TOP TEN WEIRDEST BOOKS

(in a good way)

To qualify for this my highly subjective list, books have to be different to the run-of-the mill story. They have to have one, or several, of the following:

·       Unusual narration

·       Unusual plotting

·       Unusual meshing of genres

·       Unusual characters

·       Unusual relationships

·       Unusual ending

And still be highly interesting and satisfying.

The most famous example would be The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is the first book I read and re-read at least ten times as a teenager, filling a whole notebook with quotes. Being the OG, I could have called this list The Dorian Gray list. Being simply weird (ahem, I am looking at you, Flowers in The Attic) or impenetrable to most (yes, I mean you, Ulysses) or just having one gimmick (like  Looks who’s back) doesn’t count.

So, here is my list:

(Caution: if you haven’t read the books – there may be spoilers ahead)

10. The curious incident of the dog in the night time
              Mark Haddon

There has been a whole genre now around the main character being on the autism spectrum. But this one was first. And it is still the best, in my opinion. It manages so fabulously well to keep us interested and engaged. It Is a classical whodunnit – somebody killed the neighbour’s dog – and we follow John Francis Boone as he investigates the murder.

The fact that it’s been banned at some schools for ‘profane language’ is an additional reason to put it on your TBR.

And you will never think the same about people on the autism spectrum.

 9. The heart goes last
              Margaret Atwood

Being the Queen of the dystopian novel, Margaret Atwood adds a wicked twist to this story set in the not-so-distant future. During a severe economic crisis, Stan and Charmaine have lost their jobs and are forced to sleep in their car, vulnerable to roaming gangs. They decide to join a gated community where jobs and houses are guaranteed to everyone. They spend six months in a beautiful house and six months in a prison, while another family lives in that house. Not bad, right? Except if you fall in love with the person living in your house while you are away. There are several twists to keep you reading.

Very original, with trademark Atwood prose.

 8. The Eyre Affair
              Jasper Fforde

This book is set in a parallel universe that revolves around literature. Museums are devoted to writers, politicians sidle up to Chaucer students, and the evil Acheron Hades kidnaps characters from books and holds them to ransom. One day Jane Eyre is gone; there is no trail of her in any of the books.

Highly inventive and well executed.

 7. Lolita
              Vladimir Nabokov

The unreliable narrator tells the story of his infatuation and erotic relationship with Lolita. It is beautifully written and highly engaging. Except, Lolita is a 12-year girl and the narrator’s stepdaughter.

The true genius of the book is that Nabokov leads us so expertly through the narrative that we forget who the narrator – a sleazy middle-aged paedophile – and who the victim is. It makes us examine our own prejudices and biases.

Controversial but brilliant.

 6. 4321
              Paul Auster

This book contains four versions of Archie Ferguson’s life. Each of the seven chapters, representing seven life stages, is divided into four parts, each of which represents a different version of his life. His parents and friends remain largely the same, but in each version there is a different twist, or a different characteristic, that leads Archie on a different trajectory.

This is my favourite of the ‘sliding doors’ scenarios, including movies, short stories and novels.

I’ll let you find out for yourself what the numbers from the title represent.

 5. Achtsam morden (Mindful murder)
              Karsten Dusse

This novel had potential to be just one of those books that sucks you in with a great premise, only to let you down in the execution and particularly ending (my most common complaint). But Dusse manages to pull it off and follow through on the promise he makes.

Bjorn Diemel, attorney to underworld figures, with a frenetic pace to his work and no work-life balance, is forced by his wife to take a seminar on mindfulness. He agrees, in order to save his marriage, but then applies the lessons he learns to his work and client dealings.

Never has there been a funnier way to see people killed.

 4. The cleft  
              Doris Lessing

This is the story of humankind, as told by an anonymous Roman historian. In the beginning, the world was populated by women only, who called themselves cleft. They reproduced asexually. There was peace and harmony. Until one of them gave birth to a child with a strange genital appendage. They called it ‘monster’ and killed it. Over time more were born….

It is a seriously disturbing story, and in the hands of anyone less skilled, it could have been plainly weird. But Lessing imbues it with such pathos, it really makes you think about humanity for many weeks after you’ve turned the last page.

 3. If on a winter’s night a traveller
              Italo Calvino

In terms of heated discussions, this may be the most polarizing book I’ve read. When I reviewed it a couple of years ago, I got more comments on it than almost any other review. And the comments were in one of two camps: either ‘best book ever’ or ‘I tossed it across the room; I could not stand it.’

But isn’t that what a really good book should do? Make you lose yourself, one way or the other? It’s been called genius, smart, a metaphor on life, on the creative process, a mystery novel, a romance, a tragedy - and I agree with all of it. It is hard to say what it is about. It’s probably easier to say what it is not.

Boring or predictable it is not.

It starts with this: a Reader starts reading a novel which has pages missing. He goes back to the bookshop to get a new copy, where he meets the Other Reader. He gets a new copy, but it is a completely different story ... He hopes the same thing happened to the Other Reader ...

I  particularly enjoyed the ruminations on the solitary aspect of a reader but even more so the solitary aspects of a writer’s life.

 2. The cement garden
              Ian McEwan

Four underage siblings first lose their father and shortly after their mother. Considering they don’t want to go to an orphanage, they hide the mother’s corpse in the basement, pouring cement over it.

That is not the weird part. Or not the weirdest part. What the narrator reveals happened during childhood and now culminating in their post-parent life will give you a feeling of unease without actually knowing quite why. Until you do.

Some people have called it a mixture of Lord of the Flies and Flowers in the Attic. I wouldn’t disagree but would stress that it is much better written. And the ending is a killer.

1. Cloud Atlas

              David Mitchell

My number one is this brilliant book that has not been hurled across rooms as many times as If on a Winter’s Night, but it is in the same category: you either get it and you love it, or you think it is impenetrable and a complete waste of your time.

I am clearly in the first group. It has led me to read all of David Mitchell’s books and, while I like them all, I am still waiting for him to reach the same brilliance he did in this book.

So, what happens in the book? Good question. A LOT happens here, and I don’t know that I can do it justice in a few lines.

There are seven stories divided into two parts, each story feeding into the next, that one feeding into the next, and so on. Each story is set in a different time and each story is a different genre. You might be tempted to say WTF, but once you make the connections, your jaw will drop, and you will want to start reading again to see what you have missed while trying to work out what it’s all supposed to mean. 

What do you think of these books?

What is the weirdest book (in a good way) you have read?