Brilliant contemporary literature suggestions?

[Varian P]

I tend to avoid contemporary literature. Every time someone suggests something published after 1970 or so and I bite, I'm almost inevitably disappointed (can't stomach Rushdie, thought "Running with Scissors" was crap, as was "Blindness," though I enjoyed "Neuromancer' somewhat and I do love Pelevin).

Essentially, I crave a more surreal, absurdist, unconventional read than my usual fare (Dostoyevsky, Zola, Camus, Gogol). I want to expose my brain to some delightfully twisted post-modern or contemporary writing, and have no idea where to start.

Any assistance from my erudite and adventurous fellow Litizens will be accepted with gratitude!

 

[impressive]

Jeannette Winterson might be odd enough for you. Or not.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I tend to avoid contemporary literature. Every time someone suggests something published after 1970 or so and I bite, I'm almost inevitably disappointed (can't stomach Rushdie, thought "Running with Scissors" was crap, as was "Blindness," though I enjoyed "Neuromancer' somewhat and I do love Pelevin).

Essentially, I crave a more surreal, absurdist, unconventional read than my usual fare (Dostoyevsky, Zola, Camus, Gogol). I want to expose my brain to some delightfully twisted post-modern or contemporary writing, and have no idea where to start.

Any assistance from my erudite and adventurous fellow Litizens will be accepted with gratitude!

Delightfully twisted? Try Terry Pratchett.

 

[cloudy]

Sherman Alexie writes beautifully. Only author that can make me literally laugh out loud while I'm reading, and then just a few paragraphs later have me in tears.

 

[sr71plt]

Delightfully twisted? Try Terry Pratchett.

I was just going to note that I thought you'd enjoy Partchett's Bel Canto.

 

[shereads]

Essentially, I crave a more surreal, absurdist, unconventional read

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Simply the most fascinating, frustrating, painful, funny and provoking modern novel I've ever read. And re-read. And re-read. Surreal, yes. As malleable as dreams.

http://www.amazon.com/Unconsoled-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/0679735879/ref=ed_oe_p

cover notes:

"...at once a gripping psychological mystery, a wicked satire of the cult of art, and a poignant character study of a man whose public life has accelerated beyond control.

"The setting is a Central European city where a renowned pianist has come to give the most important performance of his life. Instead, he finds himself diverted on a series of cryptic and infuriating errands that nevertheless provide him with vital clues to his own past...Ishiguro creates a work that is itself a virtuoso performance, deeply strange, hauntingly familiar, and resonant with humanity and wit."

 

[Varian P]

Jeannette Winterson might be odd enough for you. Or not.

Right away I'm intrigued by "Weight." I didn't mention it above, but one thing I've been hoping to find is a reworking of myth or fairy tale. Her other writings look promising, too--thanks!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Right away I'm intrigued by "Weight." I didn't mention it above, but one thing I've been hoping to find is a reworking of myth or fairy tale. Her other writings look promising, too--thanks!

Then Pratchett's the man. His Discworld series started out as a parady on the Sword and Sorceror books that were so popular in the '70's and then evolved into . . . a mirror in which we can see ourselves, perhaps? Wry commentary on the human condition (and the dwarvish, the trollish, the Immortal, the elven, the witchy, etc. etc.)? Though most read only the humorous surface, thoughtful consideration has caused one reviewer to insist that the only man he can be compared to is Chaucer.

 

[Varian P]

Delightfully twisted? Try Terry Pratchett.

I was just going to note that I thought you'd enjoy Partchett's Bel Canto.

On the short list it goes. Thanks, gents!

 

[Varian P]

Sherman Alexie writes beautifully. Only author that can make me literally laugh out loud while I'm reading, and then just a few paragraphs later have me in tears.

Ah, and he lives right here in Seattle--I've meant to read him for years--thanks for the reminder!

 

[Varian P]

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Simply the most fascinating, frustrating, painful, funny and provoking modern novel I've ever read. And re-read. And re-read. Surreal, yes. As malleable as dreams.

Quite a recommendation, that--and from such a reputable source!

Of the very few contemporary novels I've enjoyed, several were by Japanese authors--much like Russian literature, there seems to be something about the culture that seeps into the literature, and wins me over nearly every time. So, even though Ishiguro left Japan as a child, I'm optimistic!

Thank you.

 

[cloudy]

Ah, and he lives right here in Seattle--I've meant to read him for years--thanks for the reminder!

Reservation Blues is my favorite, but I've loved everything of his that I've read.

 

[shereads]

Quite a recommendation, that--and from such a reputable source!

I don't think I've ever been called reputable before! Thanks.


If I'm not mistaken, Gauche has recommended Terry Pratchett too. I keep meaning to look for his work in my Amazon ramblings - I'll go do that now before I forget.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I don't think I've ever been called reputable before! Thanks.


If I'm not mistaken, Gauche has recommended Terry Pratchett too. I keep meaning to look for his work in my Amazon ramblings - I'll go do that now before I forget.

Start with Colour of Magic. It really is fascinating to watch the man's writing evolve over the years. And now, alas, he has developed early onset Alzheimer's . . .

 

[shereads]

Deleted spoilers!

 

[Varian P]

I don't think I've ever been called reputable before! Thanks.

I'm glad you're grateful, without my even saying what you're reputable for . . .

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I loved Ishiguro's Remains of the Day, was blown away by The Unconsoled - and then he lost me. I have A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World in my short stack of books I can't seem to get into and can't bring myself to give up on.

So it made sense to me when a friend suggested that the frustrated, impotent artist in The Unconsoled is Ishiguro himself, overwhelmed by his early success with Remains of the Day and terrified that he may never again live up to his celebrity.

It must be awful being famous.

It probably depends on one's personality. Pratchett from the first was the most unassuming of men and the most gracious when it came to encouraging the talents of others. I think he never really worried about whether he's do as well in book x as he did in book y because he was always looking forward to book z as he wrote.

 

[shereads]

I'm glad you're grateful, without my even saying what you're reputable for . . .

Even ill repute is repute.

 

[sr71plt]

Of the very few contemporary novels I've enjoyed, several were by Japanese authors--much like Russian literature, there seems to be something about the culture that seeps into the literature, and wins me over nearly every time. So, even though Ishiguro left Japan as a child, I'm optimistic!

Then, although not exactly contemporary, you'd probably enjoy Kawabata's Snow Country and Thousand Cranes.

 

[shereads]

While I'm pimping Kazuo Ishiguro, I might as well put a Lurex miniskirt on his The Remains of the Day and station it on a streetcorner opposite The Unconsoled. The two are wildly different, except for a certain formality of manner; I wouldn't describe Remains as surreal by any means. But it's a gorgeous piece of work.

 

[Varian P]

Even ill repute is repute.

Thank goodness!

 

[sr71plt]

I was just going to note that I thought you'd enjoy Partchett's Bel Canto.

I got my authors mixed up. Bel Canto is by Ann Patchett. Still recommend it.

Also read a good contemporary novel recently by an up and coming author--entitled Hurt.

 

[rgraham666]

I'd recommend The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson.

It's a brilliant book that contains wonderful world building, good characters, rich writing, a wonderful fairy tale, biting social commentary and a metaphor for the history of computing and the internet. All in one work!

 

[neonlyte]

Haruki Murakami - A Wild Sheep Chase - is the place to start, or Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

Norwegian Wood if you like nostalgia with your contemporary fiction.

"It finally hit me some dozen or so years later. I had gone to Sante Fe to interview a painter and was sitting in a local pizza parlour, drinking beer and eating pizza and watching a miraculous beautiful sunset. Everything was soaked in brilliant red - my hand, the plate, the table, the world - as if some kind of fruit juice had splashed down on everything. In the midst of this overwhelming sunset, the image of Hatsumi flashed into my mind, and in that moment I understood what that tremor of the heart had been. It was a kind of childhood longing that had always remained - and would for ever remain - unfulfilled. I had forgotten the existence of such innocent, almost burnt-in longing: forgotten for years that such feelings ever existed inside me. What Hatsumi had stirred in me was a part of my very self that had long lain dormant. And when the realisation struck me, it aroused such sorrow I almost burst into tears. She had been an absolutely special woman. Someone should have done something - anything - to save her.

But neither Nagasawa nor I could have managed that. As so many of those I knew had done, Hatsumi reached a certain stage in life and decided - almost on the spur of the moment - to end it. Two years after Nagasawa left for Germany, she married, two years after that she slashed her wrists with a razor blade."

Incredible economy of style and punctuation. Breaks rules - lays down the raw facts.

 

[SunrockSin]

I second the recommendations

Of Kawabata and Murakami, another great Murakami book is Kafka on the Shore. Chuck Palahniuk has some pretty off center stuff, Choke is particularly funny and sardonic. Of course Vonnegut is another author good source for novels and short stories.


SRS