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Big Reading List of Slipstream Literature

Type: Preset list created by sturlington

Description: "...this is a kind of writing which simply makes you feel very strange; the way that living in the twentieth century makes you feel, if you are a person of a certain sensibility."

This list is based on one created at Readercon 2007. I have added some later works that would also qualify and also corrected some egregious omissions. Thumbs up books you would recommend; thumbs down books not worth reading.

Members: 10 participating members (show all)

All members' list: [1] 2 3 4Sort: Score | Title | Author | Date
1
The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka
6,620 members, 94 reviews
3.91 stars (3.91 stars)

Lists: andomck, thecoroner, ahef1963, amanda4242, krisa, aulsmith, sturlington

2
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut
32,011 members, 485 reviews
4.12 stars (4.12 stars)

Lists: sturlington, andomck, amanda4242, krisa, ahef1963

3
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
24,695 members, 621 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

Lists: krisa, amanda4242, ahef1963, thecoroner, sturlington

4
The Blind Assassin
by Margaret Atwood
12,690 members, 315 reviews
3.94 stars (3.94 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, krisa, ahef1963, thecoroner, sturlington

5
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
4,169 members, 222 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: andomck, sturlington, ahef1963, amanda4242, aulsmith

Explanations:

sturlington (4): This one was on the original canon list. But thinking about it, there is that sense when reading it that you're not sure what's real.

aulsmith (12): This is a good book, but I think it's fairly straight-forward horror, rather than slipstream

6
Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
19,571 members, 442 reviews
4.1 stars (4.1 stars)

Lists: andomck, amanda4242, krisa, sturlington

8
Blindness
by José Saramago
9,140 members, 295 reviews
4.1 stars (4.1 stars)

Lists: krisa, ahef1963, thecoroner, sturlington

9
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
9,088 members, 114 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: ahef1963, amanda4242, thecoroner, aulsmith, sturlington

Thumbs down: krisa

10
The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
8,338 members, 204 reviews
3.74 stars (3.74 stars)

Lists: andomck, sturlington, krisa, aulsmith

11
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
by Michael Chabon
7,954 members, 351 reviews
3.79 stars (3.79 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, sturlington, ahef1963, krisa

12
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
32,443 members, 1,127 reviews
4.12 stars (4.12 stars)

Lists: krisa, ahef1963, sturlington

13
Ulysses
by James Joyce
16,726 members, 232 reviews
4.05 stars (4.05 stars)

Lists: thecoroner, kara.shamy, aulsmith, ahef1963

Thumbs down: sturlington

Explanations:

sturlington (0): This was in the original canon list, but perhaps it's more a forerunner of slipstream, which seems to be more later 20th century.

aulsmith (15): If you don't take it too seriously or worry too much about what it all means, this is a pretty good book. I'm not sure what's slipstream about it.… (more)

14
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz
9,346 members, 392 reviews
3.87 stars (3.87 stars)

Lists: andomck, sturlington, krisa

15
The Diamond Age
by Neal Stephenson
8,853 members, 143 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, krisa, sturlington

16
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson
3,561 members, 212 reviews
4.06 stars (4.06 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, sturlington, ahef1963

17
The Third Policeman
by Flann O'Brien
3,069 members, 86 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: andomck, ahef1963, sturlington

18
The Lottery and Other Stories
by Shirley Jackson
1,891 members, 46 reviews
4.01 stars (4.01 stars)

Lists: ahef1963, andomck, aulsmith, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

19
Air: Or, Have Not Have
by Geoff Ryman
720 members, 28 reviews
3.72 stars (3.72 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, krisa, sturlington

20
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
24,926 members, 1,194 reviews
4.07 stars (4.07 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

21
Cat's Cradle
by Kurt Vonnegut
16,480 members, 200 reviews
4.12 stars (4.12 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, andomck, sturlington

Thumbs down: ahef1963

22
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro
15,526 members, 716 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: krisa, ahef1963, sturlington

Thumbs down: amanda4242

23
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami
13,353 members, 274 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: andomck, thecoroner, ahef1963

Thumbs down: sturlington

24
Oryx and Crake
by Margaret Atwood
12,339 members, 391 reviews
3.96 stars (3.96 stars)

Lists: sturlington, ahef1963

25
The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
8,852 members, 890 reviews
4.09 stars (4.09 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

26
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
by Italo Calvino
8,824 members, 182 reviews
4.07 stars (4.07 stars)

Lists: thecoroner, andomck, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

27
The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster
7,453 members, 121 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: Tombleweed, thecoroner, amanda4242, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington, aulsmith

Explanations:

aulsmith (0): I couldn't get past page 10

28
Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury
7,381 members, 196 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

29
Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson
7,249 members, 131 reviews
3.81 stars (3.81 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

30
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman
7,038 members, 588 reviews
4.09 stars (4.09 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, sturlington

31
Anathem
by Neal Stephenson
5,860 members, 218 reviews
4.21 stars (4.21 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

32
The French Lieutenant's Woman
by John Fowles
5,002 members, 89 reviews
3.84 stars (3.84 stars)

Lists: thecoroner, ahef1963, sturlington

Thumbs down: krisa

33
The Year of the Flood
by Margaret Atwood
4,926 members, 291 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

34
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
4,742 members, 421 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, sturlington

35
The Lathe of Heaven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
3,862 members, 92 reviews
3.99 stars (3.99 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

36
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
by Mark Dunn
2,640 members, 196 reviews
3.89 stars (3.89 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, sturlington

37
The Years of Rice and Salt
by Kim Stanley Robinson
2,558 members, 70 reviews
3.66 stars (3.66 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

38
Tenth of December: Stories
by George Saunders
1,816 members, 109 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, sturlington

39
MaddAddam
by Margaret Atwood
1,753 members, 109 reviews
3.96 stars (3.96 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

40
The House on the Strand
by Daphne du Maurier
1,633 members, 45 reviews
3.83 stars (3.83 stars)

Lists: mkbird, sturlington

41
Transition
by Iain M. Banks
1,404 members, 52 reviews
3.62 stars (3.62 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

42
The Female Man
by Joanna Russ
1,358 members, 33 reviews
3.63 stars (3.63 stars)

Lists: sturlington, krisa

43
The Book of Strange New Things
by Michel Faber
1,086 members, 78 reviews
3.78 stars (3.78 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, sturlington

44
The House on the Borderland
by William Hope Hodgson
861 members, 30 reviews
3.42 stars (3.42 stars)

Lists: mkbird, sturlington

45
Brown Girl in the Ring
by Nalo Hopkinson
624 members, 28 reviews
3.6 stars (3.6 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, sturlington

47
After Alice
by Gregory Maguire
457 members, 39 reviews
2.91 stars (2.91 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, sturlington

48
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
34,009 members, 861 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, sturlington

Thumbs down: ahef1963

49
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
32,080 members, 467 reviews
4.2 stars (4.2 stars)

Lists: andomck, thecoroner, krisa

Thumbs down: kara.shamy, sturlington

Explanations:

sturlington (0): Magical realism as a forerunner to slipstream.

50
The Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold
28,697 members, 836 reviews
3.71 stars (3.71 stars)

Lists: ahef1963, sturlington

Thumbs down: kara.shamy

51
Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut
12,520 members, 114 reviews
4 stars (4 stars)

Lists: andomck, sturlington

Thumbs down: amanda4242

52
Cloud Atlas: A Novel
by David Mitchell
12,397 members, 528 reviews
4.13 stars (4.13 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, sturlington

Thumbs down: krisa

53
House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
9,651 members, 247 reviews
4.12 stars (4.12 stars)

Lists: amanda4242, thecoroner

Thumbs down: sturlington

54
The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon
8,241 members, 136 reviews
3.73 stars (3.73 stars)

Lists: andomck

55
11/22/63
by Stephen King
6,995 members, 505 reviews
4.2 stars (4.2 stars)

Lists: sturlington, ahef1963

Thumbs down: krisa

56
The Man Who Was Thursday
by G. K. Chesterton
4,641 members, 119 reviews
3.8 stars (3.8 stars)

Lists: ahef1963

57
Geek Love
by Katherine Dunn
4,569 members, 115 reviews
4.02 stars (4.02 stars)

Lists: sturlington

58
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel
by David Mitchell
4,260 members, 259 reviews
4.08 stars (4.08 stars)

Lists: sturlington

59
Finnegans Wake
by James Joyce
3,806 members, 43 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, thecoroner, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington, aulsmith

Explanations:

aulsmith (0): There's a movie of this, believe it or not, and I did enjoy watching the Liffey flow and hearing parts of this read, but I'd never bother to try and read it through as a novel.… (more)

60
Little, Big
by John Crowley
3,138 members, 83 reviews
4.09 stars (4.09 stars)

Lists: krisa

61
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
by Philip K. Dick
3,043 members, 43 reviews
3.89 stars (3.89 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

Thumbs down: aulsmith

Explanations:

aulsmith (0): I found this a bit of a slog and I wouldn't read it again.

62
Dhalgren
by Samuel R. Delany
2,509 members, 57 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

Explanations:

aulsmith (10): This isn't as profound as Delany wants it to be, but it does offer an entree into the hidden world of sexual minorities.

63
The Bone Clocks
by David Mitchell
2,463 members, 186 reviews
3.83 stars (3.83 stars)

Lists: krisa, sturlington

Thumbs down: kara.shamy

64
Swamplandia!
by Karen Russell
2,460 members, 175 reviews
3.34 stars (3.34 stars)

Lists: andomck, sturlington

Thumbs down: krisa

65
Replay
by Ken Grimwood
2,335 members, 98 reviews
4.16 stars (4.16 stars)

Lists: sturlington

66
The Accidental
by Ali Smith
2,185 members, 90 reviews
3.2 stars (3.2 stars)

Lists: ahef1963, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

67
A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth L. Ozeki
2,057 members, 138 reviews
4.05 stars (4.05 stars)

Lists: sturlington

68
The Child in Time
by Ian McEwan
1,937 members, 36 reviews
3.6 stars (3.6 stars)

Lists: thecoroner, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

69
Independent People
by Halldór Laxness
1,863 members, 61 reviews
4.21 stars (4.21 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy, thecoroner

Thumbs down: sturlington

70
Specimen Days
by Michael Cunningham
1,658 members, 39 reviews
3.42 stars (3.42 stars)

Lists: sturlington

71
The Double
by Jose Saramago
1,642 members, 40 reviews
3.8 stars (3.8 stars)

Lists: ahef1963, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

72
The Keep
by Jennifer Egan
1,538 members, 78 reviews
3.41 stars (3.41 stars)

Lists: sturlington

73
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
by George Saunders
1,320 members, 45 reviews
4.06 stars (4.06 stars)

Lists: sturlington

74
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
by A. S. Byatt
1,096 members, 11 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: mkbird, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

75
Chronic City
by Jonathan Lethem
1,079 members, 46 reviews
3.58 stars (3.58 stars)

Lists: sturlington

76
As She Climbed Across the Table
by Jonathan Lethem
1,011 members, 22 reviews
3.57 stars (3.57 stars)

Lists: sturlington

77
Ægypt
by John Crowley
898 members, 16 reviews
4 stars (4 stars)

Lists: krisa

78
Amnesia Moon
by Jonathan Lethem
854 members, 22 reviews
3.48 stars (3.48 stars)

Lists: sturlington

79
Pretty Monsters: Stories
by Kelly Link
838 members, 49 reviews
4.02 stars (4.02 stars)

Lists: krisa

80
Authority
by Jeff VanderMeer
806 members, 58 reviews
3.69 stars (3.69 stars)

Lists: sturlington

81
World Made By Hand
by James Howard Kunstler
770 members, 48 reviews
3.49 stars (3.49 stars)

Lists: sturlington

82
The Children's Hospital
by Chris Adrian
757 members, 28 reviews
3.61 stars (3.61 stars)

Lists: sturlington

83
Was
by Geoff Ryman
728 members, 14 reviews
3.96 stars (3.96 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

84
Bones of the Moon
by Jonathan Carroll
719 members, 17 reviews
3.87 stars (3.87 stars)

Lists: krisa

85
Girl in Landscape
by Jonathan Lethem
689 members, 22 reviews
3.56 stars (3.56 stars)

Lists: sturlington

86
Acceptance
by Jeff VanderMeer
657 members, 51 reviews
3.67 stars (3.67 stars)

Lists: sturlington

87
Sleeping in Flame
by Jonathan Carroll
632 members, 17 reviews
4.02 stars (4.02 stars)

Lists: krisa

88
Sarah Canary
by Karen Joy Fowler
575 members, 19 reviews
3.6 stars (3.6 stars)

Lists: mkbird, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

89
The Child Garden
by Geoff Ryman
536 members, 12 reviews
3.76 stars (3.76 stars)

Lists: aulsmith, mkbird

Thumbs down: sturlington

90
Outside the Dog Museum
by Jonathan Carroll
522 members, 14 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: krisa

91
A Haunted House and Other Short Stories
by Virginia Woolf
520 members, 5 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy

92
Daemonomania
by John Crowley
457 members, 5 reviews
4.01 stars (4.01 stars)

Lists: krisa

93
The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard
by J. G. Ballard
454 members, 5 reviews
4.37 stars (4.37 stars)

Lists: thecoroner, krisa

Thumbs down: sturlington

94
From the Teeth of Angels
by Jonathan Carroll
365 members, 7 reviews
3.8 stars (3.8 stars)

Lists: krisa

95
The City, Not Long After
by Pat Murphy
363 members, 15 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: sturlington

96
The Robber Bridegroom
by Eudora Welty
362 members, 13 reviews
3.72 stars (3.72 stars)

Lists: mkbird, amanda4242

Thumbs down: sturlington

97
Galveston
by Sean Stewart
336 members, 8 reviews
3.83 stars (3.83 stars)

Lists: krisa

98
The Sundial
by Shirley Jackson
333 members, 9 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: sturlington

99
Just a Couple of Days
by Tony Vigorito
325 members, 5 reviews
3.71 stars (3.71 stars)

Lists: sturlington

100
Mockingbird
by Sean Stewart
316 members, 7 reviews
3.94 stars (3.94 stars)

Lists: krisa

All members' list: [1] 2 3 4Sort: Score | Title | Author | Date

About this list

Started by: sturlington (September 2014)

Type: Unnumbered

Related tags

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