Entertaining non genre fiction?

[Alfred001]

I'm quite new to literature and haven't read much and I'm looking to read something now. I'm looking for recommendations on entertaining non genre fiction.

I've read some of the short stories from DF Wallace's Hideous Men and its been putting me to sleep. I've read some of the synopsises of Franzen's books and that alone almost put me to sleep.

So I'm looking something that isn't genre, but is entertaining. Also, I'd prefer something recent and I'd prefer short stories over something longer, but not necessarily on either of that.

[Pompey Bum]

I can't help you much on short stories, but if you want good and interesting modern fiction try Wolf Hall and (the sequel) Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. Those are technically historical fiction (set during the reign of Henry VIII), but they both won Man Booker so the Powers that Be at least consider them literature. You could also try Blood Merdian by Cormac McCarthy, which is set in the 19th century along the American/Mexican border; but be warned: it is very violent. Somewhat less violent but still very heavy would be Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer-winning The Road. Get through the first 100 pages or so (which are beautifully written but a little slow) and after that you will find the novel enthralling, scary, and ultimately extremely moving. Another Pulizer Prize winner you may want to read is All the Light You Cannot See, which is the story of a blind girl in the doomed city of St Malo at the close of WWII (and a disillusioned ex-Hitler Youth, and how they got there). It made me wish Alfred Hitchcock was still alive so he could make it into a film.

Alas, nothing is short. But read an exciting book and you won't want it to end. Good luck!

[HalInc]

Give Michael Chabon a go. His stuff is like really well written genre fiction.

[Eiseabhal]

Non-genre? Most fiction fits in some genre or other. Could you list the genres in which you have no interest.

[Alfred001]

Thanks, fellas!


Non-genre? Most fiction fits in some genre or other. Could you list the genres in which you have no interest.

I'm talking about the distinction between literary fiction and genre fiction.

[TheFifthElement]

It's a very wide field you're asking for. Some suggestions:
- Lightning Rods or The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
- White Noise by Don DeLillo
- The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
- All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
- The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
- How to be Both by Ali Smith
- Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
- Remainder by Tom McCarthy
- High Rise by J. G. Ballard
- Pretty much anything by Tove Jansson but perhaps consider The Summer Book. It is a good place to start.
- Boy / Youth / Summertime by J. M. Coetzee

Or maybe something by Haruki Murakami or Paul Auster. What have you read that you've enjoyed? That might enable a more targeted response.

[TheFifthElement]

Also if you particularly like short stories there is:
- Cosmicomics / Numbers in the Dark / Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino
- Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
- Self Help by Lorrie Moore
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (already mentioned, but it bears repeating)
- Heart's Wings and other stories by Gabriel Josipovici
- Palm of the Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
- Rashomon & other stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
- What we talk about when we talk about love by Raymond Carver
- The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Or you could try a good compendium like Weird or The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, That Glimpse of Truth and that might steer you towards something.

[prendrelemick]

There are some literary short story collections out there -

Dubliners by James Joyce is the obvious one. Also katherine mansfield, Sara Maitland and Pushkin are worth checking out.

[Alfred001]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone.

Yes, I would actually prefer short stories.


There are some literary short story collections out there -

Dubliners by James Joyce is the obvious one. Also katherine mansfield, Sara Maitland and Pushkin are worth checking out.

Dubliners is entertaining? I thought Joyce was very dull. (never read anything of his)

[Danik 2016]

Just have a go at it. "The Dead" is one of my favorite short stories.

[prendrelemick]

^Agree. One of those you find yourself thinking about years later.

[heartwing]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone.

Yes, I would actually prefer short stories.



Dubliners is entertaining? I thought Joyce was very dull. (never read anything of his)

Alfred: What are you looking for? Could you be more specific? Joyce is a modern master as far as the "non genre" you speak of here. And writers like Alice Munro, who would fit the short story bill, is not someone you like either though she won the Nobel and presumably with good reason. Both of these authors are personal favorites of mine.

What is "entertaining" to you?

If you have read enough Joyce and Munro to have an opinion, it seems like you may not be a complete novice in the wood of books.

[TheFifthElement]

Revenge of the Lawn by Richard Brautigan
Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Foxes Come at Night by Cees Nooteboom

all short story collections.

[heartwing]

Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


all short story collections.

I love Leaf Storm and I've rarely met a short story collection I didn't like.

[TheFifthElement]

I love Leaf Storm and I've rarely met a short story collection I didn't like.

I have a mixed relationship with short stories; I think I don't like them, then I remember all the amazing collections I've read (Leaf Storm included, anything by Tove Jansson, a particular fondness for Mr. Palomar and the brilliance of Raymond Carver) and realise actually I do. It is very strange. I've never read Alice Munro, but have seen your recommendation of her on another thread so will likely give her a whirl fairly soon.

[Alfred001]

Alfred: What are you looking for? Could you be more specific? Joyce is a modern master as far as the "non genre" you speak of here. And writers like Alice Munro, who would fit the short story bill, is not someone you like either though she won the Nobel and presumably with good reason. Both of these authors are personal favorites of mine.

What is "entertaining" to you?

If you have read enough Joyce and Munro to have an opinion, it seems like you may not be a complete novice in the wood of books.

No, like I said, I haven't read any Joyce... actually, now that I think of it, I DID read Portrait of an Artist, but it was a long time ago when I was a kid and I can't remember what I thought of it.

You ask what I'm looking for, I think a lot of people would say about some literary fiction that it's good but not entertaining or that its slower or something along those lines. I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read, besides having some "literary" value, as people would put it (not that the concept of "literaryness" is something I would accept, necessarily, but I'm just using the common terminology here).

My limited knowledge of literature is a problem here since I can't give references for comparison.

I suppose its difficult to talk about this since entertaining can be a relative term, what bores me maybe wouldn't bore someone else.