Can I get a book recommendation? Literary Fiction edition

[Chan790]

I've managed to completely clear my backlist of literary fiction so I need a new book to read. Doesn't have to be new, can be old or even classic. Obscure authors are favorites, as are dense books. I like Roberto Bolano, Thomas Pynchon and Haruki Murakami.

I don't read non-fic (for the same reason I refuse to watch cable news or read LBN...I'm an escapist. I read the NYT for my daily news. Everything I need to know, 120 minutes or less.) or very much trade fiction (ie. sci-fi, romance or fantasy) because it doesn't appeal to me.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

1. Read Life of Pi?

Just finished that, loved parts.

[Chan790]

2. Yes, it was amazing.

I figured out what he was getting at half-way through, foreshadowing the ending (that given a choice between two things that cannot be known: one mundane and one incredible, that it's munch more enriching in life to choose to believe in the incredible) but I loved it anyways. It took me a couple pages to figure out that Richard was a tiger and not a person though.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

3. The life on the island (meerkats, foliage, the omnivorous water, etc) was the highlight for me.

When the meerkats were draped all over him in the tree at night....

[Laura PourMeADrink]

31. I quit 1/2 through out of boredom... to each his own, sorry. nt

[A-Schwarzenegger]

34. That's just when it got good for me--on the boat with the tiger

and on the island with the meerkats. I agree it was slow-going
getting there.

[tblue]

4. Michael Chabon has lots of good ones.

Also The Elegance if the Hedgehog. I forget the writer's name. Have you read any of these?

[Chan790]

5. I've read some Chabon.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a favorite of mine, a great mix of traditional noir and exploration of cultural identity. The ending though is great...a subtly backhand slap at end-timers and cowboy yanks.

[Ohio Joe]

6. Gene Wolfe

Anything he has written will fit your bill but you might start with The Book of the New Sun.

[Chan790]

11. I'll look into them. n/t

[Duer 157099]

7. I can highly recommend George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire

If you haven't already read it/them. There are 5 books in the series so far and I'm trying to stretch it out as long as I possibly can, that's how good it is.

A Game of Thrones is the first book.

[Chan790]

10. Read them all.

Not really my genre but I liked them enough.

[pokerfan]

8. The Forever War (1974)

Considered to be a critical response to Heinlein's Starship Troopers, a book with a similar setting, often considered pro-military.

The novel is widely perceived to be a portrayal of the author's military service during the Vietnam War, and has been called an account of his war experiences written through a 'space opera' filter.<5> Other hints of the autobiographical nature of the work are the protagonist's surname, 'Mandella', which is a near-anagram of the author's surname, as well as the name of the lead female character, Marygay Potter, which is nearly identical to Haldeman's wife's maiden name. Importantly, if one accepts this reading of the book, the alienation experienced by the soldiers on returning to Earth – here caused by the time dilation effect – becomes a clear metaphor for the reception given to US troops returning to America from Vietnam, including the way in which the war ultimately proves useless and its result meaningless. He also subverts typical space opera clichés (such as the heroic soldier influencing battles through individual acts) and "demonstrates how absurd many of the old clichés look to someone who had seen real combat duty."

[6000eliot]

9. Don Delillo?

[Chan790]

14. I've already got some DiLillo.

I'm a voracious reader so I like to keep a backstock of books to read, that's already on the list.

[6000eliot]

20. I recommend Underworld.

Very dense. Has a spectacular first chapter.

[CBGLuthier]

12. I am halfway through True Grit by Charles Portis

It's a good read even knowing the story very well from both movie versions. There are a lot of political comments scattered throughout the book that they usually leave out of the movies.

Also am partway into Richard Stark's (Donald Westlake) The Hunter, the first of his Parker novels. Gritty unsentimental crime thrillers.

[seabeyond]

13. i have enjoyed lee childs, sanford, koontz. nt

[Lyric]

15. "If on a Winter's Night, a Traveler" by Italo Calvino

Fantastic contemporary fiction.

Also, if you haven't read "Written on the Body" by Jeanette Winterson, I highly recommend it.

[GermanDem]

16. "A Reliable Wife"

Great book, one of the best I have read in a long time! Has some interesting and very unexpected twists and turns, and great atmosphere. I read it over the summer in just a few days, couldn't put it down!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

32. hmmm. I started it and stopped. you make me want to pick it up again. nt

[MrCoffee]

17. My standard rec: Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack

My all-time favorite book. It's a near-future dystopian novel told in diary form from the POV of a 12-year old girl. Absolutely gut wrenching stuff. Perfectly written.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2008/07/randomacts

[Enrique]

18. how about "JR" by William Gaddis

i'm not really recommending it because I just glanced at the first page and said to myself, "never mind."

But... I had read really good things about it, which is why I checked it out of the library.

[Chan790]

19. TY all!

I have a reading list to cover me from now until 1q84 by Haruki Murakami comes out on Oct.25!

Keep 'em coming. I always need reading recommendations.

[Rob H.]

21. "A Fine Dark Line" by Joe R. Lansdale

He also writes an excellent mystery series, but you did say "literary fiction," so....

[hifiguy]

22. Any of Robertson Davies' trilogies

The Deptford Trilogy
The Salterton Trilogy
The Cornish Trilogy

All are available in one-volume editions. The man writes like a dream and his books are chockablock with fascinating characters and unusual turns. He was a treasure.

[graywarrior]

23. Child 44. One of the best books I've ever read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/books/08maslin.html

[MountainLaurel]

26. There's a sequel

That is also really good

[graywarrior]

27. I didn't know that.

THANKS! I will definitely ;pick that up.

[MerryBlooms]

24. I recently started re-reading the Wicked series. n/t

[pokerfan]

25. Replay by Ken Grimwood

Fantastic story. Believed to have been the inspiration (loosely) for Groundhog Day.

It won the 1988 World Fantasy Award and was on the short list for the Arthur C. Clarke award. The novel tells of a 43-year-old man who dies and awakens back in 1963 in his 18-year-old body. He then begins to relive his life with intact memories of the previous 25 years. This happens repeatedly with different events in each cycle.

In 'Replay,' A Life Full Of Second Chances:
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2008/07/20080710_atc_08.mp3

[applegrove]

28. "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry. It will knock your socks off.

[LWolf]

29. Okay.

Have you read Markus Zusak? I've read "The Book Thief," and "I Am The Messenger," and enjoyed them both.

Fantasy Genre: Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss; his first, and it's going to stand the test of time.

Kingsolver: anything.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories: Rushdie

100 Years of Solitude: Marquez

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: McCullers

On The Road: Kerouac

Vonnegut and Twain: Anything

Pinocchio: The original

A few of so many...

[Chan790]

33. Alright.

Zusak: Never heard of him.
Rothfuss: I'll look into it.
Kingsolver: Wrote The Poisonwood Bible? I never really got into it but I'm willing to give it another go.
I like Rushdie.
Marquez: Only in English. I can probably now read it in Spanish and should.
McCullers: Not since HS.
Kerouac: Read it and everything else he wrote. Made a pilgrimage to his grave in college.
Twain: Actually grew up a few miles from the Twain House in Hartford, CT. Read a lot of Twain.
Vonnegut: Read a lot of it. It's very uneven in quality. Slapstick for example was awful. Cat's Cradle should be a classic, but it seems that not all that many people loved it.
Never read the original Pinnochio.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

30. read John Grisham's newest about the death penalty..."the confession"

It will make you want to immediately become a dp abolitionist.

excellent read, very fast paced, and provoking, for sure