Absurdism

Absurdist fiction is a genre of literature that focuses on the experiences of characters in a situation where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events. Common elements in absurdist fiction include satire, dark humour, incongruity, the abasement of reason, and controversy regarding the philosophical condition of being "nothing." ...more

Absurdism Books

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)

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Lists

The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Lu Xun

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Books About Meaning After Meaning Dies: Existence, Absurdity, Nihilism, Loneliness

11 books — 1 voter

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Dreamscapes

109 books — 61 voters

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Myth, Meaning, and Experience

269 books — 92 voters

The American Dream & The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

Absurd Theme

5 books — 1 voter

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Complete Modernist Reader

7 books — 1 voter

100 Modernist Reads

101 books — 52 voters

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Personality Picks! 136 Book Recommendations for (Nearly) Every Type of Reader

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Quotes Tagged “Absurdism”

“ Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. ”
― Albert Camus

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“ Princess Cookie’s cognitive pathways may have required a more comprehensive analysis. He knew that it was possible to employ certain progressive methods of neural interface, but he felt somewhat apprehensive about implementing them, for fear of the risks involved and of the limited returns such tactics might yield. For instance, it would be a particularly wasteful endeavor if, for the sake of exhausting every last option available, he were even to go so far as resorting to invasive Ontological N Princess Cookie’s cognitive pathways may have required a more comprehensive analysis. He knew that it was possible to employ certain progressive methods of neural interface, but he felt somewhat apprehensive about implementing them, for fear of the risks involved and of the limited returns such tactics might yield. For instance, it would be a particularly wasteful endeavor if, for the sake of exhausting every last option available, he were even to go so far as resorting to invasive Ontological Neurospelunkery, for this unorthodox process would only prove to be the cerebral equivalent of tracking a creature one was not even sure existed: surely one could happen upon some new species deep in the caverns somewhere and assume it to be the goal of one’s trek, but then there was a certain idiocy to this notion, as one would never be sure this newfound entity should prove to be what one wished it to be; taken further, this very need to find something, to begin with, would only lead one to clamber more deeply inward along rigorous paths and over unsteady terrain, the entirety of which could only be traversed with the arrogant resolve of someone who has already determined, with a misplaced sense of pride in his own assumptions, that he was undoubtedly making headway in a direction worthwhile. And assuming still that this process was the only viable option available, and further assuming that Morell could manage to find a way to track down the beast lingering ostensibly inside of Princess Cookie, what was he then to do with it? Exorcise the thing? Reason with it? Negotiate maybe? How? Could one hope to impose terms and conditions upon the behavior of something tracked and captured in the wilds of the intellect? The thought was a bizarre one and the prospect of achieving success with it unlikely. Perhaps, it would be enough to track the beast, but also to let it live according to its own inclinations inside of her. This would seem a more agreeable proposition. Unfortunately, however, the possibility still remained that there was no beast at all, but that the aberration plaguing her consciousness was merely a side effect of some divine, yet misunderstood purpose with which she had been imbued by the Almighty Lord Himself. She could very well have been functioning on a spiritual plane far beyond Morell’s ability to grasp, which, of course, seared any scrutiny leveled against her with the indelible brand of blasphemy. To say the least, the fear of Godly reprisal which this brand was sure to summon up only served to make the prospect of engaging in such measures as invasive Ontological Neurospelunkery seem both risky and wasteful. And thus, it was a nonstarter. ...more ”
― Ashim Shanker, Only the Deplorable

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