Last week I read David Foster Wallace's "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (thanks to this FPP), while in the middle of reading Moby Dick. I found them resonating together so well: the high tragedy mixed with low comedy, the elaborate descriptive asides, the playing with formatting, the casual authorial self-hatred, the obsession with morality, to say nothing of the mechanics of the ship and the sea. All this without a single over reference back to Melville. What are some other great co-reads (or movies/TV/opera/album/etc.) to get that enriching resonance? Subtle is good: think tone, theme, shape more than plot or character. If you've caught Laurence Weschler's McSweeney's series of Convergences (published in book form here), that's more what I mean. The reader/viewer makes the connections without being led by the author (So, for instance, King Lear & Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres are too overtly linked). Bonus points for something that goes well with Cloud Atlas (the book, not the movie).
posted by rikschell on Feb 18, 2013 - 17 answers

Spoiler filter - novels/scripts where the protagonist was in a coma/dead (etc) the whole time? [more inside]
posted by tzb on Jan 18, 2013 - 46 answers

Please recommend stories about mental battles. Specifically, people overcoming deep-seated fears or beliefs. [more inside]
posted by fix on May 3, 2012 - 7 answers

I'm looking for novels or movies that feature teenage protagonists suffering from depression, schizoid tendencies or similar psychological defects. [more inside]
posted by Senza Volto on Sep 9, 2011 - 48 answers

What novel would make a great low-budget film? Any genre. Bonus for strong female lead under the age of forty, but not necessary. [more inside]
posted by michaeldunaway on Jul 28, 2011 - 27 answers

Please recommend maritime novels and movies set in the late Victorian era.
posted by Hoenikker on Nov 7, 2010 - 19 answers

Please recommend me some novels and movies set in 1920s New York City. [more inside]
posted by Phlogiston on Feb 21, 2010 - 12 answers

What is this book?-Filter: I read a novel some 20 years ago, and cannot remember who wrote it or the title. Please read [more inside]
posted by computech_apolloniajames on Sep 15, 2009 - 5 answers

How often are the stories of a comic, novel, play, TV series, movie, or song conceived by the writer's friend, relative, acquaintance, neighbor, mailman, dog, etc? [more inside]
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing on May 28, 2009 - 14 answers

Can you recommend any really good novels (or movies) that portray something in the Old or New Testament in a new way, or which add to the Old/New Testament, such that they could be considered 'modern Biblical apocrypha'? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Oct 13, 2008 - 30 answers

What are some great novels and movies about breakups and divorce? [more inside]
posted by tabulem on Dec 23, 2006 - 61 answers

Fiction usually comes in two flavours: 1st person narrative or 3rd person description. What short stories or novels have been written in 2nd person perspective (i.e. from the reader's viewpoint)? Also, are there any movies shot entirely from this angle?
posted by 0bvious on Jan 17, 2006 - 63 answers

I'm trying to learn about the Edwardian era especially (but not exclusively) in England, Ireland, and Canada. What excellent materials (fiction and non-fiction books, movies, websites, etc.) have you read and seen about this period?
posted by orange swan on Mar 1, 2005 - 17 answers