Anyone know of novels with unusual chronologies?

Question

I'm specifically interested in novels that bounce back and forth between distant and close past tense. Novels that do so fairly obviously would be even better for my purposes; for example, perhaps there are some novels out there in which the odd chapters handle close past and even chapters handle distant past. Or maybe there are novels in which certain chapters are framed? I just don't know; I can't think of any off the top of my head, so I thought I'd ask. Any genre is fine; I'm just looking for unusual structures. Thanks.

Sorry, should have clarified: definitely not interested in anything po mo. I'm concerned first and foremost with novels that have two or more storylines (hopefully about the same character) that bounce back and forth in a very, very simplistic and obvious format. Like, let's say, chapter one is set on January 1, 2007, and chapter two flashes back to when the protag was born in, say, 1975. Then maybe chapter three covers January 2, 2007, and then chapter four flashes back to when the protag lost her first tooth in 1981. I hope this helps make things clearer? It's so darn frustrating not to be able to think of any books that handle achronology simply, obviously, and not in any way po mo. Thanks for your answers so far, though. I'm appreciative.

While I'm as much a fan of the ingenuity of sci-fi and fantasy writers as the next person, I don't think time traveling is quite what I'm looking for--so, not to sound like a snob, but if there are more literary suggestions out there I think they'll be more in line with my interests. Thanks so much...

HOL is a good suggestion. I was lucky enough to be in attendence when Danielewski read from a new work last year; when I asked if it was hard to let go of the characters in HOL, he was so nice and honest about how and why it's a necessary part of writing. It was an amazing three minutes after about a twenty-minute wait in line to get our books signed. Anyway, HOL's a good suggestion; though I'm looking for multiple storylines about the same protagonist, told achronologically. Whew! I feel like I'm being so picky, and as if I'm ungrateful for people's answers so far; seriously, I'm psyched about all the suggestions that have come in. Certainly, it's terrific to get so much feedback and so many different ideas of narratological structure (and within such strict parameters!) Thanks to all who've responded with thoughts....

Answer 1

If I read you right (no pun intended), you're looking for something with a non-linear story...something that skips around but reveals itself in a way that -- by the end -- everything comes into place.

Try reading some of Chuck Palahniuk's novels....he's the guy that wrote Fight Club (although I'm trying to recall whether that novel has much non-linear or not). Anyway, Lullaby and Diary skip around quite a bit, and I'm sure other of his novels do as well.

Answer 2

No better book for you than Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. The protangonist, Billy Pilgrim, has become "unstuck in time." "Postmodernist" fiction might also serve you well. Check out Samuel Beckett's trilogy Molloy-Malone Dies- The Unnameable. It's suggested that the second book is the prelude to the first- although there's no way to find out for sure. Beckett's characters are temporally all over the place.
Wilson Harris's The Palace of the Peacock is also a gem worth finding.

Answer 3

It's not exactly what you were looking for but an intersting example is David Maine Fallen, It's the story of Adam and Eve and eventually Cain and Abel only it's told from the end to the begging. It was so strange I had to read it from the last chapter to the first chapter to get the story down before reading it the right way firt chapter to the last chapter. Awesome story on top of strange story telling.

Answer 4

"Use of Weapons" by Iain M. Banks sounds like the kind of thing you are looking for. This is science fiction, but NOT a time travel story. The plot deals with an agent trying to track down another agent who has retired and to convince him to reenlist. Alternating chapters move forward with the main plotline and backwards telling the history of the retired agent. Banks is also a very popular and highly respected writer of mainstream fiction, so you may find him more to your taste than other sf writers.

Answer 5

Well, I cannot think of a single book that bounces back and forth like that, but if you actually look at the Leatherstocking series by Cooper (The Last of the Mohicans), the books themselves were published/written out of order. Of course you can read them in order, but Cooper did not publish them in chronological order.

Answer 6

The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, I know it's time traveling but the way it's told is what's interesting, since even when he goes through time his wife doesn't, and it jumps around his life too. It's kind of confusing at first.

Answer 7

My suggestion is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski..
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=pd_bbs_2/105-4770233-4686007?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181801061&sr=8-2

it's a story within a story within a story, ... you know I don't know how to describe it.. it fits perfectly with what you are looking for.. Another of his books is also similar, but that one is WAY over the top, nearing on completely non-sensical.. That one is called Only Revolutions..

Answer 8

Connie Willis Doomesday Book & To Say Nothing of the Dog. They fit. Doomesday is 21st century & during the plague. TSNOFD is 2057 & ww2.

Answer 9

One of my favorite books is Time Enough for Love...by...robert a. heinlein...

It goes back and forth and it is wonderful. It was written in the 70s I think and he won some awards for the book. He is a great science fiction writer - he wrote Stranger in a STrange Land...but I think Time Enough for Love is his best..at least it is my favorite.

Answer 10

I don't know what "po mo" means, but if you are looking for a book with unusual chronologies, you can try the time traveler's wife... great book, really weird chronology.