What's the most original book you've read?

Question

What's original about it?

Answer 1

thus spoken Zarathustra.

Answer 2

There are a few...

"Three bags full" by Leonie Swann.
A sheep detective story - the shephard is dead, ad his sheps start to search for the murderer. The book is written just from the view of sheeps, and that's quite a perspective you've never thought about before: for example the prist is calles "god" by the sheeps, because they only know that that big building in the village is the house of God, and the only person living there must be god, mustn't he?

"Water Music" by T.C:Boyle
It's absolutly strange, the whole idea, the whol story. Bole shows that "heroes" don't have to be really impressive, the only thing that counts is how your story is sold...

"Halloween" by Stewart O'Nan
Written from an interesting perspecive: from the view of the souls of three teenagers wwho died a year ago in a car accident. The original was that I learned that sometimes dead people just want that you try t live again instead of just thinking about them. I read it when my best freidn died, and to me this thought was really helpfull...

"Making History" by Stephen Fry
A young college student has the possibility everyone is dreaming of: he can go back in history and can take care that Hitler will be never born. The original about that sstory is how the story develops after that: that the whole history ill become even worse than it was with Hitler. A nice construction to think about, very funny written ;-)

All books by John Irving
They just can be calles absurd, bt very original...

Answer 3

I'd have to say the most "original" book (not nessisarily best or favorite) I've read is
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

The formating is down right bizarre, ranging from pages containing one or two words, to pages that are printed diagonally and or in reverse. The story is very interesting but hard to follow since it has several narrators and the writer does not seem to put much effort to make it easier on the reader. If your looking more for a literary experience than a traditional read, I would strongly suggest you check it out.

Also when reading this book, I would suggest listening to the CD "Haunted" by Poe. (the authors sister) though I think these were separate creative efforts they compliment each other very nicely.

Answer 4

The most original book I have read is "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane. Why? This book was the first to truly show war in a new light. Stephen Crane is remembered as the father of american naturalism in literature for this book and several of his others. It was so realistic, that many civil war veterans actually thought that they had served in the same area as Stephen Crane. In other words, they thought it was real. That was very origional considering most 19th cent. Authors were writing using Romanticism. Crane wasn't even born until a few years after the civil war. You should do yourself a great favor and read some of his works. The use of color is very important to him in his writing. Even using it in the titles "Red Badge" "the Blue Hotel" " the bride comes to Yellow sky"

Answer 5

Fight Club and Life of Pi . . . because of how they end.

The Hours because of how well the author interweaves symbolism and stories that span generations.

Everyday Matters . . . a simple graphic memoir. Not that nobody has done this before but this particular one really touched me.

You Remind Me of Me . . . a memoir written in poetry/verse. Again, there are other memoirs out there written in verse but this one is written for young adults which I think is wonderful.

Vox--no chapters, all dialogue, erotica.

Most books by Tom Robbins are original . . . or at least different from most other books written. His style is quirky and fun. Matched with his ability to take disparate ideas and merge them cohesively, there is no other writer out there quite like him.

My journal . . . I may not have the writing talent of any of the above and I certainly don't strive for quality when pouring out my thoughts and feelings into my journal but there is nobody else out there writing it so it is the most original.

I may come back and add to this list. Good question!

Answer 6

Cynthia Eden's i'm going to be Slaying You and Immortal risk. 2 quite stable present day vampire thoughts. i could examine out her different books too. They concentration on animal shifters and sirens, etc. The exciting ingredient approximately her books is that jointly as each and each novel makes a speciality of one substantial character, they have interplay with all the different substantial characters of her different books. i could fantastically advise those see you later as you haven't got any concern of picture intercourse and cursing.

Answer 7

Sideways look at Time By Jay Griffin (Lat name may be wrong) The book is more like an essay on time but still very good. One great thing about it is that the book is not meant to be read chonologically but instead u can begin reading any where.

Answer 8

The Stand by Stephen King. It's over 1000 pages and each character seems real as does the story - like it could happen. Also made into mini series for TV - not too bad of a job for TV.

Answer 9

Chuck Palahniuk books. He goes into minute details of a situation and he's really good about the description. He'll pick topics for his stories that are way out there or avoided by society because it's too hard to talk about. I really liked Survivor and Choke.

Answer 10

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers - blurs the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, conveys ideas in ways I hadn't seen before, excellent stream-of-consciousness, definitely expands the idea of what is possible in a book, of what a book MEANS...

Answer 11

A Clockwork Orange - it had its own language, the feel of the book is quite surrealistic, and it purposely rants against convention, whether it's society of how one writes a book

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings - simply because no one had undertaken a tome of fantasy as complex as this, and it opened up an entire new genre - fantasy