r/WeirdLit

It’s been years, y’all. I’ve read it twice. I’ve read another one of his works (Ka Dar Oakley). I’ve read other magical realism. Nothing I’ve found can hold a candle to Little, Big. The only thing that scratched the same itch was Kentucky Route Zero.

Reading Little, Big feels like living an entire other _lifetime_. It’s not just another world to escape into. The multi-generational family, the authenticity with which they live, the descriptions of architecture, nature, weather, seasons, youth and age, machines, meaning. The mysticism, the Weird Logic of it all. He writes so precisely that the whole thing feels like a true story that really happened, like he must have been there to catalog it himself, despite its subtle absurdity. I’m in love with his flavor of magical realism where the magic is always _just barely_ offstage, and if you could just peak around the curtain, there it would be!

And the prose! Oh, the prose. Never have I read anything so beautiful (and I read a lot of poetry).

Please save me.

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I've just finished reading both, and what I really enjoyed about them was that they were discussing the nature of humanity after trauma in a weird fantasy setting. While technically the subject matter was dark and disturbing, it never once felt like a downer to read. I love how much it stayed with me and gave me a lot to think about after I was finished.

Do you have any books to recommend that discuss what it means to be human in a weird fantasy/speculative setting, and that doesn't have a heavy tone?

This isn't necessary at all, but I would especially love any titles written by women, or that have women or lgbt main characters. (But like I said it's not necessary)

What are you reading this week?

No spam or self-promotion (we post a monthly threads for that!)

And don't forget to join the WeirdLit Discord!

I crave well written prose, especially quirky and surreal , no horror or extreme violence. Any suggestions?

Or Africa

Kafka’s influence is everywhere, but I’m searching for contemporary fiction that treats bureaucracy and institutional logic as the main source of dread. Not just as a backdrop, but as the engine of horror itself.

If you’ve read anything that fits, I’d love to hear about it.
And if you’re interested, I’ve just released Authorized Death, a procedural horror trilogy where the system is the antagonist. Book 1 is free on Kindle this week.

Amazon Kindle link: Authorized Death https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1M9NPHL

As simple as the title says. I’m looking for some good audio book suggestions. A great story with a great narrator would be golden, but I would be interested in who people think are great narrators as well.

Hey gang, I asked for audiobook recs on here recently and got an embarrassment of riches.

Well, I just watched Tarkovsky's Stalker for the first time, and I was blown away. I need to dig deeper into this movie. Do any of you have a good recommendation for a book about the movie? Either a collection of different perspectives, or a single deep one -- the one thing is I'm more interested in what people feel it means more than how it was made, though the latter is also interesting.

Thanks so much in advance!

I've read the website stories but I want the full book and $44 on amazon is NUTS.

I know there are tons of topics for recommendations and hopefully this doesn’t come off as a rehash of all of those topics but I really just wanted to make a thread where people could talk about weird lit and tell everyone their favorites. I came off a very very long break from reading late last year and have really been drawn to the genre as an escape. So with that being said I don’t have a ton to pick from (although I have quite the stack to dive into) but my favorites so far have been:

Last Days by Brian Evenson

Secret of Ventriloquism Expanded by Jon Padgett

The Inconsolables by Michael Wehunt (I think you would count this in the genre, and it’s such a great collection)

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (I enjoyed the original trilogy a lot, the fourth book I had some problems with and while I enjoyed it it’s my least favorite with Annihilation being my favorite of the four)