10 books with unique concepts (that will blow your mind)

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  • Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
  • Whether it’s video games, movies or books - I personally love when the media I’m consuming thinks outside of the box, tries to break the so-called 4th wall or has a unique spin to it. In this video I want to show you 10 of these books with unique concepts and twists that will blow your mind.
    00:00 Intro
    00:15 Mark Z Danielewski - House of Leaves
    amzn.to/3qoofL5
    01:35 Ernest Vincent Wright - Gadsby
    amzn.to/3d4MrPp
    03:05 Vladimir Nabokov - Pale Fire
    amzn.to/3L3XrZT
    04:22 Geoff Ryman - 253
    amzn.to/3DdxlBG
    05:37 Julio Cortázar - Hopscotch
    amzn.to/3qrysGE
    06:57 Italo Calvino - If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
    amzn.to/3ROdBZA
    07:51 E. Powys Mathers - Cain’s Jawbone
    amzn.to/3BuF8dp
    09:15 Bohumil Hrabal - Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
    amzn.to/3eDIotD
    10:07 Douglas Hofstadter - Gödel, Escher, Bach
    amzn.to/3ROdU6G
    11:34 Doug Dorst & JJ Abrams - S.
    amzn.to/3RPAjka
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 226

  • @NekoMouser
    @NekoMouser 29 днів тому +75

    It's not "mind-blowing" by today's standards, but "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" was pretty revolutionary for its time. Many describe it as postmodernism 200 years before postmodernism. It's his autobiography, but there are chapters out of order, the preface is in the middle, he speculates about what the cover of his book might look like and so there's just pages of marbled patterns, he gets writer's block or just forgets to write for a while (can't quite remember which) and it results in a series of blank pages, it's quite bawdy...all sorts of things.
    The writing style and "pop culture references" from the 1700s may not resonate with many modern readers, but if you like this sort of playing with form and pushing the limits on what a book can be and do, Tristam Shandy is a great early example of an author playing around with those exact same questions.

    • @Daniel-wi6sk
      @Daniel-wi6sk 27 днів тому +2

      And an autobiography that starts not with the day the author/narrator was born, but by the night he was conceived… that has to be a very special book, a quite extraordinary book. Not to mention that we witness the dialogue taking place between the parents during the « act » of conception itself, with its supposed (negative) consequences on the life of the narrator…

    • @michaelgrosberg2665
      @michaelgrosberg2665 26 днів тому +3

      He doesn't get to his own birthday until the third volume because he keeps getting sidetracked. Then at some point he plots his narrative in graph form for every volume so far to show he's getting less sidetracked in more recent volumes.

    • @mrwittyone
      @mrwittyone 19 днів тому +2

      This"unfilmable novel" was turned into pretty good film called Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, starring Steve Coogan.

    • @lulujones
      @lulujones 8 днів тому

      Shoutout to Uncle Toby!!!!

  • @relarin952
    @relarin952 Рік тому +194

    I love when writers really do just decide to do the strangest things to test their craft and it's even better when it creates something really unique

  • @r.michaelburns112
    @r.michaelburns112 29 днів тому +51

    The really hard thing abut avoiding "e" (an assignment I give my students to challenge them to consider every word in a short passage with great care) is not using the most common word in the English language -- "the" (ss you can see from this sentence).

    • @phon1x1
      @phon1x1 28 днів тому +4

      For non English speaker - it’s quite an easy task. Seriously, I have no idea why do you guys need “the”.

    • @Dr_Larken
      @Dr_Larken 27 днів тому

      Or the o?! Like in about, abut

    • @theelysium1597
      @theelysium1597 25 днів тому

      Also not being able to use "be" is hard, too. In German avoiding "e" is also difficult, but by no means as difficult as in English, I feel like.

    • @Multi_Purpose_Weirdo
      @Multi_Purpose_Weirdo 25 днів тому +3

      I can avoid that symbol but it is difficult to do. In past months I satisfy my linguistic cravings with horror books.

  • @francoisjohannson139
    @francoisjohannson139 Місяць тому +173

    Stanislaw Lem: "The perfect vacuum". A collection of reviews of books that do not exist. Very funny.

    • @user-gf3fg5go1s
      @user-gf3fg5go1s Місяць тому +8

      Yes thats a great book. As well as "imaginäre Größe" (translated to imaginary size) containing forewords to books that dont exist.

    • @nl3064
      @nl3064 Місяць тому +3

      I loved Lem's Solaris. That's my contribution to this conversation.

    • @muesique
      @muesique Місяць тому +5

      Der Futurologische Kongreß! No LSD needed! 😏

    • @nl3064
      @nl3064 Місяць тому +2

      @@muesique I liked the movie version of The Congress.

  • @nomorenames5568
    @nomorenames5568 Місяць тому +31

    I love these kinds of books with meta-fictional elements. Great list. One of my favorites is a book called "My Tired Father" by Romanian surrealist Gellu Naum. It's an autobiography written by doing Burroughs style cut-ups of American magazines. It starts out reading like just random aphorisms but as you keep reading you start to the see the outline of a life in the random fragments of sentences.
    Also, Calvino was a member of the Oulipo group, a literary group still around today technically which focused on the idea that constraints fuel creativity. They made a lot of really random books based on crazy constraints like "A Void" by Perec that is a lipogramatic book which means it's written without the use of a letter, in this case E. The book is also about finding the missing letter!

  • @Niesrind
    @Niesrind Місяць тому +17

    In the comics of "Mr Invincible" (Imbattable), the hero knows that he is in a comic and jumps around between panels creating strange timeloops.
    But that's not all: there are people walking 'backwards' through the panels, portal away and there is even a hole in one of the pages that is incorporated into the story. (Writer: P. Jousselin)
    Another book for this video is 'Ella Minnow Pea' by Mark Dunn. His story takes place on an island where there are letters hung up that make a sentence using every letter of the alphabeth once.
    One day, a letter falls down. From then on, that letter is never used again in the text of the book.
    Soon other letters follow, restricting the letters that are still used in the rest of the text.
    The people try to use other words to get around not using the fallen letters, but that gets more difficult as the story proceeds.

  • @sweetpeabrown261
    @sweetpeabrown261 5 місяців тому +34

    As reading material they don't appeal to me, but as an artist I support and applaud anyone who pursues their dreams. I am always fascinated to know 'what' people's dreams are.

  • @panopticon3461
    @panopticon3461 29 днів тому +36

    Another recommendation I’ll add to the rest - Nicholson Baker’s The Mezzanine, which is a very heavily footnoted stream-of-consciousness retelling of a lunch break. The footnotes have footnotes; it’s a wonderful representation of a non-linear experience accomplished in such a linear medium.

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому +4

      God, there is just so much good stuff out there. Put this one on my TBR as well. Thanks! 🙏🏻

  • @Ratatouilles
    @Ratatouilles Місяць тому +19

    Hopscotch (Rayuela in spanish) is one of the most famous books in the Spanish language, it is often a recommended read in high school in many countries. I read it when I was a teen and still one of my favourite books. Totally recommended.

  • @Daniel-wi6sk
    @Daniel-wi6sk 29 днів тому +18

    Interesting, there are a few titles I didn’t know. Just a comment from a French native speaker : there is in French a famous “lipogramme en E” called “La disparition”, from author Georges Perec a 250 page book. On one level “La disparition” deals with the disappearance of the letter E itself. On another level, more hidden and complex, La disparition also refers to the disappearance of Perec’s parents in the nazi concentration camps. The name Perec contains only the vowel E…

    • @maciekkochanowicz7015
      @maciekkochanowicz7015 27 днів тому +1

      Perec is definitely a miss on this list. Not only "La disparition", but even more so "La vie mode d'emploi", which came to my mind, when he was reviewing "253".

  • @matte0p
    @matte0p 16 днів тому +3

    These all sound intriguing. Thanks for introducing them

  • @Bambisgf77
    @Bambisgf77 2 дні тому

    I have no idea how I landed on this channel as I fell asleep watching something else yet woke up a few hours later with this playing on my screen. Serendipity! I was immediately hooked on the description of these books! Thank you, I will definitely read a few of these. New sub 😁

  • @bite-sizedshorts9635
    @bite-sizedshorts9635 Місяць тому +14

    I own and have read "Godel, Escher, Bach - An Eternal Golden Braid." "Metamagical Themas" is a thicker book by the same writer. Hofstadter used to write for "Scientific American," which is where I became acquainted with him. I had to buy both books and read them cover to cover more than once. I might just pull them from the shelf and read them again.
    I don't have any of the other books, but I have downloaded a PDF of "Cain's Jawbone" so I can have a crack at the mystery. I'm very good at solving puzzles.

  • @joshgladfelter9597
    @joshgladfelter9597 Місяць тому +1

    Fantastic video! I’m so glad I discovered your channel. I’ve written down every one of the books that you’ve mentioned, because they all sound fascinating. I’ve actually read S years ago and was blown away. Looking forward to chipping away at the others.

  • @cj-seejay-cj-seejay
    @cj-seejay-cj-seejay 8 місяців тому +16

    My favorite Lipogram book is Ella Minnow Pea. :)

  • @actualclown1138
    @actualclown1138 9 місяців тому +7

    good video with good production and great explanations, def subscribing!

  • @PhilRingsmuth
    @PhilRingsmuth 2 місяці тому +5

    Thank you for this video! I had only heard of a few of these, and now I've got all of them in my "might read this someday" list.

  • @JanVee2
    @JanVee2 Місяць тому +8

    To the list can be added: the works of Georges Perec, Raymond Queneau, Laurence Sterne, Jan Potocki and many others. Mindblowing prose indeed, but it asks for a different mindset and reading-attitude.

    • @jman7826
      @jman7826 Місяць тому

      I would add Flann O’Brien

    • @nomorenames5568
      @nomorenames5568 Місяць тому

      Yea the Oulipo are entirely about these sorts of books. I love Queneau, Excercises in Style is such a good book to read before writing. Also his sonnet "A Hundred Thousand Billion Poems" is a truly amazing feat.

    • @DavidLettvin
      @DavidLettvin 11 днів тому

      Potocki's "Manuscript found at Saragossa" is absolutely extraordinary. I have lent out several copies and recently had to order a replacement. They never get returned. The nesting stories can reach insane depths.

  • @roshansell1804
    @roshansell1804 23 дні тому

    this was interesting, entertaining, and really well made. Keep making high quality stuff!

  • @jameswight6259
    @jameswight6259 Місяць тому +4

    Oh no! Another book tube channel that’s going to cost me lots of money! That fatal combination of great reviews of fascinating sounding books. It’s money and time well spent though, so thanks. I subscribed.

  • @Paperwood360
    @Paperwood360 27 днів тому +1

    Thanks for this. I really like your direct, concise style, got a new sub today.

  • @kayleavanvliet5292
    @kayleavanvliet5292 День тому

    I went into this thinking about how it would be criminal if Hopscotch wasn’t included. Glad to see it on the list 😊

  • @ameyakale2739
    @ameyakale2739 27 днів тому +1

    As an author - this list is goddamn inspiring. Will be going through all of them, thank you so much for making this video!
    In one of my stories, I wrote an entire chapter that did not have verbs (it was necessary for that specific chapter) and I felt pretty proud of that - but seeing the genius at play in this list of books... I want to go back and recraft it :D
    Thanks again!

  • @caronstout354
    @caronstout354 Місяць тому +5

    Recommended: Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, a post-apocalptic novel written in a "de-evolved" form of English that has a dictionary of the language included...

  • @jasonhorn901
    @jasonhorn901 Місяць тому +2

    Great content! Thanks so much for taking the time to share this.

  • @wintermute5974
    @wintermute5974 5 днів тому

    There's a really striking one called _A Humument,_ by the artist Tom Phillips. It's basically an old victorian novel where Philips has drawn over most of the text on every page, with the remaining words forming new meanings. It's a really fascinating hybrid between an art book and a poetry collection.

  • @dp4483
    @dp4483 29 днів тому +3

    Dont forget :
    Robert Pirsig - Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
    Daniel Quinn - Ishmael
    Vladimir Megre - Ringing Cedars series

  • @snowmonster42
    @snowmonster42 Місяць тому +3

    Thanks for this video and thanks to everyone who responded with more recommendations. The only one of these that I've read is Pale Fire, which was also my introduction to the notion of an unreliable narrator. I feel like I ought to have a recommendation to offer - at the moment the only thing I can think of is the Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. It's less Literary (note the capital L) than the offerings here, but it's lots of fun and it answers our questions about what the characters of a novel do in their time off.

  • @Nezuji
    @Nezuji Місяць тому +2

    I first learned about Cain's Jawbone through a brief comment in a Grand Illusions video where Tim didn't even give the title. After a fair amount of research I managed to get more details for the book, and tracked down a copy of the original book (this was a few years before the reprint was published). I was so excited to get cracking on such an Interesting puzzle! Unfortunately, I found it completely impenetrable. I couldn't even figure out how to get started. IIRC the original printing of the book has even less information to go on than you gave in this video.

  • @amriteshmukherjee646
    @amriteshmukherjee646 Рік тому +12

    I absolutely loved your production quality and presentation (killed it!) and I'm certainly going in for all of these. Have read House of Leaves (and it's an all time favorite), have a copy of the Calvino one (some of my friends have been almost begging me to read Winter's Night for some time now), and have been eyeing the Cain's Jawbone, Pale FIre, and the Abrams one for months now. Have you heard of XX by Rian Hughes? I've got the book, yet to read it, but saw it being recommended in a whole lot of forums while reading about House of Leaves.
    PS. You got a new subscriber! :)

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  Рік тому +1

      Thanks so much Amritesh, really much appreciated! :) XX was actually on my wider list of potential books for this video, so I'm sure at some point I'll do a part two. 😁 x

  • @vanyacrow
    @vanyacrow Місяць тому +2

    Maybe already popped up in another comment; you may want to check "Dictionary of the Khazars" by Milorad Pavic. He wrote the story through dictionary entries, well, actually four dictionaries, where the references and calls between entry tell different versions of the same story. Quite a treat :)

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому +1

      Put it on my list! Love all of these recommendations in the comments so far. :)

  • @Jerry_Fried
    @Jerry_Fried Місяць тому +4

    I had “Gödel, Escher, Bach” back in the ‘80s. It was fascinating.

    • @rogerkearns8094
      @rogerkearns8094 Місяць тому

      I still have it.

    • @TheLindarosewood
      @TheLindarosewood 27 днів тому

      He wrote I Am A Strange Loop to explain more explicitly the themes supported by all that number theory and fictional dialogues of GEB. That later book is also a meditation on love, grief, and a secular definition of “soul.” A masterpiece.

  • @wintermute5974
    @wintermute5974 5 днів тому

    _The Uncanny_ by Nicholas Royle stands out as a really interesting example because it's an academic book, mostly about literary theory. It's less out there than most of the books you list, but the way it's structured and the content is really out there considering what it is.

  • @slein_grobaaf
    @slein_grobaaf 28 днів тому

    killer list and topic, thanks

  • @ASMRChess
    @ASMRChess Місяць тому +1

    Thank you, great video!

  • @t0dd000
    @t0dd000 Місяць тому +1

    Fascinating exploration of the creative mind.

  • @edraiugaaguiar2580
    @edraiugaaguiar2580 26 днів тому +1

    I had already included "Gödel, Escher, Bach" in my read list, but only because it seemed like a book that dove into Gödel's incompleteness theorem, which is a subject I'm fascinated about.
    When I saw this book in your list I shivered. Definitely gonna read it now, knowing what it really is about

  • @Red-Wolf-Ben
    @Red-Wolf-Ben 6 місяців тому +4

    Surprised a video like this didn't include the Princess Bride!

  • @Bookspine5
    @Bookspine5 28 днів тому +1

    Reading ergodic literature, like Ship of Theseus, was an enjoyable experience. I am compelled to reread Ship of Theseus.

  • @missstarbuck
    @missstarbuck 18 днів тому +1

    I would love to read a book like these some day :D

  • @allp1nk92
    @allp1nk92 9 днів тому

    I would recomend Ella Minnow Pea as a book in a fun, weird style. Within the story a there is an island with a monument containing the phrase "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" and one of the letters falls off and the rulers of the island decide that the citizens of the island arent allowed to use that letter anymore spoken or written or else theyll get thrown in jail. And since the book itself is a series of letters between characters, the letters that fall stop showing up in the book. Its very good.

  • @BeMyArt
    @BeMyArt 12 днів тому +1

    My short story collection includes stories created by my mind in two conditions - sleep and awake. There's qr code at the end of the book which leads to web site i created. There you can try to guess which stories based on dreams. Not the same but wanted to share my concept with someone 😅
    I worked so much on it but only one person read in a year😭

  • @Multi_Purpose_Weirdo
    @Multi_Purpose_Weirdo 26 днів тому

    House of Leaves is a clever, weird, multi-layered masterpiece. It is one of my favorite haunted house stories, every bit as worthy as Haunting of Hill House, The Shining, and Hell House.
    Recently I read a haunted house book called Episode Thirteen that was a lot of fun. It reminded me of the movie Grave Encounters.

  • @barry_t
    @barry_t Місяць тому

    I'm so glad you had GEB on this list...I would recommend the follow-on by Hofsteadler (sp) "Le Ton Beau De Marot" which points to plenty other mind bending books...if you liked GEB, you'll enjoy this as well, well I hope. And thanks for this list!

  • @markvetter4711
    @markvetter4711 Місяць тому +2

    The Raw Shark Texts by Stephen Hall would fit nicely on this list.

  • @brandosbucket
    @brandosbucket Місяць тому

    The fact that the first book on the list is my favourite book, that's a promising start.

  • @LlamaDuck2211
    @LlamaDuck2211 24 дні тому

    I love this!

  • @ratunkuuu
    @ratunkuuu Місяць тому

    Thank you for this intriguing compilation. I know only 3 books from the list

  • @EvieWren
    @EvieWren 9 днів тому

    These remind me of a YA book I read a bit back. Sci-fi, possibly sci-fi horror. it was called The Illuminae Files iirc, and was presented as a series of medical reports, military files, journal entries, dialogue and CCTV transcripts, emails, and text messages, all set on a trio of spaceships fleeing from a corporate warship out to destroy them. It was really neat, part of a trilogy.

  • @vargero
    @vargero 10 днів тому

    Opened the video just because I knew Calvino’s book would be here. Maybe it’s time to read it again :)

  • @glootfrootswoot
    @glootfrootswoot 26 днів тому

    New York Collapsed was the first time I encountered a concept like Ship Of Theseus, where there’s another book in the margins

  • @MrUndersolo
    @MrUndersolo Місяць тому

    I have read the Calvino, and I own copies of the Nabokov and Cortazar. I will be added to my list!

  • @willk7184
    @willk7184 26 днів тому

    Excellent and much needed explanations for these intriguing books!
    By the way, for those taking on G.E.B. ... On my second read-through I found a hidden self-referencial message in the dialogue from Ch. 3. Happy reading. 🤨

  • @Mr.PauloSica
    @Mr.PauloSica 20 днів тому

    Awesome video!!! ❤❤❤

  • @Wishbone1977
    @Wishbone1977 25 днів тому +1

    One of the most mind-bending books I have ever read is _The Illuminatus! Trilogy_ by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. It's a difficult read which requires a lot of concentration to keep up with the narrative, but I found it quite good. As an example, at one point it switched the narrative from a male protagonist in the third person to a female protagonist in the first person and seven years earlier _mid-sentence._ The story itself revolves (as the title might suggest) around various conspiracy theories and is quite humorous.

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому

      That sounds crazy tbh. But I'm all up for these kind of concepts! 😄

    • @allonszenfantsjones
      @allonszenfantsjones 7 днів тому

      Don't know the name of it, but I remember a book I started and I got halfway through when I realized holy moly every single chapter leads you to think that you're going to find resolution, or even the continuation of the narrative, until you realize that no, a new story has been started that again will not resolve. with the same main character! Arghhh! Takes place in an apocalyptic Russian neighborhood as I recall, complete with crumbling housing blocks.

  • @martinstent5339
    @martinstent5339 Місяць тому

    I’d like to see an honorary mention here for “Venus on a Half-shell” by Kilgore Trout, who was a fictional character in many of Kurt Vonnegut’s novels. Also, maybe a mention for Sophie’s World, also a kind of philosophical adventure story, going meta and un-meta at various points in the story. About Douglas Hofstadter’s masterpiece: I feel that much more could be said about it. I have all his works on my bookshelf, and my favourite is “Le Ton Beau de Marot” about translation in general and about translating poetry from French to English in particular, although it is much much more than that as one would expect from Hofstadter… The only other one I have is Gadsby, which is a little weird to read, as you would expect!

  • @manicmuffin
    @manicmuffin 6 місяців тому +1

    Excellent list, weird fiction is my favorite genre!

  • @bozhidarmihaylov
    @bozhidarmihaylov Місяць тому

    Great image placement 0:55 :)

  • @seandchoi
    @seandchoi Місяць тому +3

    Infinite Jest deserves to be included in this list, or at least be an honorable mention.

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому

      That book is just so big, I haven't gotten around reading it. 😅

  • @Poohtle
    @Poohtle 21 день тому +1

    Some of these books sound harder than my entire university degree studies!! 👀😊

  • @DadgeCity
    @DadgeCity Місяць тому

    I'm a fan of conceptual art and literature, even oulipo. Among my favourites are Walter Abish and Georges Perec.

  • @indigoziona
    @indigoziona Місяць тому +1

    I was about to pause and say "you have to read 253 by Geoff Ryman!" and then read your notes and realised you were getting to that.

  • @4eyesinthecorner399
    @4eyesinthecorner399 19 днів тому

    A book that comes to mind is ‘Dr Awkward & Olson in Oslo’ where the whole novel is a palindrome, so reads the same backwards as it does forwards (as you can see with the title).

  • @klausolekristiansen2960
    @klausolekristiansen2960 Місяць тому

    Very interesting. Maybe I should reread Gödel, Escher, Bach. The only other one I had heard of is If a Winter Night a Traveller.

  • @alexduggan68
    @alexduggan68 Місяць тому +1

    We Appy Few is a great book to read. Its the story of a hundred year old man who tells the young Henry 8th what really happened at the battle of Agincourt. Its funny, touching, and debates the nature of reality, truth, language and history.

  • @bornhuman67
    @bornhuman67 19 днів тому

    Dan Rhodes "Anthropology" might also fit here. B.S. Johnson did some interesting things although his best is his most straightforward "Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry".
    And someone already mentioned "The Mezzanine"...

  • @user-ut5gk3xg1t
    @user-ut5gk3xg1t 4 дні тому

    I like pale fire, but its important to say it is actually american-russian writer and Pale Fire was written in English.

  • @otakuofmine
    @otakuofmine 26 днів тому

    Great Video! I can think of another: Impossible Landscapes, a campaign of the ttrpg Delta Green. The main "villain" is an entropic force that latches especially on the arts and artist, like a reality virus replacing theirs. The book's layout gets more and more fragmented and weird as you go. Words are crossed, written backwords, repeated - and just enough to make you wonder everytime. the layout itself, and its borders/colours get the same treatment. (in the story is a dangerous sign that can prime you and its highlighted in the book every time its mentioned. )
    the thing that really makes it ergodic is that all things are linked in a subtle way that you have to read it at least twice to get most and than you have to read careful to get all clues and weird coincidences (unrelated things happen at the same time, unrelated people having the same last name. it also plays with time as the force in the book seems to transcend it, people appearing out of time in places they shouldnt be).
    its surreal horror and the book itself cleverly shows that. and if you read the stories this campaign is based on, you will even find more clues and truths, like you can never fully understand it all. I have never read a book that goes about surreality in such a clever way. defying expectations what a ttrpg book should be.
    no surprise that it is considered an enormous effort to even prepare and run this one. (i am doing atm)

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому +1

      Love this, Thanks so much. Will definitely look further into this!!

    • @otakuofmine
      @otakuofmine 25 днів тому

      @@nicholasbeutler3126 oh that would be interesting to hear here!

  • @victormaranhaorocha8601
    @victormaranhaorocha8601 Місяць тому +1

    That video was so mind opening about the "current" developments of literature! I want to read them all! Now I'll try to find more videos like that

  • @hemangchauhan2864
    @hemangchauhan2864 14 днів тому

    I appriciate unique and novel video games.
    So I'm glad YT recommended me this video.

  • @johnforgrave7125
    @johnforgrave7125 Місяць тому

    I just started reading XX by Rian Hughes and feel it deserves a shoutout for this list as well.

  • @BlitzoITA
    @BlitzoITA 22 дні тому

    Im adding this comment just because as an Italian i i loved that Italo Calvino was here

  • @user-ne5jp9qc9j
    @user-ne5jp9qc9j Місяць тому

    @4:52. A line with a quite accurate description of me.

  • @mixolydian2010
    @mixolydian2010 Місяць тому +1

    Amazing collection, thanks for introducing them to me. not heard of any of them before. Looking forward to reading them. Cheers

    • @mixolydian2010
      @mixolydian2010 25 днів тому +1

      The only book i have come across like these is a book called The Perilous Adventures of an Unfulfilled Full Stop by Jim Barrass. Not in print any more. Have all the books you listed on amazon wish list and will get them soon. Thanks again.

  • @andrewturton484
    @andrewturton484 Місяць тому +3

    What about Ishiguro’s ‘The Unconsoled’? A huge novel in which things are always just about to happen, but never do. How he keeps the thing going for so long is as staggering as it is frustrating.

  • @greggi47
    @greggi47 3 місяці тому +5

    These are all challenging books. Aside from Pale Fire, all are new to me. I wonder, though, why to skip Laurence Sterne's wonderful book Tristram Shandy. It is a puzzle, perhaps on the cusp of bring a metanovel.

    • @barrymoore4470
      @barrymoore4470 2 місяці тому +2

      American critic Jonathan Rosenbaum argues that 'Tristram Shandy' is still the greatest of all experimental novels--it was postmodern before modernism was even a thing.

    • @snowmonster42
      @snowmonster42 Місяць тому +2

      I had no idea . . . I've toyed with reading this for a long time mostly because it's a novel that comes up in so many other novels. I'll give it a try.

    • @nl3064
      @nl3064 Місяць тому

      He can't mention every single goddam off-beat book ever written. I know Tristram is a classic, but why is every third comment some prck who automatically assumes their favorite just _has_ to be mentioned?

    • @snowmonster42
      @snowmonster42 Місяць тому +2

      @@nl3064 I actually think we all realize that. The comments are where people can suggest their own favorites for those who are interested. You don't have to be interested. I'm not sure what you were expecting, but you might want to retreat into a copy of Pride and Prejudice until you feel better. That always helps me when I feel cranky.

    • @greggi47
      @greggi47 27 днів тому

      @@nl3064 Many of us pricks know and enjoy books and authors that aren't mentioned in such "recommended" lists and want more people to read and share the pleasures they give. Just as this one told me about unfamiliar titles that I want to know more about.

  • @JanAinali
    @JanAinali Місяць тому +1

    If you want a children's book in this genre, check out "The Book That Did Not Want To Be Read" by David Sundin (originally in Swedish).

    • @SimonHuggins
      @SimonHuggins Місяць тому

      Sophie's World was aimed at children too - a book about famous philosophers inside a mystery was the intention, although upon re-reading recently I found it tedious, a bit chauvanistic, and annoyingly missed out some of the most important philosophers because (I suspect) they didn't fit his narrative - so a bit too preachy. Shame - loved it when I was a kid though.

  • @kc8391
    @kc8391 29 днів тому

    I remember hearing about a play that was literally impossible to represent, because it only used abstract concepts and didn't have "characters" per se. I don't remember the name though, I would appreciate if anyone here knows. I've been looking for it for a while :/

  • @kosterix123
    @kosterix123 29 днів тому

    10:00 everyone I knew in 1990 read Gödel, Escher, Bach - first-semester philosophy, math, music theory and physics. Something about Schrodinger's cat and an eternal crescendo. Not recommended, it goes all over the place and doesn't leave a lasting impression.
    253 and hopscotch do sound rather intriguing.

  • @Alex_...34565
    @Alex_...34565 8 днів тому

    man i wanna read all of them!

  • @allonszenfantsjones
    @allonszenfantsjones 7 днів тому

    Try 'the orphan Master's son' by Adam Johnson. No spoilers but I have to say I'm 288 pages in and I still haven't figured it out. Also I can only read five pages at a time before I have to put it down. Some of the most elegant phraseology, too. Descriptive af.

  • @michahcc
    @michahcc Місяць тому

    Nice!

  • @daveatron_
    @daveatron_ 25 днів тому

    Ella Minnow Pea is my favourite book of this kind - it's short and funny and not only is it epistolary (written as a series of letters) but it also become increasingly lipogrammatic, dropping more and more letters as it goes on

  • @plasnoid
    @plasnoid Місяць тому

    You should probably do a part two to this video.
    Nice vid thought.

  • @wanderlking8634
    @wanderlking8634 Місяць тому

    No letter "e" is a lipogram, not to be confused with no versions of the verb "is" (am/will be/was/to be/etc.), which is called E-prime.

  • @LorenzoWTartari
    @LorenzoWTartari 28 днів тому

    I've read Gödel, Escher and Bach, it's a truly beautiful book but i honestly don't think I would've made it if I weren't a math major, the math is only about 20 or 30% of the book, but it's really dense, although the author does an excellent job of explaining it. I definitely would recommend it to any reader interested in maths and computer science and up to a challenge. It took me three months to digest it, but to be fair I'm also a slow reader.

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому

      I am not a math major and boy did that take out the fun at times... 😂

  • @professorofrhetoric1152
    @professorofrhetoric1152 15 днів тому

    I could be wrong, but I think Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress doesn’t use the definite article: the.

  • @spectrem
    @spectrem Місяць тому +1

    Going through House of Leaves and Truants sections are so hard to get through. Overall enjoying it though

    • @brycecartwright2403
      @brycecartwright2403 Місяць тому +1

      They have a great payoff if you stick with them, and I also recommend skimming any parts of Johnny rambling and not mentioning any actual characters as they don’t make literal sense but are there to create a mood of insanity and paranoia

    • @spectrem
      @spectrem 29 днів тому +1

      @@brycecartwright2403 yeah I just started skipping paragraphs once it is clear that he is rambling

  • @chrisandhongmei
    @chrisandhongmei Місяць тому

    Pale Fire was being read by the protagonists in Blade Runner 2049, I think.

  • @NOPE.S.P.
    @NOPE.S.P. Місяць тому +1

    You should read "Vitruvia 144". It basically brings about the end of reality.

  • @blooodytwins
    @blooodytwins Місяць тому +1

    The Atrocity Exhibition could be in this list

  • @kossnfx
    @kossnfx Місяць тому

    House of Leaves was pub. in 2000. HIDING by Mark Johnson was pub in 1997 and did the same thing, but not fiction.

  • @nl3064
    @nl3064 Місяць тому

    Honestly, House of Leaves and Pale Fire are my two favorite books. 👍 If on a Winter's Night, though, was a torturously boring read.

  • @markpaterson2053
    @markpaterson2053 6 днів тому

    You may like Embassytown, by China Miéville (I won't give any spoilers)

  • @lisathomas1622
    @lisathomas1622 Місяць тому +1

    Until we remember we are a spirit having a human experience we’re pretty much an amnesiac. Subscribed! Thank you for sharing your weird life.

  • @shaimawahab5916
    @shaimawahab5916 Місяць тому

    Not me stumbling across this video the same day as my House of Leaves copy gets delivered (after two months of placing the order).

  • @MladenPostruznik
    @MladenPostruznik 27 днів тому +1

    You might find Dictionary of the Khazars interesting.

  • @johnelstad
    @johnelstad Місяць тому

    My almost 14-year-old son is an avid reader and loves light mysteries (think Stuart Gibbs). As such, I think he might enjoy "S," "House of Leaves," and perhaps "Cain's Jawbone." Do you think these books might be too advanced for him to enjoy?

    • @EvilDragon666
      @EvilDragon666 28 днів тому

      Far too advanced for his age.

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому

      Yeah, that's probably a bit too much for him at this age. Maybe look into 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke, which also feels unique in its concept, but is more written like a 'normal' novel.

    • @johnelstad
      @johnelstad 25 днів тому

      @@nicholasbeutler3126 @EvilDragon666 Thanks for taking the time to help. I'll check out Piranesi.

  • @manchld
    @manchld Місяць тому

    Are any of these books good in audiobook form?

    • @nicholasbeutler3126
      @nicholasbeutler3126  25 днів тому +1

      Most of them don't have audiobooks versions unfortunately. Either because the market would be too small for a publisher to invest money into making one, or because their concepts are too unique to translate them into an audio format...

  • @charlesspringer4709
    @charlesspringer4709 Місяць тому

    Interesting list. House of Leaves, Gadsby, Feersum Endjinn. I found I quite dislike being the butt of a writer's joke. Like Bauhaus architecture. Are these authors trying to write their Gravity's Rainbow and failing? It just shows the variety in taste.