13 Challenging Experimental reads that give you a sense of accomplishment! (and not hate reading altogether)

[Girish, The Good cop]

One does not ride a roller coaster to get from point A to point B. In a book equivalent, here is a curated reading list of roller coaster books that is not your everyday read, take you through a multitude of emotions and when you are done - make it seem worth it!

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler : Calvino’s genius book is a tribute to books and storytelling. Except, you don’t know that till you are done with the book (and maybe checked discussion forums)

Cloud Atlas : A complex clever book which is actually 6 books in itself. One cannot hope to read it in a week and you will fall in love with the David Mitchell universe.

A Clockwork Orange : This dystopian dark book has oodles of extreme violence. If you think that you can handle that too - it has it’s own invented language called Nadsat.

The Complete Cosmicomics : How would you read(/write) a book without characters? With abstract entities, numbers and scientific concepts stretched to fictional writing. Nothing like you will ever read.

My Name Is Red : Orhan Pamuk’s postmodern novel set in Ottoman empire of the 16th century. At once a mystery, a love story and exploration of different schools of art - the book can challenge even the most seasoned reader with it’s moving POV including inanimate things.

The Name of the Rose : Prima facie a murder mystery in an Italian monastery in 14th century - the book soon becomes an intellectual mystery of semiotics, biblical interpretation and the theory of language.

Catch-22 : One of the most abandoned satirical war book, the book is a dollop of anti-war sentiment wrapped in absurdist layered writing. The polarised reviews don’t do justice to the brilliance of Mr.Heller.

The Bone People : This booker prize winning book was rejected by many publishing houses as they didn’t understand what the book was about. An experimental writing that explores the Maori tradition and motifs through modern characters.

The New York Trilogy : A Postmodern interpretation of a detective novel, the mind bending book is a parlor trick in 3 parts. It weaves together plots with interchangeable characters and a fun reading experience.

Lincoln in the Bardo : The book has 166 narrators - only 1 or 2 of them alive. It takes a while to get used to the voices, but merging historical facts with fiction this book tells a powerful tale of grief and reconciliation.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being : A book about two women, two men and a dog and world of existential philosophy and playful wordplay. The book is a mixed bag with philosophical ruminations on love, sex and life.

Midnight's Children : Salman Rushdie’s Booker of Bookers winning book is a tour de force of India’s post colonial history told through a memorable Salim Sinai. Lofty words, magical realism and an index to the Indian history makes it a challenging but rewarding read.

Hopscotch : Dubbed a counter novel, this stream of consciousness narrative has multiple reading sequences of the chapters.


Bonus 5 Bucket List Items for books that are also an endurance test
#1 : Infinite Jest
#2 : Atlas Shrugged
#3 : War and PeaceAtlas Shrugged
#4 : Ducks, Newburyport
#5 : A Brief History of Seven Killings

Which are the books you would add to this list? We would be glad to hear from you!

[Akanksha]

1. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
2. No Bones by Anna Burns
3. In the Making by G.F. Green

I tried to name books that feature challenging narrative techniques, and not ones that are comparatively harder to read because they are old, or long or both.

[Gorab, TheGunman]

brilliant list Girish! The kind of books I was really scared of... have read only 1 - Cloud Atlas - and can vouch for its awesomeness!

DNFed Catch-22 and Rushdie - might pick them up again after gaining some experience in reading.

So many to look forward to from this list.

[Ahtims]

well curated list, Girish.

My experience with these
If on a winters night - DNF :P
Cloud Atlas -liked second time round
Clockwork orange - DNF
Cosmicomics - havent attempted
My name is red - loved the initial half, was perplexed by latter half
Name of the rose - loved the movie as well as the book
Catch 22 - have started and abandoned atleast 5 or 6 times
Bone people - yet to read
New York trilogy - read and loved book 1
Lincoln in the Bardo - my most recent DNF at 40%
Unbearable lightness - havent read, may not read
Midnight's children - DNF at 50%
Hopscotch - didnt even know such a book existed

from the endurance list
War and Peace and Infinite jest are not yet conquered, but conquer will I , some day...
Rest ... I may not attempt

[Makrand]

Wow!! Thanks for this amazing list Girish. Will keep an eye on this thread for me.

I wish to add one such you-wont-get-to-read-this-everyday kinda book

House of Leaves This is a crazzy craaazy book! Multiple storylines, multiple narrators & quite a disturbing idea behind it.

[Girish, The Good cop]

Akanksha wrote: "1. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
2. No Bones by Anna Burns
3. In the Making by G.F. Green

I tried to name boo..."

Interesting books. I am sure Milkman by Anna Burns would feature in the list too!

[Girish, The Good cop]

Em*bedded-in-books* wrote: "well curated list, Girish.

My experience with these
If on a winters night - DNF :P
Cloud Atlas -liked second time round
Clockwork orange - DNF
Cosmicomics - havent attempted
My name is red - loved..."

Thanks Gorab, Doc. Looking at your list the challenging part is definitely validated ;D

[Girish, The Good cop]

Makrand wrote: "Wow!! Thanks for this amazing list Girish. Will keep an eye on this thread for me.

I wish to add one such you-wont-get-to-read-this-everyday kinda book

House of Leaves This is a cra..."

Thanks Mak. Adding it to my list!

[dely]

Here's another one that could fit that list: One Hundred Years of Solitude.

[Girish, The Good cop]

dely wrote: "Here's another one that could fit that list: One Hundred Years of Solitude."

In my TBR. Will read it this year mostly.

[dely]

Girish wrote: "dely wrote: "Here's another one that could fit that list: One Hundred Years of Solitude."

In my TBR. Will read it this year mostly."

Do keep a pencil and a sheet of paper next to you to start a genealogical tree since the first page, hehehe... the men of the family have all the same name :D

[Gorab, TheGunman]

i am bad with remembering names... even for the current reading books, I remember the characters by their initials. Books which have characters having similar initials give me a tough time. 100 years was a nightmare in that aspect :D

[Girish, The Good cop]

dely wrote: "Girish wrote: "dely wrote: "Here's another one that could fit that list: One Hundred Years of Solitude."

In my TBR. Will read it this year mostly."

Do keep a pencil and a sheet of pape..."

Lol! Thanks for the headsup. Had opportunities to read this earlier - this has been something I have put off intentionally

[dely]

Girish wrote: "Lol! Thanks for the headsup. Had opportunities to read this earlier - this has been something I have put off intentionally ."

No, why?! It's a wonderful story, I loved it.

[Gorab, TheGunman]

eeeeeehawwww! Thank you Girish for creating this list, thereby piquing interest for reading some challenging works. Took a resolve to target at least 1 book from this list in 2021 and I am glad (and feeling accomplished!) to have read and loved the first one from this list :) - If on a winter's night.... what a book!
Thanks to Rebecca for picking this up and luring into a good BR :)

[Gorab, TheGunman]

If on a winter's night a traveller = 10 books!
Cloud Atlas = 6 books!

Clever way of creating a top 100 eh? :P

[Girish, The Good cop]

Gorab wrote: "eeeeeehawwww! Thank you Girish for creating this list, thereby piquing interest for reading some challenging works. Took a resolve to target at least 1 book from this list in 2021 and I am glad (an..."

1 is tool less :P Most of them are actually simple reads - hopefully you continue the trend of reading 1 book a month for the rest of the year :D

[Gorab, TheGunman]

every month!!! ha ha ha! do you happen to be a manager in real life? :P
Don't know about months and count, but will keep adding 1 challenging book in currently reading throughout. Next target is Ghostwritten by Mitchell. Will add others based on how\when\who lures for a BR.

[Makrand]

I'd like to add a book that I recently read.
Although this doesn't qualify as a "challenging" read, but it most definitely can be added as an Experimental read.

Challenging too with respect to the gore in it. Quite disgusting at times but oddly satisfactory in the end.

The Wasp Factory