tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post2586211878982882934..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: Trying to think of some unusual, "original" works of the imaginationLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-77289438390876573352010-09-11T19:17:10.468-05:002010-09-11T19:17:10.468-05:00I don't know if these qualify as obscure, they...I don't know if these qualify as obscure, they're all very well known in Poland and the first two authors are quite well known in the West as well, but:<br /><br />Bruno Schulz: <i>Street of the Crocodiles</i> and <i> Sanatorium under the Houglass</i><br /><br />Witold Gombrowicz <i>Ferdydurke</i> (make absolutely sure you do <i>not</i> get the first translation)<br /><br />and, jumping from the interwar into the nineties:<br />Olga Tokarczuk <i>Primeval and Other Times</i> and <i>House of Day, House of Night</i><br /><br />Also, if you haven't read Gunther Grass' Tin Drum you might want to try it.<br /><br />Going into postwar French lit there's Michel Tournier's <i>The Ogre</i> which, like <i>Tin Drum</i> takes place in what was Eastern Germany <br />during WWII.<br /><br />NYCfanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-9862341655984729072010-09-11T10:46:56.847-05:002010-09-11T10:46:56.847-05:00Also Windward Passage by Jim Nisbet and Dark Harve...Also Windward Passage by Jim Nisbet and Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge.Brian Lindenmuthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02519203797661128049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-51520896470136864702010-09-11T10:19:22.408-05:002010-09-11T10:19:22.408-05:00Currently I'm reading the short story collecti...Currently I'm reading the short story collection 'The Encyclopedeia of the Dead' by Danilo Kis, which, given your affection for Borges, you may want to check out.<br /><br />And if you want a recommendation for a 19th century fantasy epic which is somewhat different, Penguin is finally publishing an abridged version of the Urdu fantasy epic Tilism-e-Hoshruba next month:<br /><br />http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143102724,00.html<br /><br />I wouldn't suggest holding out for the unabridged version, as only 1 of the 24 volumes have been translated into english so far:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Hoshruba-Tilism-Muhammad-Husain-Jah/dp/0978069552<br /><br />This epic draws a great deal on the medieval epic, the Hamza-nama, which has also been recently translated:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Hamza-Modern-Library-Classics/dp/0812977432/ref=pd_sim_b_1SuperwebGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17953279344816380313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-38763051876598348962010-09-11T02:19:52.980-05:002010-09-11T02:19:52.980-05:00I've just finished reading Zoran Živkovic'...I've just finished reading Zoran Živkovic's <em>Escher's Loops</em>. I don't know if that would count?<br /><br />The structure of the novel is certainly unusual. The stories that make up the whole are (mostly) fairly straight-forward. The interlinking of the stories, done to suggest an Escher picture, natch, is very well done.<br /><br />You're right, though...some excellent suggestions, <em> The Master and Margarita</em> is one of my favourite novels and this thread has reminded me that I need to read <em>Melmoth the Wanderer</em>.<br /><br />Cheers RichardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-7950537257521137122010-09-10T20:26:00.459-05:002010-09-10T20:26:00.459-05:00That reminds me, I really do need to get more of t...That reminds me, I really do need to get more of the Dedalus editions.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-73697070712579677142010-09-10T20:14:06.367-05:002010-09-10T20:14:06.367-05:00Yes, I believe it. Of course, then I realized I ha...Yes, I believe it. Of course, then I realized I hadn't gone through all of my Dedalus editions. jvAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-90278573250621302502010-09-10T19:53:56.151-05:002010-09-10T19:53:56.151-05:00I know you've already read it, but I'm fin...I know you've already read it, but I'm finishing up Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet, and 'original' is the best word I can think of when describing him (that or, absurd.) <br /><br />Tom Robbin's more mature works weird as hell and original as well. For both of those authors I'd say no one else could have written their stories.Chad Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774092046594256969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-71112486454130595002010-09-10T19:50:39.090-05:002010-09-10T19:50:39.090-05:00William Browning Spenser has some great ones - Res...William Browning Spenser has some great ones - <i>Resume With Monsters</i> is a lot of fun. <i>The Stone Junction</i> by Jim Dodge was a lot of fun as well.<br /><br />On the graphic novel/manga front, <i>Uzumaki</i> by Junji Itoh is fantastic.quindenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333329039902020461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-91817207069508255192010-09-10T19:36:59.764-05:002010-09-10T19:36:59.764-05:00I nap for a few hours and I come back to even more...I nap for a few hours and I come back to even more excellent recs! Yay!<br /><br />Jeff, is it Herbert Rosendorfer for <i>Architect of Ruins</i>? Description sounds exactly like the sort of book I'd love.<br /><br />And yes, I'd love to hear Anne's suggestions, as her Eye Candy posts have been excellent over the past couple of years.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-34056675822154494252010-09-10T19:31:29.052-05:002010-09-10T19:31:29.052-05:00Box Nine by Jack O'Connell is great as is the ...Box Nine by Jack O'Connell is great as is the Resurrectionist. For odd and original , I've just ransacked my bookshelves and come up with:<br /><br />--Eric Basso's Revagations<br />--Thomas Wharton's The Logogryph<br />--Frederick Prokosch's The Seven Who Fled<br />--George Buchner's Lenz<br />--The Architect of Ruins (can't remember the author)<br />--Henry Wessels, Another Green World<br />--Marghanita Laski's The Victorian Chaise-Longue<br />--Kurahashi Yumiko's The Woman With the Flying Head<br />--Gerald Kersh's Nightshade and Damnations<br />--Great Science Fiction About Doctors, edited by Groff Conklin & Noah D. Fabricant (not making this up)<br />--Hiromo Goto's Hopeful Monsters<br />--Ligotti and Trenz's Crampton<br /><br />JeffV<br /><br />PS I'm gonna show this thread to Anne Sydenham...she'll have dozens.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-9237840341359490082010-09-10T17:18:22.956-05:002010-09-10T17:18:22.956-05:00I'll add to the dogpile FWIW and as a reminder...I'll add to the dogpile FWIW and as a reminder for all the folks who get dinged saying that there is a new response to this thread that I'm probably Larry's only reader who primarily reads crime fiction. <br /><br />Printer's Devil by Stona Fitch - Fitch has written 4 novels (I believe) and this is his third one. A kind of post-apocalyptic SF story about warring guilds. Think Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp<br /><br />The works of Bradley Denton - What's he written now? Three novels? There all unique and relevant.<br /><br />The works of Jack O'Connell - 5 novels I believe. I once wrote that if the New Weird produced a crime fiction writer then Jack O'Connell would be him.<br /><br />How about some of the nebulously grouped "dark fantasies".<br /><br />Tom Piccirilli's horror work springs to mind like A CChoir of Ill Children.<br /><br />Also The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton<br /><br />Also Patrick O'Leary. He wrote three novels and they are all brilliant. Door Number Three, The Gift and The Impossible Bird. <br /><br />I just got in from a long day in court so this is all off the top of my head. I'll try to add to it after I've had a chance to take a look at my shelves. <br /><br />But I recommend all of the above as highly original works of imagination.Brian Lindenmuthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02519203797661128049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-72456914182201251852010-09-10T13:18:05.350-05:002010-09-10T13:18:05.350-05:00A lot of Dahl.A lot of Dahl.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-59485542366517741432010-09-10T13:01:35.349-05:002010-09-10T13:01:35.349-05:00PS It's also among the list of The SF Site'...PS It's also among the list of The SF Site's "<a href="http://www.sfsite.com/lists/10odd04.htm" rel="nofollow">Ten Overlooked Odd Speculative Fiction Classics</a>." Again, something I discovered after reading it.Daniel Ausemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-13315222718663906322010-09-10T12:58:53.181-05:002010-09-10T12:58:53.181-05:00Grahame Wright wrote Jog Rummage. There's a br...Grahame Wright wrote Jog Rummage. There's a <a href="http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2005/cur0507.htm" rel="nofollow">brief review</a> from Paul Di Filippo that appeared in F&SF, thought that's not how I found it. It was actually one of the covers I saw amidst the many books Jeff VanderMeer posted a month or two back...I forget the context now. A trip to a used bookstore? The cover is very 70s, which is what caught my attention.Daniel Ausemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-4765322574279691802010-09-10T12:51:38.577-05:002010-09-10T12:51:38.577-05:00I bet you have Italo Calvino on your shelves alrea...I bet you have Italo Calvino on your shelves already. :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-61507792716881067622010-09-10T12:48:48.541-05:002010-09-10T12:48:48.541-05:00Checked my complete works of Theodoer Storm. Der D...Checked my complete works of Theodoer Storm. Der Doppelgänger actually doesn't fit because the mystery is explained in the end.<br /><br />But here's another one, more along the lines of modern surrealism: Halldor Laxness, At the Glacier.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-51943164904546072722010-09-10T12:16:52.004-05:002010-09-10T12:16:52.004-05:00Ops, that should be ETA HoffmannOps, that should be ETA HoffmannGabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-80125597833635370392010-09-10T12:16:03.220-05:002010-09-10T12:16:03.220-05:00Well, there's always Kafka. :)
Just throwing ...Well, there's always Kafka. :)<br /><br />Just throwing out a few titles that immediately came into my mind. I'm not sure which of those are avaliable in English, so I give the original titles.<br /><br />Balzac: Le Peau de Chagrin<br /><br />Theodoer Storm: Der Schimmelreiter (The White Rider, I've seen that one in English), Der Doppelgänger, Ein Fest auf Haderslevhus<br /><br />TEA Hoffmann: Das Fräulein von Scuderi (and pretty much everything else he wrote)<br /><br />Wilhelm Hauff: Das Kalte Herz<br /><br />Selma Lagerlöf: The Coachman (Körkarlen), Lord Arne's Treasure (Herr Arnes Penningar) - her Gösta Berling has a dreamlike quality that veers towards magic realism as well<br /><br />Victor Rydberg: Singoalla<br /><br />Ibsen: Per Gynt (ok, that one's a play but it should fit)<br /><br />And if you want to do some book hunting and improving your German, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Deutsche-Erz%C3%A4hler-Jahrhunderts-Heinrich-Adalbert/dp/3717519425/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284137833&sr=1-4" rel="nofollow">this collection</a> of 19th century German stories includes a good number of stories that could be classified as Magic Realism, Fantasy, or Paranormal. <br /><br />Ovid's Metamorphosis and Apuleius' Golden Ass might fit the list as well.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-33747452184301061312010-09-10T11:59:38.680-05:002010-09-10T11:59:38.680-05:00Interesting. Who was the author?Interesting. Who was the author?Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-13079002392962256192010-09-10T11:55:50.731-05:002010-09-10T11:55:50.731-05:00I came across an odd little 70s-era book recently,...I came across an odd little 70s-era book recently, Jog Rummage. It's not quite surreal in the same sense as some of these others, but certainly an "original work of the imagination," in sort of a Mervyn Peake-does-Wind in the Willows kind of way.Daniel Ausemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-79875428310848087342010-09-10T11:49:30.267-05:002010-09-10T11:49:30.267-05:00I agree, and I'd add his "The Overcoat&qu...I agree, and I'd add his "The Overcoat" as well. I reviewed both stories back in May or June, but am too lazy to search now :PLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-15266830332343132292010-09-10T11:44:50.212-05:002010-09-10T11:44:50.212-05:00On the Bulghakov note, some other russian writers,...On the Bulghakov note, some other russian writers, most notably Gogol, and more notably too, his short fiction. "The Nose" being a particularly good start.Keithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-39237287909454449582010-09-10T11:14:01.139-05:002010-09-10T11:14:01.139-05:00Like I said, very curious about the Tutuola.
Anon...Like I said, very curious about the Tutuola.<br /><br />Anon,<br /><br />Bulgakov's book would fit nicely. Meant to review it a couple of months ago when I read it, but I just never allotted the time for it. Maybe later.Larry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-46316565938493007992010-09-10T11:10:15.683-05:002010-09-10T11:10:15.683-05:00What about The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulga...What about The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-39288681852887525262010-09-10T11:03:01.352-05:002010-09-10T11:03:01.352-05:00Larry: Yes, that's the same Wallace. Ray in ...Larry: Yes, that's the same Wallace. Ray in Reverse is pretty interesting in terms of its structure.<br /><br />And the Tutuola is, in my opinion, amazing, though I can't quite describe why. I just remember reading it for a class and being unable to put it down, which is high praise, I suppose.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.com