Comments on Favorite Magical Realism Novels - page 2

If you find a book shelved in "sci-fi/fantasy" it's not "magical realism." Books that fall under "magical realism" will be shelved in regular literature or contemporary.

I deleted a few that fall squarely in urban fantasy. If there be werewolves or other shapeshifters... that's not magical realism.

However, while Charles de Lint's books are urban fantasy, the magical components aren't overwhelming, and I can see why they'd be on here.

Are any of the true blood magic realism . In the novels they know that witches and vampires , fairies and shapeshifter exist in the world.

True Blood is urban fantasy, definitely not magical realism. A good rule of thumb: if it's shelved in sci-fi/fantasy, it has too much magic for magical realism.

These books have nothing in common, there is no way this is a genre!

I deleted The Fault in Our Stars from this list. It is in no way magical realism.

Mato wrote: "Agnes wrote: "It is a quite bad list, most of the books haven't got any connection with magical realism.

Here are a great list: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/or..."

Mato wr..."

great list from columbia! thank you!

Themis-Athena wrote: "Definition of Magical Realism provided on the website of Emory University (http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Ma...

"A literary mode rather than a distinguishable genre, magical re..."

Fantastic! Thank you for this in depth definition. It was exactly what I was looking for

Perhaps I will start a new list, then people can vote whether the contents qualify.

The Shadow of the Wind...was that magic realism? I loved it!

Ooohfa. What a gloriously whimsical dreamland of a list! Thanks to all who added titles. I'm gonna read my way through each and every one that I've missed.

And re: Haley's comment above about Water for Elephants not being magical realism.... I agree, but is there a phrase for 'real' novels that read like magical realism? If so, Water for Elephants definitely fits that bill. And if there's not a phrase to describe those types of titles, we need one, since I adore them. I'm voting for 'Lyrical Realism' since they read like tangible visceral poetry. ;)

So glad this list has reached a new comer. I have just read another book by Zafon and love it! Blessings to all

You forgot to take Harry Potter off the list.

Harry Potter definitely does not belong there. I think we would all agree with that. Yes.

Happy reading everyone. Still no feedback on my question re. Zafon....?

Jacob wrote: "How in the hell is Everything is Illuminated Magical Realism?".....hmmmnnn, As I recall it has NOTHING to do with magic realism whatsoever. I agree

Deleted a bunch that were clearly not magical realism. Including a bunch of self-published spam.....

Probably half the books on the list are not magical realism, but I haven't read them so I don't feel comfortable deleting that many.

I put Every Day by David Levithan on this list.

Love Allende and Marquez. Where is Neil Gaiman and China Mieville? Tom Robbins? A lot of these books are borderline for this category. Even though this list is flawed, it still provides a lot of great books to add to my list. Thanks!

Removed Watership Down which doesn't fit the category.

So glad to see any discussion of A Winter's Tale and Shadow of the Wind. Absolute stunners. These are books that took my breath away and transported me.

I agree with all of these comments, except about Life of Pi...I think there is a place for it in the magical realism genre. I think Salman Rushdie is a perfect example of someone who writes great magical realism. He's probably my favorite (along with Marquez) on this list.

Themis-Athena (Does not and never will own a Kindle) wrote: "Definition of Magical Realism provided on the website of Emory University (http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Ma...

"A literary mode rather than a distinguishable genre, magical re..."

How I wish goodreads had a like button. I will be following your website. I loved it!

Removed for being fantasy/scifi:
: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neverwhere
The Prestige
Outlander, etc
The Golden Compass
A Discovery of Witches, etc
Hidden Talents
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
A Curse Dark as Gold
Phantastes
The Talisman
Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony
The Chrysalids
A Dirty Job
Snow Crash

Kathryn wrote: "I disagree with Anne Rice being on the list. She's not magical realism because there is no realism in her novels. I'm not putting her down; I like the Mayfair Witch series alot, I'm just saying, te..."

Completely agree

Kerri wrote: "Alice Hoffman and Isabel Allende are my favorite magic realists and I'm glad they are on this list. The way I feel about magic realism, is that its just a hint or a small touch of magic or somethin..."

what about Gabriel Garcia Marquez? He's my absolute #1 most favorite author to date. I adore that man <3

God. Ok.
Magical realism is not urban fantasy.
A book does not need to have magic in it to be magical realism.

Confused about removal of:
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
which I consider to be straightforward magical realism.

Middlesex is a tale in which there are questions about what did and didn't happen. For a good example of that, see the death of one character who dies when their car goes off a bridge. In the book, there's a conflict about what comes next that is classic magical realism.

In Swamplandia!, the character assumes to be magic or uncanny many things that turn out to be real, banal, or even evil. Their eventual reveal as not-magic does not disqualify it from being magical realism.

Also, fantasy books can have magical realist moments qualifying them for this list. The HP series is almost 100% fantasy, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows could qualify because of the moment between Dumbledore and Harry that Harry will never quite know if it was real or in his mind or both. So while many books that are here are in the wrong category, don't dismiss books added to the list just because they're fantasy either.

Whoops. Sorry all. I added The Famished Road a second time by accident....

I don't remember The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry having any magic in it. Everything could have happened in reality.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry #148 has no magic in it. I really liked this book but everything in it is realistic. Deleted.

I'm sorry, Elyse.

I can't believe "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" isn't on this list!

http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/margin/r...

There are still muggles in the Harry Potter world who do not believe in magic and wouldn't act normal after finding out about it or simply take magic for granted as part of their world. That's why it cannot be categorized as magical realism.
The reason some people find the term harmful or offensive is because it sometimes assumes/labels what might be realistic fiction about contemporary issues, for a certain race or culture, as magic or fantasy.

Kathleen wrote: "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle A Novel

I am not sure if this qualifies but it was certainly a magical book to me...and an amazingly well-written story.

Kathleen"

I would say yes, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle qualifies as magical realism.

Among the books on this list that I've read, most are NOT magical realism. Many are fantasy, some are science fiction, and others are just plain, straight-forward prose.

Many of these are not magical realism; they are fantasy, they are science fiction, they are urban fantasy. The definition of magical realism needs to be much more tightly curated.