- Once upon a time, there was… Something you’re absolutely not prepared for.
Reading is a great way to pass the time. But even if you had a literary genre that you love above all others, sometimes you get bored reading the same old stuff.
Perhaps you need a refresher. You should read something different.
Something utterly, completely, absolutely different.
The history of literature is filled with more strange and experimental novels than we could list here. So, consider this a starting sampler into the weird world of bizarre stories.
1. The Bear Comes Home (Rafi Zabor)
The Bear Comes Home by Rafi Zabor tells the story of an aspiring jazz saxophonist trying to break into the music business. His quest comes with everything you’d expect, including drugs, sex, love, and heartbreak, with one twist.
The main character is an actual walking, talking, alto sax-playing, Shakespeare-referencing bear.
Not only is the premise of this novel strange, but so is its publication history. Its first chapters were originally printed in a music magazine in the ‘70s, and Zabor decided to finally finish the story — in 1997.
2. Galápagos (Kurt Vonnegut)
What would happen if a global catastrophe wiped out all of humanity, except for a small group of castaways marooned on the Galapagos Islands? Well, according to Kurt Vonnegut, they would eventually evolve into something resembling sea lions.
Galápagos is a strange look at what could await humanity in the wake of an apocalyptic crisis. Oh, and the narrator is the ghost of a Vietnam War veteran who also sprinkles in flashbacks from his life and his attempts to pass into the afterlife.
Look, you’ll just have to read it.
3. Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age (Bohumil Hrabal)
On its surface, Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal is nothing unusual. The novel consists of an elderly man recalling the life he has lived, paying particular attention to his attempts at romance.
The weirdness starts once you actually get to reading. The entire story is told through a single, extremely long sentence.
Oddly, the breathless writing style fits the story of an old man rambling on about his life. We can’t imagine what a nightmare this novel must’ve been to translate from the Czech original.
4. Gadsby (Ernest Vincent Wright)
Alright, maybe the previous novel was a bit much, but you’d still like to read something that challenges conventional writing norms. Well, give Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright a try.
This book tells you how the protagonist John Gadsby reinvigorates his hometown of Branton Hills — without ever using the letter E.
According to the author, he didn’t write to novel to achieve any literary merit, but simply because people told him writing a book without E was impossible. Still, Gadsby is a fun read, if only to see how creative you have to get to avoid one of the most common letters in English.
5. House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is a very difficult read. It’s a genre-bending fictional academic paper examining a supposed documentary about a family that moves into a sinister, reality-bending house.
This novel is something of a story within a story, told through the perspective of an imaginary researchers. It is really hard to follow, with the pages riddled with footnotes that have footnotes of their own.
There’s a reason why this book has a cult following, though. If you’re up to the challenge, we can recommend this one.
6. Heart of a Dog (Mikhail Bulgakov)
Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov is famous for writing strange stories that provided a more or less veiled criticism of the Soviet Union. His 1925 novel Heart of a Dog is no different.
The book tells the tale of Sharik, a stray dog taken in by a surgeon. Unbeknownst to Sharik, however, the surgeon has a bizarre plan for him — he plans to turn Sharik into a man by implanting human organs in his body.
His scheme works, somehow. The novel is an interesting satire of both early Soviet politics and the theories about eugenics at the time.
7. The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
You have probably heard of Franz Kafka’s most famous story. But have you actually read The Metamorphosis?
You should, although the story is very depressing and even uncomfortable to read. That said, there’s a reason why the tale of Gregor Samsa inexplicable transforming into a humongous insect and getting shunned by his family is considered a classic.
It’s not a very long novel, so it’s easy to read. You might feel sad and itchy afterward, though.
8. Finnegans Wake (James Joyce)
What is Finnegans Wake about? Your guess is as good as ours, or anyone else’s for that matter — literary scholars have debated about what the plot, characters, and meaning of this novel are for decades.
Considered Irish author James Joyce’s masterpiece, Finnegans Wake is written without any respect for the conventions of writing. It has no immediately apparent plot or characters, the stream-of-consciousness writing hops from one subject to another, and Joyce makes up his own words as he goes along.
Give reading this book a try. You’ll either love it or hate it.