesty's Dragon books by Naomi Novik
• those kinky lesbian mystery novels by Kate Allen
• P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories
• How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
• The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
• The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
• Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
• The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos
• Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
• The Leather Daddy and the Femme by Carol Queen
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
• Gravity's Angels by Michael Swanwick
• Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
• The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (the Edith Grossman translation)
• Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
• The Princess Bride, of course.
• Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (everything of his from before Fury (2001), actually)
• just about everything by Louis de Bernieres, Roald Dahl, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ernest Hemingway, Jorge Luis Borges, Lord Dunsany, or Ray Bradbury
And some books I've unexpectedly disliked: House of Leaves, anything by Angela Carter, anything by Haruki Murakami, anything by Michael Chabon other than the spectacular first two thirds or so of The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier and Clay, Neil Gaiman's post-Sandman work
I'm desperate for recommendations of great new-to-me books! I'm finding it harder and harder to find amazing fiction which is an axe for the frozen sea inside me, as Kafka demands. Please suggest some?
Here are some helpful examples of fiction I've loved (in no particular order):
• The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
• Vox & The Fermata by Nicholson Baker
• The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
• The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem
• Arcadia & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• All in the Timing by David Ives
• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
• The Scar & The City and the City by China Mieville
• Accelerando, Glasshouse, & Saturn's Children by [Metafilter's very own] Charles Stross
• Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang (not actually fiction, but it had that sort of flow to it)
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• Set This House In Order by Matt Ruff
• The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
• A Fire Upon the Deep & A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation (both volumes) by M.T. Anderson
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
• The Orphan's Tale (both volumes) by Catherynne M. Valente
• No one belongs here more than you. by Miranda July
• Fairy Tales of Frank Stockton by Frank Stockton
• the Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein
• the His Majesty's Dragon books by Naomi Novik
• those kinky lesbian mystery novels by Kate Allen
• P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories
• How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
• The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
• The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
• Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
• The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos
• Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
• The Leather Daddy and the Femme by Carol Queen
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
• Gravity's Angels by Michael Swanwick
• Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
• The Gumshoe, the Witch, and the Virtual Corpse by Keith Hartman
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (the Edith Grossman translation)
• Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
• The Princess Bride, of course.
• Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (everything of his from before Fury (2001), actually)
• just about everything by Louis de Bernieres, Roald Dahl, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ernest Hemingway, Jorge Luis Borges, Lord Dunsany, or Ray Bradbury
And some books I've unexpectedly disliked: House of Leaves, anything by Angela Carter, anything by Haruki Murakami, anything by Michael Chabon other than the spectacular first two thirds or so of The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier and Clay, Neil Gaiman's post-Sandman work
Make a LibraryThing account, put those books in, and use the recommendations engine.
posted by dmd at 12:44 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dmd at 12:44 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
That said, you'll love The Gold Bug Variations (Richard Powers).
Your tastes are similar to mine - take a look at my catalog and sort by descending star ranking.
posted by dmd at 12:45 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Your tastes are similar to mine - take a look at my catalog and sort by descending star ranking.
posted by dmd at 12:45 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Little, Big, by John Crowley. It has the intricacy of Marquez, the dreaminess of Dunsany, and the creativity of Calvino.
posted by Paragon at 12:46 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Paragon at 12:46 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Neal Stephenson. Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, Cryptonomicon, and Anathem are my favorites.
posted by axiom at 12:47 PM on January 31, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by axiom at 12:47 PM on January 31, 2011 [3 favorites]
You need to read Lolita or Pale Fire or both.
You also need to read Gatsby or Tender is the Night or both.
You would also enjoy the Aubrey/Maturin books -- at least the first few.
posted by dzot at 12:51 PM on January 31, 2011
You also need to read Gatsby or Tender is the Night or both.
You would also enjoy the Aubrey/Maturin books -- at least the first few.
posted by dzot at 12:51 PM on January 31, 2011
Seconding Neal Stephenson. Also Jeff Noon, Hunter S Thompson, Will Self, Paul Theroux.
posted by gonzo_ID at 12:54 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by gonzo_ID at 12:54 PM on January 31, 2011
You should try a novel by Tim Powers, such as "The Anubis Gates".
posted by grizzled at 12:55 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by grizzled at 12:55 PM on January 31, 2011
Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry" was very enjoyable (also a really great audiobook). I also recommend "Among Others" by Jo Walton, which I just finished and really liked.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:05 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by Lyn Never at 1:05 PM on January 31, 2011
Room, by Emma Donoghue
Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis
posted by nicwolff at 1:09 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis
posted by nicwolff at 1:09 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
A few that immediately spring to mind:
Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
A.S. Byatt, Possession
Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum
posted by scody at 1:12 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
Ann Patchett, Bel Canto
A.S. Byatt, Possession
Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum
posted by scody at 1:12 PM on January 31, 2011 [2 favorites]
After looking at your list, I was excited to tell you Neal Stephenson as well. Love to find people who would love his work, and I've only read Anathem.
You might like Asimov's Foundation Series. Long reading, but rather easy reading, so might not be as much of a challenge as you seem to like.
posted by fyrebelley at 1:16 PM on January 31, 2011
You might like Asimov's Foundation Series. Long reading, but rather easy reading, so might not be as much of a challenge as you seem to like.
posted by fyrebelley at 1:16 PM on January 31, 2011
Based on the lesbian interest: April Sinclair. Achy Obejas.
Based on the digging Charlie Stross: Tom Holt (particularly Blonde Bombshell and The Better Mousetrap). Christopher Brookmyre. Alasdair Gray.
Based on the various metafiction stuff: Scarlett Thomas's PopCo and The End of Mr. Y (her most recent book, Our Tragic Universe, just isn't as good, alas). Percival Everett, especially Erasure. Mark Dunn's Ella Minnow Pea and Under the Harrow.
Based on sheer awesome: Megan Abbott. I am a huge Megan Abbott fan.
Follow my daily reviews on Twitter, because you and I dig a lot of the same things.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:21 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Based on the digging Charlie Stross: Tom Holt (particularly Blonde Bombshell and The Better Mousetrap). Christopher Brookmyre. Alasdair Gray.
Based on the various metafiction stuff: Scarlett Thomas's PopCo and The End of Mr. Y (her most recent book, Our Tragic Universe, just isn't as good, alas). Percival Everett, especially Erasure. Mark Dunn's Ella Minnow Pea and Under the Harrow.
Based on sheer awesome: Megan Abbott. I am a huge Megan Abbott fan.
Follow my daily reviews on Twitter, because you and I dig a lot of the same things.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:21 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
For SF, nthing Neal Stephanson (Snowcrash being the obvious beginning, but Cryptonomicon if you like math and The Baroque Cycle if you are a history buff) and Tim Powers (Anubis Gate and Last Call being good entries). Also, I see you read a couple of China Mieville books. If you like him, his magnum opus is probably Perdido Street Station. For literature, I'm shocked no has mentioned Infinite Jest yet. Its time consuming, but time well spent. And you might enjoy Haruki Murakami , with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as a good place to start. Also long, but a fast read.
posted by rtimmel at 1:28 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 1:28 PM on January 31, 2011
I have some favorites on your list - and notice you have no DBC Pierre: Lights Out in Wonderland is my current read, fantastic! Love all of his work.
posted by honey-barbara at 1:37 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by honey-barbara at 1:37 PM on January 31, 2011
You might like La Medusa by Vanessa Place - It's a big, long, messy experimental work, not unlike Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai, but mixed with broken characters like Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.
posted by fryman at 1:51 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by fryman at 1:51 PM on January 31, 2011
I have only read a few books on your list. I'm not really sure of what you like, but I'll throw out a few things:
Stanislaw Lem's Memoirs of a Space Traveler
Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine.
Ursula K LeGuin's The Birthday of the World
You might dip into some of the stories in the Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions anthologies. "Test to Destruction" and "The Word for World is Forest" are favorites of mine.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
Louise Erdrich's The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
Doris Lessing's Memoirs of a Survivor
posted by DarkForest at 1:58 PM on January 31, 2011
Stanislaw Lem's Memoirs of a Space Traveler
Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine.
Ursula K LeGuin's The Birthday of the World
You might dip into some of the stories in the Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions anthologies. "Test to Destruction" and "The Word for World is Forest" are favorites of mine.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
Louise Erdrich's The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
Doris Lessing's Memoirs of a Survivor
posted by DarkForest at 1:58 PM on January 31, 2011
I've read and liked most of the books on your list. Seconding Richard Powers, and also Chris Adrian, esp "The Children's Hospital". And Kelly Link. And maybe Margaret Atwood. Scarlett Thomas. Nicola Griffith. Tana French.
posted by judith at 2:11 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by judith at 2:11 PM on January 31, 2011
The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton.
The Little Drummer Girl, by John Le Carré.
Concrete Island, by J. G. Ballard.
Also, I second the recommendations for Will Self and Kelly Link.
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:24 PM on January 31, 2011
The Little Drummer Girl, by John Le Carré.
Concrete Island, by J. G. Ballard.
Also, I second the recommendations for Will Self and Kelly Link.
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:24 PM on January 31, 2011
We seem to have some favorite books in common and I'm very into Richard Powers (Gain is my fave), Chris Adrian (The Children's Hospital blew my mind). If I can go out on a limb a little, may I suggest Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum for a little light reading? Followed by Joanna Russ's speculative fiction, like The Female Man.
You might like William T. Vollmann's writing, fiction or nonfiction. He's an acquired taste, in my opinion, and not for everybody. In a completely different way, but also an acquired taste, you might also enjoy Patrick Califia's older work under the name Pat Califia. Macho Sluts, his first short story collection, is a quick, juicy read.
You might enjoy Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping; I did, though I found her follow-up novels less satisfying. I'm on a Joyce Carol Oates tear lately (she did a kick-ass reading at my local library), and I got a kick out of Dark Water. If that floats your boat, and you're not sensitive to intense racism and sexism, Ellroy's American Tabloid might do so as well.
Lastly, thank you kindly for the long list. It's supposed to blizzard here tomorrow, so I'll need to stock up at the library tonight. Good book recommendations are like gold to me!
Oh, oh! Also Sarah Waters. And Alison Bechdel (Fun Home is a graphic novel, but please don't let that stop you!). And - I'm stopping I promise - Kelly Link and Ali Smith. There. Done.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 2:33 PM on January 31, 2011
You might like William T. Vollmann's writing, fiction or nonfiction. He's an acquired taste, in my opinion, and not for everybody. In a completely different way, but also an acquired taste, you might also enjoy Patrick Califia's older work under the name Pat Califia. Macho Sluts, his first short story collection, is a quick, juicy read.
You might enjoy Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping; I did, though I found her follow-up novels less satisfying. I'm on a Joyce Carol Oates tear lately (she did a kick-ass reading at my local library), and I got a kick out of Dark Water. If that floats your boat, and you're not sensitive to intense racism and sexism, Ellroy's American Tabloid might do so as well.
Lastly, thank you kindly for the long list. It's supposed to blizzard here tomorrow, so I'll need to stock up at the library tonight. Good book recommendations are like gold to me!
Oh, oh! Also Sarah Waters. And Alison Bechdel (Fun Home is a graphic novel, but please don't let that stop you!). And - I'm stopping I promise - Kelly Link and Ali Smith. There. Done.
posted by S'Tella Fabula at 2:33 PM on January 31, 2011
Oh, and since you like Jeeves & Wooster, you might get a kick out of Joe Keenan.
posted by scody at 2:53 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by scody at 2:53 PM on January 31, 2011
You've probably into Eco already going by your list, but The Name of the Rose, or Baudolino? There's a first-rate audiobook of Name of the Rose now out, as a bonus.
Seconding hard Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; more obscurely, Lud-in-the-Mist, which I found a strange and emotional read- if you're looking for something out of the ordinary it would certainly fit the bill.
posted by Erasmouse at 3:07 PM on January 31, 2011
Seconding hard Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; more obscurely, Lud-in-the-Mist, which I found a strange and emotional read- if you're looking for something out of the ordinary it would certainly fit the bill.
posted by Erasmouse at 3:07 PM on January 31, 2011
I've only read a few on your list, but liked all the ones that I have read. Tobias Wolff's Old School is a beautiful story.
posted by shortyJBot at 3:09 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by shortyJBot at 3:09 PM on January 31, 2011
Also, your Kafka reference suggests you might enjoy a number of other Central European writers (some from the modernist era, some more recent):
- Robert Musil: his epic is The Man Without Qualities (published in English in two volumes), though you may want to start with one of his shorter works, e.g., The Confusions of Young Torless
- Robert Walser: Jakob Van Gunten, Selected Stories
- Arthur Schnitzler: Desire and Delusion and Night Games are good collections; "Dream Story" became the basis for Kubrik's Eyes Wide Shut
- Joseph Roth: The Radetzky March is his major work, but I also like his novellas and short stories
- Bruno Schulz: The Street of Crocodiles
- Bohumil Hrabal, I Served the King of England
- the gloriously cranky Thomas Bernhard: Old Masters and Wittgenstein's Nephew are good places to start; if you like him then Extinction, The Loser, etc.
posted by scody at 3:54 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
- Robert Musil: his epic is The Man Without Qualities (published in English in two volumes), though you may want to start with one of his shorter works, e.g., The Confusions of Young Torless
- Robert Walser: Jakob Van Gunten, Selected Stories
- Arthur Schnitzler: Desire and Delusion and Night Games are good collections; "Dream Story" became the basis for Kubrik's Eyes Wide Shut
- Joseph Roth: The Radetzky March is his major work, but I also like his novellas and short stories
- Bruno Schulz: The Street of Crocodiles
- Bohumil Hrabal, I Served the King of England
- the gloriously cranky Thomas Bernhard: Old Masters and Wittgenstein's Nephew are good places to start; if you like him then Extinction, The Loser, etc.
posted by scody at 3:54 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
Audrey Niffeneger's Her Fearful Symmetry is different from The Time Traveler's Wife in feel and theme, but I loved it just as much--possibly a little bit more, even.
Nthing Old School by Tobias Wolff, which also reminds me to suggest Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which I recently described as "part Old School, part Harry Potter as written by Bret Easton Ellis." But, um, it's better than that might make it sound.
Nthing Lud-in-the-Mist as well, which is also a much better book than most descriptions make it sound. And which you may have already read.
I think you might like William Styron, especially Set This House on Fire.
Anytime someone asks me for a great novel I must recommend Replay by Ken Grimwood, which really should be a famous/classic/more well-known book than it is, and I have never understood why it languishes in obscurity.
Similarly, Nicholas Christopher's books Veronica and A Trip to the Stars are beautiful and powerful and somehow aren't more popular than they are.
posted by rhiannonstone at 4:46 PM on January 31, 2011
Nthing Old School by Tobias Wolff, which also reminds me to suggest Lev Grossman's The Magicians, which I recently described as "part Old School, part Harry Potter as written by Bret Easton Ellis." But, um, it's better than that might make it sound.
Nthing Lud-in-the-Mist as well, which is also a much better book than most descriptions make it sound. And which you may have already read.
I think you might like William Styron, especially Set This House on Fire.
Anytime someone asks me for a great novel I must recommend Replay by Ken Grimwood, which really should be a famous/classic/more well-known book than it is, and I have never understood why it languishes in obscurity.
Similarly, Nicholas Christopher's books Veronica and A Trip to the Stars are beautiful and powerful and somehow aren't more popular than they are.
posted by rhiannonstone at 4:46 PM on January 31, 2011
If you like Borges and you wind up liking Bruno Schulz, as scody aptly recommends, you should definitely-definitely-definitely read Thomas Ligotti. Philosophical horror, but (generally) without pomo cutesiness.
Actually, now that I think about it - you should read the new horror anthology Poe's Children and see how the authors strike you. There's some very creative stuff in there. (It also features Ligotti in a rare mode of pomo cutesiness.)
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:50 PM on January 31, 2011
Actually, now that I think about it - you should read the new horror anthology Poe's Children and see how the authors strike you. There's some very creative stuff in there. (It also features Ligotti in a rare mode of pomo cutesiness.)
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:50 PM on January 31, 2011
We have ... a lot ... of overlap in taste. Here are a few suggestions.
- Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, Agent of Change and all subsequent Clan Korval (not necessarily all Liaden) books
- Benjamin Rosenbaum, The Ant-King and Other Stories
- Tom Holt, The Walled Orchard (omnibus edition including Goatsong)
- Zenna Henderson, Ingathering
- Sean Stewart, everything, but especially Mockingbird
- Ken Grimwood, Replay
- Robert Holdstock, Mythago Wood
- Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven
- Susan Hill, The Woman in Black
- Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star
- Elizabeth Smart, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
- Jean Rhys, everything, except her most famous--Wide Sargasso Sea--only if you've read Jane Eyre
- John Porcellino, Map of My Heart
posted by Monsieur Caution at 4:51 PM on January 31, 2011
- Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, Agent of Change and all subsequent Clan Korval (not necessarily all Liaden) books
- Benjamin Rosenbaum, The Ant-King and Other Stories
- Tom Holt, The Walled Orchard (omnibus edition including Goatsong)
- Zenna Henderson, Ingathering
- Sean Stewart, everything, but especially Mockingbird
- Ken Grimwood, Replay
- Robert Holdstock, Mythago Wood
- Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven
- Susan Hill, The Woman in Black
- Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star
- Elizabeth Smart, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
- Jean Rhys, everything, except her most famous--Wide Sargasso Sea--only if you've read Jane Eyre
- John Porcellino, Map of My Heart
posted by Monsieur Caution at 4:51 PM on January 31, 2011
Response by poster: This is fantastic so far, thank you! Please keep the recommendations coming!
Feedback on books recommended so far:
I've read and enjoyed (mostly as a teenager, not recently, which is why I didn't list them):
Little, Big
Snow Crash & The Diamond Age
Lolita & Pale Fire
the first few Aubrey/Maturin books (moderately)
Hunter S Thompson
Foucault's Pendulum (and The Name of the Rose and Baudolino (less so, but still))
Asimov's Foundation Series
Perdido Street Station (not as much as The Scar, though)
Stanislaw Lem's Memoirs of a Space Traveler
Ursula K LeGuin
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
Louise Erdrich
Kelly Link (moderately)
Nicola Griffith (again, only moderately)
Margaret Atwood
Pat Califia
Sarah Waters (varies by the book, really)
Alison Bechdel
Lud-in-the-Mist
I've read and disliked:
Most of the more recent Stephenson
Gatsby
Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates)
Alasdair Gray
The Female Man
posted by Eshkol at 4:59 PM on January 31, 2011
Feedback on books recommended so far:
I've read and enjoyed (mostly as a teenager, not recently, which is why I didn't list them):
Little, Big
Snow Crash & The Diamond Age
Lolita & Pale Fire
the first few Aubrey/Maturin books (moderately)
Hunter S Thompson
Foucault's Pendulum (and The Name of the Rose and Baudolino (less so, but still))
Asimov's Foundation Series
Perdido Street Station (not as much as The Scar, though)
Stanislaw Lem's Memoirs of a Space Traveler
Ursula K LeGuin
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell
Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
Louise Erdrich
Kelly Link (moderately)
Nicola Griffith (again, only moderately)
Margaret Atwood
Pat Califia
Sarah Waters (varies by the book, really)
Alison Bechdel
Lud-in-the-Mist
I've read and disliked:
Most of the more recent Stephenson
Gatsby
Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates)
Alasdair Gray
The Female Man
posted by Eshkol at 4:59 PM on January 31, 2011
Have you read Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber? YMMV... I've read and loved about a quarter of your list, and never heard of most of the rest.
Also, if you haven't, definitely read other Jonathan Lethem novels. As She Climbed Across the Table is my favourite.
posted by equivocator at 5:38 PM on January 31, 2011
Also, if you haven't, definitely read other Jonathan Lethem novels. As She Climbed Across the Table is my favourite.
posted by equivocator at 5:38 PM on January 31, 2011
A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
The Caliph's House - Tahir Shah
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Unless - Carol Shields
The Ha-Ha - Dave King
On Agate Hill - Lee Smith
Wickett's Remedy - Myla Goldberg
Austerlitz - W.G. Sebold
A Desert in Bohemia - Jill Paton Walsh
Amy + Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout
Pompeii - Robert Harris
A Fine Balance - Rohintron Mistry
Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
Saints + Villains - Denise Giardina
Unravelling - Elizabeth Graver
The Christening - Denise Neuhaus
posted by Corvid at 6:34 PM on January 31, 2011
Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh
The Caliph's House - Tahir Shah
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Unless - Carol Shields
The Ha-Ha - Dave King
On Agate Hill - Lee Smith
Wickett's Remedy - Myla Goldberg
Austerlitz - W.G. Sebold
A Desert in Bohemia - Jill Paton Walsh
Amy + Isabelle - Elizabeth Strout
Pompeii - Robert Harris
A Fine Balance - Rohintron Mistry
Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
Saints + Villains - Denise Giardina
Unravelling - Elizabeth Graver
The Christening - Denise Neuhaus
posted by Corvid at 6:34 PM on January 31, 2011
An Amazon reviewer calls His Majesty's Dragon "Patrick O'Brian with dragons", so I will take that as a sign that I should indeed recommend to you the Aubrey-Maturin series of books by Patrick O'Brian. It is a great series of books about British seafaring during the Napoleonic Wars, but really it is about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin and their friendship. My only complaint is that Norton (the publishers) have not yet put out ebook versions.
posted by that girl at 6:49 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by that girl at 6:49 PM on January 31, 2011
I am fairly confident you will enjoy the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy (now also known as The Foundling's Tale trilogy). Young Adult, very creative, tons of fascinating worldbuilding, unique characters. Some of the "surprises" and "lessons" of the stories are a bit obvious and cliched, but in the way of a fable or fairy tale. I would be shocked to find there is someone who enjoyed Octavian Nothing and did not like Monster Blood Tattoo.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2011
posted by Rock Steady at 7:55 PM on January 31, 2011
Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde (In some ways as ridiculous as Fforde's other works, but much deeper and stranger. The setting is far too bizarre to do justice to in a few sentences, but it's most salient feature is a society where your status is determined by which colors you can see and how well you can see them.)
Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn (A very short epistolary novel set in an island nation that is incrementally censoring the speaking and writing of words containing particular letters. You can guess which letters are the only ones left by the climax.)
A Void - Georges Perec (A "translation" of the French novel La Disparation which is written without the use of the letter E. In the greatest tradition of oulipian literature, the plot reflects the constraint. It also has the benefit of actually being readable and enjoyable, unlike some experimental works.)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon (Detective novel set in a fictional semi-autonomous Jewish state in Alaska, which was created after Israel failed as a nation, at a time when control is about to return to the US. If you like The City and the City this is a good one.)
posted by ErWenn at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2011
Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn (A very short epistolary novel set in an island nation that is incrementally censoring the speaking and writing of words containing particular letters. You can guess which letters are the only ones left by the climax.)
A Void - Georges Perec (A "translation" of the French novel La Disparation which is written without the use of the letter E. In the greatest tradition of oulipian literature, the plot reflects the constraint. It also has the benefit of actually being readable and enjoyable, unlike some experimental works.)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon (Detective novel set in a fictional semi-autonomous Jewish state in Alaska, which was created after Israel failed as a nation, at a time when control is about to return to the US. If you like The City and the City this is a good one.)
posted by ErWenn at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2011
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
(It's about elevator inspectors. Mystical elevator inspectors.)
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
(A guy gets a lot of money in a settlement because he has a head injury. Then he does some weird stuff with the money.)
Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen
(It's the far far low-tech future. The librarians run things. They have pistol duels.)
And of course, as usual, I recommend K.J. Parker, particularly the Engineer Trilogy.
posted by exceptinsects at 11:08 PM on January 31, 2011
(It's about elevator inspectors. Mystical elevator inspectors.)
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
(A guy gets a lot of money in a settlement because he has a head injury. Then he does some weird stuff with the money.)
Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen
(It's the far far low-tech future. The librarians run things. They have pistol duels.)
And of course, as usual, I recommend K.J. Parker, particularly the Engineer Trilogy.
posted by exceptinsects at 11:08 PM on January 31, 2011
I pulled The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis off the shelf at the library, intrigued by the cover image and further by the book flap text. I ended up really enjoying it, and I think you might, too.
Also, if you enjoy Stoppard, I recommend his Hapgood. It's got a lot of surprise and humor.
posted by kristi at 8:54 AM on February 1, 2011
Also, if you enjoy Stoppard, I recommend his Hapgood. It's got a lot of surprise and humor.
posted by kristi at 8:54 AM on February 1, 2011
Maybe it's too ridiculously obvious to mention; if you like Jeeves, definitely check out Wodehouse's other stories. Jeeves and Wooster are the pinnacle, but Mr. Mulliner, Psmith, and Blandings Castle are all good. And there's still more after that!
posted by cardioid at 9:23 AM on February 1, 2011
posted by cardioid at 9:23 AM on February 1, 2011
Knox - Vintner's luck
Butler - Lilith's brood
LeGuin - Left hand of darkness
Yoshimoto - Kitchen / NP / Lizard / Asleep / Goodbye Tsugumi
- Monkey brain sushi
Murakami Ryu - Coin locker babies
- Makioka sisters
-Snakes and earrings
Boyett - Ariel
Lee - Sabella / Silver metal lover
posted by thymelord at 11:14 AM on March 14, 2011
Butler - Lilith's brood
LeGuin - Left hand of darkness
Yoshimoto - Kitchen / NP / Lizard / Asleep / Goodbye Tsugumi
- Monkey brain sushi
Murakami Ryu - Coin locker babies
- Makioka sisters
-Snakes and earrings
Boyett - Ariel
Lee - Sabella / Silver metal lover
posted by thymelord at 11:14 AM on March 14, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, based on your enjoyment of YA fiction Haroun and Octavian Nothing: Feed by M.T. Anderson, and Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
posted by cubby at 12:43 PM on January 31, 2011 [1 favorite]