Ok, so I'm looking for some book recommendations which are rather specific: writers similar to Pratchett, Gaiman or Susana Clarke - i.e. thoughtful British softly-leftist magical realism (Pratchett is technically not a magical realism writer but his later books make Ankh-Morpork quite clearly a satire on Victorian England so it counts).
Alice in wonderland? :bowler: ;)
V
I liked Toby Frost's Space Captain Smith series. Bit like Futurama meets Victorianism. Spoofs a lot of sci-fi.
That's an unusually specific requirement :lol:
If you want British magical realism I'd suggest Rushdie - in particular Midnight's Children or the Moor's Last Sigh - or someone like Angela Carter. Maybe her collection of short stories, the Bloody Chamber is really good, so is Wise Children.
If you want something slightly different I think you'd really enjoy Hilary Mantell's historical novels. A Place of Greater Safety (French Revolution) is brilliant, so's Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell/Henry VIII). I've not read her latest which is a sequel to Wolf Hall.
Try Nick Harkaway's two novels - The Goneaway World and Angelmakers.
Possibly Jasper Fforde's stuff.
I can't recommend anything to your specifications that hasn't been mentioned already, but would add that you should try the Latin American magical realists(Garcia Marquez, Allende, Amado et al) if you haven't already.
For the record Gaiman, Pratchett and Clarke are not magical realist writers.
Quote from: Sheilbh on June 28, 2012, 07:08:00 AMIf you want British magical realism I'd suggest Rushdie - in particular Midnight's Children or the Moor's Last Sigh -
I don't believe Martinus wants to think too much.
Somewhat linking in with the thread about your local museum, what about the works of Edward Rutherfurd :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rutherfurd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Rutherfurd)
His first novel was 'Sarum' was about:
Quote
......
returned to his childhood home to write Sarum, a historical novel with a ten-thousand year story, set in the area around the ancient monument of Stonehenge and Salisbury.
Four years later, when the book was published, it became an instant international best-seller, remaining 23 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. Since then he has written five more best-sellers: Russka, a novel of Russia; London; The Forest, set in England's New Forest which lies close by Sarum, and two novels, Dublin: Foundation (The Princes of Ireland) and Ireland: Awakening (The Rebels of Ireland), which cover the story of Ireland from the time just before Saint Patrick to the twentieth century, and finally New York as of 2009.
I read the London one. It was OK but nothing special. It really couldn't be further than what Marty is asking for though.
Quote from: mongers on June 28, 2012, 09:17:20 AM
what about the works of Edward Rutherfurd :
Enjoyable reads but there's little of the fantastic about them. They're just collections of novellas with a common location and family descent threaded in.
Try Peter Ackroyd's fiction. As a historian too, he conjures up a realistic background. Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem fits your very specific niche. You'd probably enjoy The House of Doctor Dee too.
Quote from: Gups on June 28, 2012, 07:53:38 AM
For the record Gaiman, Pratchett and Clarke are not magical realist writers.
Yeah, they belong much more in the actual fantasy/sf genre than magical realism--if you asked for a writer who writes stuff similar to Pratchett, I think my first thought would be Douglas Adams, whose work isn't magical realism, either. Other vaguely similar writers would be Glen Cook or Roger Zelany (though I'm not sure if they are British or American, or where they fall on a left/right scale).
Magical realism is kind of a vague term anyway. For example, arguably the very end of
War and Remembrance turns the Wouks whole
The Winds of War saga into magical realism, but otherwise it's straight historical fiction.
Yeah I guess you are right since magical realism has become a technical term which is quite different from these writers. What I'm looking for is a sort of mix of wry humour and "supernatural mixing with mundane" while serving also as a satire. I guess Jonathan Swift with "Gulliver" and Oscar Wilde with "Picture of Dorian Grey" were the fathers of this genre and Gaiman and Pratchett are the modern writers of it. Extra points if it is actually set in Victorian or pseudo-Victorian (which is Pratchett) setting.
Btw, is it "unambitious" to consider Wilde, Gaiman, Pratchett and Clarke to be one's favourite writers? I like them much more than your ambitious ones, like Marquez. :blush:
Quote from: CountDeMoney on June 28, 2012, 08:45:07 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on June 28, 2012, 07:08:00 AMIf you want British magical realism I'd suggest Rushdie - in particular Midnight's Children or the Moor's Last Sigh -
I don't believe Martinus wants to think too much.
Yes. :Embarrass:
Hey Martinus, you probably want to read this:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0307744434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340907237&sr=8-1&keywords=night+circus
QuoteThe circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
It is very reminiscent of Gaiman and Clarke - atmospheric, with magic and romance galore (and no deep thinking :D). A page-turner.
Thanks, sounds interesting. :D
Quote from: Martinus on June 28, 2012, 06:51:23 AM
Ok, so I'm looking for some book recommendations which are rather specific: writers similar to Pratchett, Gaiman or Susana Clarke - i.e. thoughtful British softly-leftist magical realism (Pratchett is technically not a magical realism writer but his later books make Ankh-Morpork quite clearly a satire on Victorian England so it counts).
So nobody calls him on this stuff anymore? Victorian London? Christ.
Did anyone suggest China Mieville? Perdidio Street Station isn't magical realism (but Marty doesn't know what that is anyway), but it seems to fit what he's describing. It's British Leftist fantasy. Perhaps bit harder left then others, but is good.
Quote from: Razgovory on June 28, 2012, 01:33:43 PM
Did anyone suggest China Mieville? Perdidio Street Station isn't magical realism (but Marty doesn't know what that is anyway), but it seems to fit what he's describing. It's British Leftist fantasy. Perhaps bit harder left then others, but is good.
I thought of that, but it is much darker in tone than the stuff he was citing.
I've heard really really good stuff about Mieville but not read any yet.
Quote from: Sheilbh on June 28, 2012, 01:55:02 PM
I've heard really really good stuff about Mieville but not read any yet.
It isn't for everyone, that's for sure. His best is probably Perdido Street Station, but the overall grottiness of the setting is sorta off-putting to some. He is an author in love with perversity, and his work has been compared to Gormenghast - but it lacks the gleefull edge to the insanity that lightens that work. In Perdido, everything is wierd, grungy and gross. It's like steampunk by way of Frank Miller's Sin Sity crossed with H.P. Lovecraft - imagine noirish tentacled monstrosities whoring themselves out for some unimaginably bad drugs. :D
I decided to watch Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law instead. :blush:
Where's that homophobe?
Quote from: Martinus on June 28, 2012, 01:04:03 PM
What I'm looking for is a sort of mix of wry humour and "supernatural mixing with mundane" while serving also as a satire.
You might want to check out Glen Cook, then. Not so much his
Black Company stuff, but the
Garrett, P.I. books fit that bill, although with perhaps more emphasis on the supernatural than you're looking for.
Glen Cook. :wub:
He might like Brust's Vlad Taltos books.
Quote from: Martinus on June 28, 2012, 02:36:15 PM
I decided to watch Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law instead. :blush:
It was fun.