Disturbing books.

[MarcMcGrath]

Infinite Jest By David Foster Wallace is sprinkled with absurdity and horrific imagery. Scenes such as a crack addled prostitute, cradling her dead baby (still attached by the umbilical cord) and turning tricks so she can continue to chase her addiction (until the stench of the rotting infant causes the police and child social services to arrest her) are just some of the lovely imagery the Wallace uses in his novel. There's plenty more if you're interested, but it's also genius in its idea and execution, and really critiques societies addiction for entertainment in its many facets. It's a witty and ironic a masterpiece, but I'll digress before this becomes a 'Reading Rainbow' pitch for twisted literature...

[Moira]

The Collector by Fowles - Story of a kidnapping (One of the best books I have read)

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks - story of a disturbed teen - the line between the reality and fantasy is often blurred.

I agree, The Collector by Fowles is a very good reading although I consider The Magus to be the best novel he wrote.
Also you might enjoy The Divine Child - Pascal Bruckner - about a child that does not want to be born in this world and stays in his mother's womb for a few years while reading a lot and interacting with the outside world. Funny, inteligent, original ......

[Scheherazade]

I agree, The Collector by Fowles is a very good reading although I consider The Magus to be the best novel he wrote.

I haven't read The Magus yet... Can that be considered 'messed up Literature' as well.

I have also read French Lieutenant's Woman by Fowles, which was an excellent read.

[higley]

The Turn of the Screw is pretty disturbing, not because of the 'ghost story' but more the psychological stuff. Dean Koontz has written some really disturbing books that are very good reads.

And anything by Palahniuk is basically trippy.

[Robert Jordan]

It's hard to define "messed up' but here go my picks: Naked Lunch, IT, American Psycho, Lolita, Dracula, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Filth, Crime And Punishment, Trainspotting, Tropic Of Cancer, Sleepers, Battle Royale, etc etc. There are really too many to list but some of these are still masterpieces.

[Moira]

I haven't read The Magus yet... Can that be considered 'messed up Literature' as well.

I have also read French Lieutenant's Woman by Fowles, which was an excellent read.

I don't think The Magus should be considered messed up lit although it is hard to define 'messed up'. French Lieutenant's Woman was a very good read too but The Magus surpasses everything Fowles ever wrote.
I've read so many things on this site about Nacked Lunch that i really should give it a try. There was a movie made after the book, right? Does anyone know if it is good?

[CaptureLife]

Everybody's got that one book that you finished and said "wow, that was bizzare". Tell us about it.
For example:
When I was younger, I read the book Lizard Music by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. I know it was fantasy, but still... Synopsis: a young boy stays up late watching tv. When it goes off the air (it's the 70s), strange lizards appear and play hypnotizing music. He goes on what appears to be a drug-induced adventure with a man who has a chicken for a pet. The End
Your turn...

[Twister]

Amnesia Moon by Jonathan Lethem

It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. A guy by the name of Chaos embarks on a journey throughout the United States to find his identity as well as the cause for the breakdown of society.

The book ends rather abruptly leaving all the questions left unanswered.

[Derringer]

Leonard Cohen's Beautiful Losers. I have no idea what it was about.

[PeterL]

Probably Burroughs' cut-up novels, they look like they should be going somewhere, and they are ,ostly grammatical, but they are gibberish.

[Niamh]

by far it has to be "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brian

[NickAdams]

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings- Gabriel Garcia-Marquez

[malwethien]

Hmmm...define "weird." Hard to say, really....The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is wierd. So is A Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinsi...Kafka's "Metamorpohsis" is weird too...and anything by James Joyce...

[nps_marina]

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
I'm an Ishiguro junkkie, because I believe he writes beautifully, but he really was into something when he wrote this book- it's about this really good pianist who comes to a town to play for the grand opening of something, and he stays in a hotel. All of a sudden this hotel guy, who just a while ago he greeted as a stranger, is now his father, some woman is his wife, so... anyway, it's like these two full days of something that I could just compare to when we dream and wird ideas just merge together, one after the other.
Weird, well written, but what drove me really crazy was that the main character was always being late or disregarding previous meetings when new 'weird associations' sprung up and he was dragged elsewhere.

[tulysg1982]

Jane Austen's 'Emma'.well i read her pride and prejudice and was immensely pleased with it. then i thought to read her other novels.I get started with emma and i felt furious.its characters are not as intense as the former one.the 486 pages novel with numerous characters not having a sub plot not other setting except the highbery in uk.Reffering emma in each chapter.i felt its something the novelists personal revelation on some personal issues.i couldn't get what.I learned something from the novel---Always read the famous novels of a particular writer or you will get dissapointed.