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
I just finished
Gone Girl the other day and am looking for similar reads. Without spoiling anything this book features intelligent and unpredictable characters with twisty plotting, including a significant script flip halfway through. Would love similar page turners that keep you guessing without being too formulaic or lowest common denominator!
posted by yellowbinder
on Sep 24, 2012 -
26 answers
Please recommend books that are similar to 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' (not just ones about autism).
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posted by fix
on Aug 29, 2012 -
22 answers
Please help me to find graphic novel/illustrated novel/comic strip novel/picture novella/comic book (whatever they're called) suggestions for my seven year old daughter? Preferences inside.
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posted by peagood
on Oct 11, 2011 -
31 answers
Midwestern Urban Fiction: What are the great novels that exemplify or characterize (as opposed to "are set in") any of the industrialized cities of the U.S. Midwest (St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, the Twin Cities, etc.)?
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posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj
on Nov 3, 2010 -
25 answers
I previously asked a question
here asking for book recommendations for a Murakami fan, and got an incredibly rich response. Thanks, hive mind! There's just one problem: I ran that list into the ground, and I need some fresh reading. Fortunately, I can now provide much more guidance towards recommendations!
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posted by DoubleMark
on Jul 25, 2010 -
29 answers
Looking for a new book or series to read, and I'd like a specific theme: that of a protagonist(ish) mastermind. More info included, as well as some minor spoilers for those who have never seen Lost, and would like to. (Just a friendly warning!)
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posted by thatbrunette
on Apr 16, 2010 -
25 answers
Pulp Filter: I'm looking for books (fiction or non) that read like the recent Bond films: dark, thrilling, brutal, and glamorous.
posted by roger ackroyd
on Nov 6, 2009 -
25 answers
BookFilter: I'm looking for a novel that I read several times in the early '90s; despite having read and enjoyed it several times, I've forgotten the title and author!
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posted by Skoloxia
on Oct 21, 2009 -
9 answers
[LibraryFilter] What are your
best resources for (fiction) reader's advisory (children, YA, adult)??
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posted by tamarack
on Jul 24, 2009 -
7 answers
Recently finished 2666. It is on a pedestal by itself, with my award for "Best Novel Ever." Now, everything I try to read seems jaded, inferior, or doesn't measure up. Help me get beyond this and find something interesting to read
posted by Xurando
on Jun 2, 2009 -
37 answers
Who are the new exciting, young novelists of the 21st century? I suddenly find myself with a lot more time on my hands for reading.
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posted by netbros
on Mar 2, 2009 -
24 answers
Since I began a reading life
(at about age eight), I have had a problem: my mind automatically places action in just a few places familiar to me from my life: my house, the main street of my hometown. Whether the action in a novel takes place in 16th century Scotland, or the Black Forest, or under the Unisphere. Are there ways to get around this, or to learn to read fiction more actively, and, fantastically/creatively?
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posted by Tufa
on Jan 29, 2009 -
30 answers
NovelFilter: Hive mind, I have come to the shocking realization that my to-read queue is empty. I really enjoy the surreal side of Murakami (Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, etc.), and I've recently been remembering the absolutely wonderful creations in Perdido Street Station. Help me find new novels that will send my mind to weird and fantastic places!
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posted by DoubleMark
on Aug 2, 2008 -
46 answers
Two of my favorite books for summer are "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin and "Smilla's Sense of Snow" by Peter Hoeg; I'd like suggestions for other (preferably hefty) novels with complex/absorbing story lines and wintry settings or themes to help me stay sane 'til September. Got an ice book to recommend?
posted by taz
on Jun 10, 2008 -
46 answers
I'm looking for popular books, novels, magazines, comic books...in European French (not Canadian French). I'd also like to be able to easily order/purchase them from home (preferably from places like Amazon.com).
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posted by iamkimiam
on Dec 4, 2007 -
8 answers
Classic Novel filter : What would be considered classics in 1980s, 1990s, 2000s? Must reads?
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posted by boyinmiami
on Sep 14, 2007 -
37 answers
Recommendations for historical fiction about Paris? I'll be there for a couple of weeks, and have found that historical novels can really help me sink my teeth into a place. I have no particular era in mind, so the period is less important than the setting and the writing.
posted by walla
on Dec 15, 2006 -
21 answers
Please help me select a book as a present for my nephew. He's 19, and when I gave him a Chapters gift card for his high school graduation last spring, he used it to buy a complete set of Tom Clancy novels. Political espionage/intrigue/adventure has to be the genre I know the least about. If my nephew likes Tom Clancy's and Frederick Forsythe's works, what other books in the same genre would he enjoy?
posted by orange swan
on Sep 17, 2006 -
25 answers
What's your favourite work of trashy fiction? I'm looking for some good, fun, trashy yet smart reads in which I can unabashedly wallow.
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posted by orange swan
on Jul 19, 2005 -
47 answers
To all Philip K. Dick fans: Dick seems to have published a formidable amount of work, and rather than trying to read all of his novels/short stories, I'm wondering if any MeFites are familiar with his books and could recommend his best 5 or so.
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posted by Malachi Constant
on Apr 28, 2005 -
38 answers
Solve This! I love mystery novels and have a hard time finding some that I like. What do you recommend?
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posted by orange swan
on Mar 8, 2005 -
35 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
The lights along the dim hallway flickered as she walked toward the door at the end. The floor of the old house creaked underneath her webbed feet, but otherwise all was still. Until she heard the sound of footsteps behind her, and she turned and saw.... I love ghost stories. Can any of you recommend some good ones? To give you some idea of what I would like, I loved Edith Wharton's creepy tales and Shirley Jackson's
The Haunting of Hill House, but I'll pass on any more Stephen King or Peter Straub. I want good writing, subtlety, suspense, and enough thrills and chills to scare the feathers right off me.
posted by orange swan
on Oct 30, 2004 -
16 answers
I've just finished both David Gilmour's
Sparrow Nights and Scott Spencer's
Endless Love, each for the second time. They're even better than I remember them. What's your favorite book about unrequited love? I'd like to keep up the streak.
posted by dobbs
on Apr 27, 2004 -
17 answers
