Postmodern Books

[Cookie8]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me some authors, or titles of postmodern literature for young adults (YA) / Teens. Also Contemporary realistic fiction thank you

[PeterL]

That would depend on which definition of postmodern you are using. You might want to see what books have been published by postmodernists, then consider which might be suitable for "young adults". I believe that everything by Umberto Eco is classified as postmodern, at least by some definitions.

[Tuesday]

I believe that everything by Umberto Eco is classified as postmodern, at least by some definitions.

Eco also came to my mind. I'm not sure if he said this himself, but I once read that when he started to write "The Name of the Rose" it was his goal to create the ultimate postmodern novel. Postmodern or not, the book is great either way :)

[PeterL]

Eco also came to my mind. I'm not sure if he said this himself, but I once read that when he started to write "The Name of the Rose" it was his goal to create the ultimate postmodern novel. Postmodern or not, the book is great either way :)

I hadn't known that he was trying to write the "ultimate postmodern novel". If that is true, then I think that he wrote novels that are more postmodern in The Island of the Day Before and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. The Name of the Rose is about semiotics, which is closer to communication theory than to postmodernism. My personal opinion is that it isn't meaningful to call literature postmodern.

[Tuesday]

I looked it up and he wrote it in his "Postscript to the Name of the Rose"...though it says "ideal postmodern novel" and not "ultimate". However, how do the novels you mentioned compare to The Name of the Rose? I read a lot of mixed reviews, especially about Focault's Pendulum, so I'm not really sure if they are enjoyable or not (I have no doubt that they are good ;)).

[Bii]

Hiya - I'm reading Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut at the moment which falls within the genre of 'postmodern'. Not sure there are any postmodernist writers who aim at young adults but this book is very accessible, not too long and very interesting (most importantly!). I would very much recommend it. Other than that, as others have commented, Umberto Eco would be considered postmodern, as would Phillip Roth and Italo Calvino but of all of these I think, for a teen/young adult, probably Kurt Vonnegut is the most accessible.

What attracts you to postmodern fiction?

[ennison]

The Penultimate Postmodern Novel by Tom Pinchtit

Subtitled

Being an Account of One Robinson Crusoe Sometime Mariner of Bristol, His Perigrinations and Ruminations Prior to His Late Arrival on the Isolated Isle of Juan Fernadez

[PeterL]

I looked it up and he wrote it in his "Postscript to the Name of the Rose"...though it says "ideal postmodern novel" and not "ultimate". However, how do the novels you mentioned compare to The Name of the Rose? I read a lot of mixed reviews, especially about Focault's Pendulum, so I'm not really sure if they are enjoyable or not (I have no doubt that they are good ;)).

I wonder what he meant by "ideal postmodern novel". How do they compare with The Name of the Rose, hmmm; that isn't easy to answer, because they are very different. The Name of the Rose is a relatively straightforward detective story; it is about signs. Foucault's Pendulum is a very complicated untangling of a variety of ideas that all circle around a small number of things; it is about interpretation and misinterpretation; I think Foucault's Pendulum is a better read than the Name. The Mysterious Flame is about mind and the nature of consciousness. Rather than giving in depth reviews, I simply suggest that you read more of Eco's fiction and his non-fiction. Anyone who likes reading fiction should read The Limits of Interpretation and parts of The Role of the Reader.
There are synopses and other information about his writing, etc. at
http://www.themodernword.com/eco/

[Mark F.]

Paul Auster, try The New York Trilogy and Oracle Night.