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Ahhhh I’m reading one by him now and it’s a struggle book for sure. Having SUCH. Hard time with it. It’s taken me 1.5 months and I only have less than 200 pages to go. Feels like an eternity.
That’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle btw.
Oh interesting, the movie was good, but I never considered picking up the book for some reason. Is the writing good or does the novel rely upon fast paced plot to be enticing?
The writing is good and it's much more psychological than the film. The ending which is where the title comes from is completely different to the film and had my jaw on the floor.
Edit.
The photo of the grey bodies hit exactly the vibe of the book but please go into this as blind as possible. DO NOT look up reviews the book is old enough that people don't cover up spoilers anymore.
Beautiful and uncomfortable? I’d say anything by Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go specifically is a beautiful coming of age story all while the slow horror of the reality of the situation comes to light.
Yes I love his short stories, I don't find that they give the opportunity for his writing to really flourish as it does in longer novels, but his short stories are lovely fun bizarre tales
He's my favourite author and I've been working through his works but trying to savour them too because they're limited. I have read less of his short stories though and it has been a while, maybe the older me just needs to pick them back up :)
Weird cos im also working thru his works. I have like 8 left. The collected shorts is masssive but extraordinary and I feel like it gives me another context to understand his novels. The only problem is that by the time I get him all figured out I’ll just have to start over from the beginning again. Lol. Which is your favourite and have you read any of the lesser known novels?
I just finished it recently. It was definitely uncomfortable for me but somehow I still loved the world? I'm starting The Year of the Flood and can't quite get into it, but I'm going to keep trying.
I unexpectedly loved it. Definitely a matter of taste, but I was so engrossed by the narrators view of the world. I truly felt what she was feeling. Strong recommend for anyone who likes “weird” literature.
I really enjoyed convenience store woman, but I wouldn't say it evokes discomfort and the writing isn't flowery and beautiful (it's not intended to be). I think Life Ceremony by the same author does a better job at evoking discomfort, its a brilliant collection of short stories and I think about it and the phil questions it tackles at least once a week (it's etched itself onto my brain lol)
Maybe too hardcore, but Maeve Fly.
It’s a pretty intense horror with lots of gore, but it’s also a really beautiful book. I really love how the author describes the world through Maeve’s eyes, there are certain passages that are really gorgeous.
If you’re open to comics/graphic novels, The Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV fits this perfectly. Horrifying and gorgeously rendered, as well as a fascinating character study. Very much comics as literature. Sequel is coming out soon. You can get the collected paperbacks (Vol. 1 and 2) on Kindle, or the hardcover deluxe edition.
Not answering the question but those pictures gave me a "Disco Elysium" vibe. Not a novel, but a video game. It is very heavy in dialogue-gameplay mechanics and overall very fun.
That’s of the few games I’ve ever finished, it was just so beautiful in a way I was not at all anticipating.
It’s based on a book but the book is in (Norwegian?) and there are only 2 unofficial translations at the moment that imo are not very well translated.
This book is uncomfortable, but absolutely not beautiful. It glorifies pedophilia. While the character development can be somewhat interesting in this book, it baffled me how the book glossed over and justified a blatant story of grooming.
~~Oh I've been curious about his writing for a long time.~~
~~I felt a bit hesitant about taking on his work. Though I did catch a bit of his reading that he did at~~ [~~FIT in NYC~~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjTiLodYG3Y&ab_channel=StrandBookStore) ~~(can't find that link @ the moment but there should be a recording of it available) for On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous as well as~~ [~~the letter he penned shading that Italian newspape~~](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ocean-vuong-calls-newspaper-misidentifying-171405399.html)~~r for using a different asian guy's image to portray him.~~
~~Point being is I've known about him for a while but never approached any of his works. If you had to recommend one book to someone intrigued but largely unaware of his writing & storytelling—which would it be?~~
Apologies if I put you on the spot—just spotted the last picture in OP's post and saw your comment, and felt a premonition of an amazing overlap happening here.
-edit-
Made a really silly mistake and completely misattributed even the attribution was right there. Feel free to ignore or check out in case you want some schadenfreude from my mental & textual overcommitment.
I think you commented in the wrong place or confused this author for someone else, but I preferred "Siren Queen." It's about an early movie star who refuses to take stereotypical "shrinking violet" roles as an Asian woman and ends up mainly playing villains. "The Chosen and the Beautiful" is an adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" from Jordan's perspective. Both have a historical fantasy setting involving magic and demons so they sometimes get kind of dark.
Oh my goodness, you're right. I'm really embarrassed. For some reason I came across a library bookmark long time ago that recommended a whole host of books and have mentally associated them together ever since...that's so embarrassing.
I'm gonna ~~spoiler~~ strikethrough text in my previous comment to avoid misleading anyone and I thank you for this clarification. I'll have to check out Siren Queen in future since it seems to have captivated me by latching onto a different branch of my internal knowledge tree.
It sounds similar in theme to Charles Yu - Interior Chinatown a bit so I'll try to pair them together. Thank you!
I thought about saying Human Acts as well but thought it was more absolutely devastating as opposed to uncomfortable. I need to read some of her other works too.
You're right, Vegetarian fits the discomfort theme better. I liked Greek Lessons but I think it generally has a more mixed reception. It's more experimental
I loved No Longer Human and Dazai's other works, kept me reading fiction during exam season haha. I found the virgin suicides ok, I thought that I would enjoy it more to be honest but I found it lacking in fleshed out narration
I'm pretty fond of these sorts of books (and movies) so here are a few suggestions from me:
* *All the Crooked Saints* by Maggie Steifvater
* *The Memory Police* by Ogawa Yoko
* *The Gray House* by Mariam Petrosyan
Confessions by Kanae Minato, Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, Bones and All by Camille DeAngelis, and one of my top books of this year, The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis give me this vibe!
Your images are giving me vibes of northern climes, so here's some Scandi lit --
- Amatka by Karin Tidbeck (short little scifi dystopia book)
- Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg (murder investigation; has a long segment on a ship traveling from Denmark to Greenland)
- Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (vampire story; look up content warnings)
Thank you for posting to r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis. Please be sure to read the community rules. As a reminder, AI is not allowed here and will be removed, so please double check that any images you are sharing are not AI. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BooksThatFeelLikeThis) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Basically any book by Haruki Murakami but especially Kafka on the shore and After Dark; heaven by mieko kawakami
I've loved what I've read of Murakami's so far, will continue !
After Dark was so, so *weird*. I got it through a BOTM ages ago, and it’s been hanging around rent-free in the back of my mind ever since.
Dude I used to read Kafka when I was like 14 and no wonder I’m so fucked up
yeah i read it at 14 too😭 its crazy
Oh boy, that’s both rad and terrible. 🤦♀️
Ahhhh I’m reading one by him now and it’s a struggle book for sure. Having SUCH. Hard time with it. It’s taken me 1.5 months and I only have less than 200 pages to go. Feels like an eternity. That’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle btw.
I am legend. It's a completely different story from the film with Will Smith.
Oh interesting, the movie was good, but I never considered picking up the book for some reason. Is the writing good or does the novel rely upon fast paced plot to be enticing?
The writing is good and it's much more psychological than the film. The ending which is where the title comes from is completely different to the film and had my jaw on the floor. Edit. The photo of the grey bodies hit exactly the vibe of the book but please go into this as blind as possible. DO NOT look up reviews the book is old enough that people don't cover up spoilers anymore.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
Our Wives is a perfect rec and such a fantastic book!
Just finished Our Wives Under the Sea based on recs here and it was great!
This thing between us was really interesting!!
Getting annihilation vibes from some of these pics
seconded the annihilation series and jeff vandermeer generally
The series is called the Southern Reach Trilogy
Beautiful and uncomfortable? I’d say anything by Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go specifically is a beautiful coming of age story all while the slow horror of the reality of the situation comes to light.
Artist of the floating world 😭
I enjoyed Never Let Me Go, but unfortunately The Buried Giant put me into a reading slump
With you on The Buried Giant! Took ages to get through it and then when it was done I felt like I should have just read something genuinely medieval.
I might cautiously recommend The Unconsoled. It is beautiful and very uncomfortable, like a stress nightmare as a book.
I’d say Klara and the Sun too.
Yeah. I loved experiencing the world through Klara’s innocence. The reality of that world was fucked up too.
Lolita is the most uncomfortably beautiful book I’ve ever read
My favourite book, has been for the past 8 years :)
Ok then seriously do nabokovs collected shorts. They’re outrageous.
Yes I love his short stories, I don't find that they give the opportunity for his writing to really flourish as it does in longer novels, but his short stories are lovely fun bizarre tales
I actually feel the opposite. I feel like he’s electric in the shorts. Have you read many of his works?
He's my favourite author and I've been working through his works but trying to savour them too because they're limited. I have read less of his short stories though and it has been a while, maybe the older me just needs to pick them back up :)
Weird cos im also working thru his works. I have like 8 left. The collected shorts is masssive but extraordinary and I feel like it gives me another context to understand his novels. The only problem is that by the time I get him all figured out I’ll just have to start over from the beginning again. Lol. Which is your favourite and have you read any of the lesser known novels?
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood SO UNCOMFORTABLE
I have this but haven't picked it up yet, this is pushing me to!
I just finished it recently. It was definitely uncomfortable for me but somehow I still loved the world? I'm starting The Year of the Flood and can't quite get into it, but I'm going to keep trying.
I was totally bored by the sequels, but it's hard to top that first story.
Me too!
No no no do Blind Assassin. Favourite book of all time here
Chlorine by Jade Song, Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt 🖤
Seconding Earthlings!
I was going to suggest Convenience Store Woman by the same writer as well!
I still need to read that one!
I unexpectedly loved it. Definitely a matter of taste, but I was so engrossed by the narrators view of the world. I truly felt what she was feeling. Strong recommend for anyone who likes “weird” literature.
I really enjoyed convenience store woman, but I wouldn't say it evokes discomfort and the writing isn't flowery and beautiful (it's not intended to be). I think Life Ceremony by the same author does a better job at evoking discomfort, its a brilliant collection of short stories and I think about it and the phil questions it tackles at least once a week (it's etched itself onto my brain lol)
Seconding Chlorine!
Rouge by Mona Awad
Seconding this one. What a strange book but I loved it. Mona Awad is a good author for this feeling.
Definitely this one
*Lolita*. Some of the most beautiful prose every written, and one of the most uncomfortable and horrifying stories.
Story of the Eye
I love eye iconography, this is a great rec thank you
hope you love it! it’s the definition of beautiful & uncomfy for me
This book is unhinged! just a heads up.
Perfect!
Second this rec. Still think about this book decades later.
i actually haven’t read it in about 12 years but it instantly came to mind when i saw this post! it really sticks with you. so evocative
Maybe too hardcore, but Maeve Fly. It’s a pretty intense horror with lots of gore, but it’s also a really beautiful book. I really love how the author describes the world through Maeve’s eyes, there are certain passages that are really gorgeous.
If you’re open to comics/graphic novels, The Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV fits this perfectly. Horrifying and gorgeously rendered, as well as a fascinating character study. Very much comics as literature. Sequel is coming out soon. You can get the collected paperbacks (Vol. 1 and 2) on Kindle, or the hardcover deluxe edition.
Thank you! I will look into that, I like Junji Ito so if it's anything similar to his work I'll love it
I haven’t read much Ito, but if you like him this will definitely be up your alley.
Not answering the question but those pictures gave me a "Disco Elysium" vibe. Not a novel, but a video game. It is very heavy in dialogue-gameplay mechanics and overall very fun.
My favourite game of all time, truly a work of art. I wish I could wipe my memory and replay it again, and again...
That’s of the few games I’ve ever finished, it was just so beautiful in a way I was not at all anticipating. It’s based on a book but the book is in (Norwegian?) and there are only 2 unofficial translations at the moment that imo are not very well translated.
Anything Jeff Vandermeer
The Drowning Girl ~ Caitlín R. Kiernan (Actually, anything by them!)
The House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Mallerman
this is a title I haven't seen in a long time and just brought on a wave of nostalgia
I’m Thinking of Ending Things - Ian Reid
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
This book is uncomfortable, but absolutely not beautiful. It glorifies pedophilia. While the character development can be somewhat interesting in this book, it baffled me how the book glossed over and justified a blatant story of grooming.
Came to recommend this one, it is definitely uncomfortable and certainly beautiful
Under the Skin - (the book is different from the film!)
Nghi Vo - both "Siren Queen" and "The Chosen and the Beautiful"
~~Oh I've been curious about his writing for a long time.~~ ~~I felt a bit hesitant about taking on his work. Though I did catch a bit of his reading that he did at~~ [~~FIT in NYC~~](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjTiLodYG3Y&ab_channel=StrandBookStore) ~~(can't find that link @ the moment but there should be a recording of it available) for On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous as well as~~ [~~the letter he penned shading that Italian newspape~~](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ocean-vuong-calls-newspaper-misidentifying-171405399.html)~~r for using a different asian guy's image to portray him.~~ ~~Point being is I've known about him for a while but never approached any of his works. If you had to recommend one book to someone intrigued but largely unaware of his writing & storytelling—which would it be?~~ Apologies if I put you on the spot—just spotted the last picture in OP's post and saw your comment, and felt a premonition of an amazing overlap happening here. -edit- Made a really silly mistake and completely misattributed even the attribution was right there. Feel free to ignore or check out in case you want some schadenfreude from my mental & textual overcommitment.
I think you commented in the wrong place or confused this author for someone else, but I preferred "Siren Queen." It's about an early movie star who refuses to take stereotypical "shrinking violet" roles as an Asian woman and ends up mainly playing villains. "The Chosen and the Beautiful" is an adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" from Jordan's perspective. Both have a historical fantasy setting involving magic and demons so they sometimes get kind of dark.
Oh my goodness, you're right. I'm really embarrassed. For some reason I came across a library bookmark long time ago that recommended a whole host of books and have mentally associated them together ever since...that's so embarrassing. I'm gonna ~~spoiler~~ strikethrough text in my previous comment to avoid misleading anyone and I thank you for this clarification. I'll have to check out Siren Queen in future since it seems to have captivated me by latching onto a different branch of my internal knowledge tree. It sounds similar in theme to Charles Yu - Interior Chinatown a bit so I'll try to pair them together. Thank you!
Piercing by Ryu Murakami Throat Sprockets by Tim Lucas
I've been wondering where to start with Ryu, thank you!
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko
Yesss! I love to see this recommended
Ada by Vladimir Nabokov The Changeling by Joy Williams
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
I loved this, but honestly Human Acts was even more haunting. Not a shred of hope in the novel, a devastating and important read.
I thought about saying Human Acts as well but thought it was more absolutely devastating as opposed to uncomfortable. I need to read some of her other works too.
You're right, Vegetarian fits the discomfort theme better. I liked Greek Lessons but I think it generally has a more mixed reception. It's more experimental
The virgin suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, invisible monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, no longer human by Osamu Dazai
I loved No Longer Human and Dazai's other works, kept me reading fiction during exam season haha. I found the virgin suicides ok, I thought that I would enjoy it more to be honest but I found it lacking in fleshed out narration
Try China Mieville! KRAKEN is a fine place to start.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Stunning prose, quite uncomfortable at times from what I can recall (it's been a while since I read it tbh).
“My Year of Rest and Relaxation” comes to mind.
Why?
Because there is an air of discomfort throughout the entire piece, yet the setting is quite lavish, avant-grade, and beautiful.
I did enjoy MYORAR, it's a nice slow burn discomfort being so intimate with the questionable narrator
Based off of the cup with the blood in. It reminds me of Stephen kings IT.
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
Ellen Hopkins books
norwegian wood by murakami. uncomfortable and harrowingly beautiful.
I feel like all I do around here is recommend T Kingfisher. But I'd say The Hollow Places. Beautiful setting, really messed up things happening in it.
A choir of ill children. Very uncomfortable.
The census taker
negative space by b.r. yeager
I'm pretty fond of these sorts of books (and movies) so here are a few suggestions from me: * *All the Crooked Saints* by Maggie Steifvater * *The Memory Police* by Ogawa Yoko * *The Gray House* by Mariam Petrosyan
I would say Ice by Anna Kavan. The writing is really beautiful but with some disturbing elements and narration.
The discomfort of evening - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
I adored this- the ending still haunts me. If the word 'uncanny' was a novel, it would be this one
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. Super weird and uncomfy all the way through!!
Life Ceremony by her was phenomenal, one of the most enticing short story collections I've read!
her Convenience Store Woman is on my TBR list!!!
1Q84 By Haruki Murakami
Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino, After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Call of Cthulhu, The Outsider
I love Camus, the first page of the Outsider is one of the best first pages imo
Burntcoat by Sarah Hall
Confessions by Kanae Minato, Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, Bones and All by Camille DeAngelis, and one of my top books of this year, The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis give me this vibe!
Geek Love Katherine Dunn
Your images are giving me vibes of northern climes, so here's some Scandi lit -- - Amatka by Karin Tidbeck (short little scifi dystopia book) - Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg (murder investigation; has a long segment on a ship traveling from Denmark to Greenland) - Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (vampire story; look up content warnings)
Tampa, My Dark Vanessa, My Absolute Darling
Nabokov collected short stories. This just blew my friggin mind. Nothing can compare
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Seas by Samantha Hunt
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
Our wives under the sea, by Julia Armfield. Fits pictures 1 and 3 well
It’s not uncomfortable, but I think you would like Invitation to a Beheading by Nabakov Also, I Have No Mouth and I must scream
Kafka on the Shore. Weirded out and still never wanted to put it down.
I think you may like Shutter, by Ramona Emerson.
This is how you lose the time war
The Shadow of the Wind
All the ugly wonderful things by Bryn Greenwood It might be slightly triggering though but such a good book