Most unusual book you have ever read

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bluemel4
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Re: Most unusual book you have ever read

Post by bluemel4 »

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Oh. HA HA HA.

That reminds me of the Nothing in the Neverending Story. Weird.
The Nothing in the Never Ending Story was more of a destructive force. This is more like a science project gone wrong.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

You know, I may have to look into this book.
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bluemel4
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Post by bluemel4 »

zeldas_lullaby wrote:You know, I may have to look into this book.
Just because it is "unusual" doesn't mean it is bad. I actually really enjoyed it. But man is it weird.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

I agree. I like unusual. Some of the weirdest books I've read took me somewhere incredible, and some had me sobbing when I least expected it.
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Post by Zachary11 »

The most unusual book I've ever read is probably also my favorite book--Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I'm actually surprised it hasn't come up yet in this discussion considering House of Leaves has and House of Leaves has a number of spookily coincidental overlaps.

For example:
The use of footnotes (obviously)
A plot that revolves around an enigmatic film
and, most spooky of all, House of Leaves has a main character, the protagonist's wife I believe, who shares a name with David Foster Wallace's widow--Karen Green (I do not believe the real Karen Green and Mr. Wallace were together at the time of HOLs publication)

Anyway, Infinite Jest is the most unusual book I've read because it really pushed postmodernism a step further (earning the newly coined phrase 'post-postmodernism (a movement which House of Leaves would be part of)) with its arc plot and its use of invented words and language as well as its control of a type of story telling one could only describe as 'Maximalist'. The only other book I can think of that was that unusual for its time is Moby Dick which was Modernist before Modernism was cool.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

I really liked The Awakening by Kate Chopin when I read it for college. I think it was considered riotous in its time because of its ending. It's not something that would scandalize today--think, Thirteen Reasons Why--but at the time, it had people up in arms, I think.
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Post by Dave »

One of the most unusual books I've ever read was WWIII by John Stanley. It was written in the 70s & I read it when I was in high school. I've reread it several times over the years & it never fails to amuse. The book centers on a squad of American soldiers lost behind enemy lines during a ground war in China set in the 1990s. This squad is lead by "Sarge", a salty old non-com who claims to have served in every one of America's wars, from the Revolution on. Other squad members are Pvt. Youngman, who wants to write the Great American War Novel. He writes throughout the book & Sarge critiques his work like a book editor. Charlie Brown is a young private who constantly watches old classic tv shows on a small device. Throw in a band of killer chimpanzees trained by the allies to raise havoc behind enemy lines, a squad of Chinese soldiers tracking the chimps, who led by an ancient general who was a survivor of Chairman Mao's Long March. Add a group of USO performers led a by a Greek dance troup, who are actually searching for a legendary Chinese treasure, & you have one helluva book. It is a riot.
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Post by TrisNook »

The most unusual book I've read was Prep by Curtis Settinfeld which was about a girl that fought and fought to go to a private school far away and then hated it and hated herself there and was miserable the whole time. It was really good but the character was self destructive and it made the whole book weird.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

TrisNook wrote:The most unusual book I've read was Prep by Curtis Settinfeld which was about a girl that fought and fought to go to a private school far away and then hated it and hated herself there and was miserable the whole time. It was really good but the character was self destructive and it made the whole book weird.
I read that book too! Well, most of it. I completely agree. The MC's painful shyness that never went away just ate away at me, the reader. I mean, it seemed realistic, but maybe too much so.
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Post by Freethinker »

Like others have said, Perfume by Patrick Suskind was unusual. I wasn't sure if I can say I enjoyed it; more fascinated & intrigued. I LOVED the ending 8) Another book worth a mentioned The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but I don't think I could have guessed what would happen in a million years! :shock:
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Post by sus »

Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee was unusual. Blood kin by Ceridwen Dovey which I just finished is also a little unusual. I've read Perfume by Suskind as well and I found that unusual but its been quite a while since I read that one.
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Post by Jojowrites4All »

Forty Acres by Dwayne Alexander Smith. A twist on slavery and bigotry.
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Post by Reme726 »

Recently read a young adult novel entitled What Jaime Saw , the ending was the part that really had me left with a confused face . The book starts with a step father flinging an infant across the room ... Pretty strange book
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Post by kathylapan »

Melaniep wrote:The Color of her Panties by Piers Anthony. And no, it's not THAT kind of book! I actually enjoyed it for all it's quirkiness!
That is a fabulous book, all of the Xanth series are, and they're all quirky.

I just finished The Years of Rice and Salt a few minutes ago, and that is my pick. The same characters live through many incarnations and hundreds of years. It is also a history that differs from reality, which makes for a really fascinating look at what could have been.
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Post by VinuW »

Overbite by Meg Cabot. I love her books and I love vampires, so I thought I'd give it a try. I found the quite unusual, and the ending just confused me.
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