/lit/ - Literature

>>15387080
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

>>15387098
There is a reason this is an obscure "gem" and not a hidden gem.

>>15387080
>Thinks anyone on /lit/ reads anything but the same books on the top 100 list, if even that
kek
This thread will die soon unfortunately

>>15387085
Good choice. Are you Indian?

OP, but I think this is a valuable contribution to (hopefully) keep this thread alive.

>>15387170
I'm going to be reading this soon. Looking forward to it; I've heard good things.

>>15387170
I certainly hope this isn't too obscure, it's fantastic

>>15387170
not obscure, but so good

There are several charts with this and this >>15387170. Not sure how they're obscure, more like not often discussed.

The Maimed was horrible. I've never been a fun of the grotesque but it was just sickening. An anon told me it's probably better in German, but whatever.
New York Trilogy is truly great, but I feel you need to read a couple noir mysteries to appreciate it some more, like Raymond Chandler or at least the Maltese Falcon.

maybe if i post lanark again people will read it

>>15387080

I hate that book so much it's cringe as hell

>>15387231
I've been trying. I made a thread when gray died and nobody knew who he was.

>>15387080
It’s not really hidden, but it never gets discussed here, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read, so I’m posting it here. It’s this wonderful surreal magical realism book with this incredible atmosphere that I’ve never experienced in anything else, and it’s barely 100 pages. Read it you fuckers

>>15387212
I guess I more meant obscure in the context of this board, not the global literary parlance. Sorry about the confusion.

I thought The Maimed brought up some pretty interesting ideas, told in sober, matter-of-fact prose.

Sonntag is a particularly good example of the 'grotesque redemption' popularized by Flannery O'Connor, I think.

>>15387289
>I guess I more meant obscure in the context of this board
It's on the exit core, depressing lit, minor classics and one extra chart, I'm sure. It used to be mentioned more often 6 or 8 years ago.
>Sonntag
As in Susan? My mom has a bunch of her novels. Where would one start? Still, I feel it's too late for me to appreciate any form of openly grotesque shit.

>>15387382
No, as in a character from The Maimed.

>>15387150
No, I'm American. Discovered this great novel through a class on modernism. Anand was extremely influenced by Joyce, and I think I'm correct in saying this was his response to Ulysses.

>>15387098
this looks based

>>15387085
KEK
I couldn't get past the toilet cleaning opening chapter. Fucking disgusting stuff.

This is the original post-modern experimental novel. Written in 1925. But no one talks about it because his mentee was much more successful: a man named Jorge Luis Borges.

>>15387407
>I'm American
>extremely influenced
you ain't got the lingo down yet, Pajeet..try again....

>>15387288
Intrigued. I'll check it out.

>>15387080

>>15387498
Borges actually met Macedonio.

>>15387080
Poor Polzer,.

>>15387085
lol poopoo

>>15387504
>ain't got the

That's right, he doesn't have the stupid American lingo.

This book deserves more attention

>>15387504
>>15387526
why is this board filled with cretins

>>15387231
This is actually the best novel ever written.

I'm waiting on 1982, Janine to come in. Can't wait to read it.

>>15387080

>>15387523
I thought it was a decent exploration of predetermination. Polzer had punctilious attention to maintaining order in his life, through the mundane tasks that he hoped would sanction his salvation. But his past inexorably gained on his furtive, paranoid hopes of comfort. Nothing is done for good; we must keep renewing our sins in order to keep following the bitter, humiliating, but ultimately, eternal road of atonement.

>>15387517
That's what a mentor usually does for his mentee.

>>15387098
Where can I find this online?

>>15387549
Because americans.

Niggas don't know

>>15387648
this nigga here know >>15387098

>>15387630
It should be public domain considering Bloom is dead and he disowned the novel.

>>15387288
reading this next

>>15387231
I will read it, just for you anon.
Is it on libgen?

>>15387080
Good choice, I'm currently reading that. Bretty good.

>>15387498
Tristram Shandy was the original post-modern experimental novel. Written in 1759.

>>15387098
kek

>>15387080

>>15387231
Awesome book. Shame that most of his career was spent on his art or insane vanity projects. Poor Things is also great.

>>15387288
Alright. Let's do it.

>>15389207
U got a pdf brother?

>>15387080
The Sunlight Dialogues
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Penguin Island
Omensetter's Luck
Motorman
Schlump
Eothen
Islandia
Flatland
Sacrament (by Clive Barker)
I served the King of England
Delilah (by Marcus Goodrich)
The Thornbirds
Winesburg, Ohio

>>15390043
>Eothen

I think this is the first time I've seen someone besides me mention that. It's a great read.

>>15387098
do not read this

based thread tho

Continue with the Russian Postmodernists.

Sorokin - The day of Oprichnik

Pelevin - Generation P, Omon Ra, Chapayev and the void

Written by Bill Barr’s dad (current US AG) Donald Barr. Donald Barr was an OSS agent (precursor to CIA) and was the individual who hired Epstein as a math professor without any degree.
Plot of the book is oligarchic intergalactic empire with illegal child sex slaves. Main character is attempting to escape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Relations?wprov=sfti1

Book is extremely rare and difficult to find.

>>15390310
>Book is extremely rare and difficult to find.
the pdf is on b-ok :)
anyone read it? is it actually well-written?

>>15387080

Hordubal

Krakatit

Another Roadside Attraction (Tom Robbins)

Mundo Cruel

The Gospel of Christian Atheism

Mars (Fritz Zorn)

The Book of the City of Ladies

Armand V

The Crime of Father Amaro

Death and the Penguin

Chicago (Alaa Al-Aswani)

Night People

The Porcine Canticles

Nada

...And the Earth did not devour him

Heartsnatcher (Boris Vian)

The Will of the Universe: The Unknown Intelligence

The Motion of Light in the Water

Riddley Walker

Cherry (Nico Walker)

The Time of Man

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page

Ka (by Velimir Khlebnikov)

>>15390318
Goodreads reviews are mixed.

>>15387080
The Blue Hussar
The Book of Monelle
The City of the Sun

>>15387498
One of the most well crafted things I have ever seen in any medium of art.

>>15390495
The Book of Monelle is unbelievably beautiful. I started bawling at my job when I read the story about the Red Queen.

>>15390341
> The crime of Father Amaro
nore fuel for my subtle priest fetishization. any more like that one?

>>15390085
I wish more of Sorokin's work was translated into English because I can't read Russian

>>15390881
me too, friend. i've read around 2/3 of his works in russian by now and i cant wait to start shilling his actual masterpieces on lit
i know it'd be hard to translate, maybe even pointless, but FUCK
pelevin is far easier to translate, he uses maybe 10% of linguistic subversion Srkn bathes in

>>15387498
Have you read it? It looks extremely complex

>>15390083
why?

>>15391101
I've read it. Took me a solid year to get through reading on and off but its amazing.

I'm just gonna keep bumping this. I won't ever run out of obscure hidden gems to post, its all I read.

>>15391373
what it about? NYRB Classics has it.

>>15391617
Read Speedboat by her first if you're interested (also on NYRB). Pitch Dark is about a woman interpreting her life as a mistress to a married man and what it says about her, and where it lead her, and how she got there. The plot of the book is fairly mundane even lacking at a glance but the strange circular rhythm and beautifully lyrical writing makes it turn it something much more. It's one of the few things I think qualifies as prose poetry.

>>15391249
Thank you

>>15391617
Here are two quotes to demonstrate her writing

>“Is it always the same story, then? Somebody loves and somebody doesn't, or loves less, or loves someone else. Or someone is a good soul and someone a villain. And there are just these episodes, anecdotes, places, pauses, hailings of cabs, overcomings of obstacles, or instances of being overcome by them, illnesses, accidents, recoveries, wars, desires, welcomings, rebuffs, baskings (rare, not so long), pinings (more frequent, perhaps, and longer), actions, failures to act, hesitations, proliferations, endings of the line, until there is death. Well, no. I have a wonderful, fond memory, about love and trust and books.” - Pitch Dark

>“Escape procedures, however, were in full force. Some people, in a frenzy of antipathy and boredom, were drinking themselves into extreme approximations of longing to be together. Exchanging phone numbers, demanding to have lunch, proposing to share an apartment—the escalations of fellowship had the air of a terminal auction, a fierce adult version of slapjack, a bill-payer loan from a finance company, an attempt to buy with one grand convivial debt, to be paid in future, an exit from each other’s company at that instant.” - Speedboat

>>15391682
No problem. Meyrink is one of my favorite authors of all time. There's nothing quite like putting the final puzzle piece of a 5 layer symbol into place and finally wrapping your head around a metaphor thats been up in the air for hundreds of pages. I will say that I would not have enjoyed this book as much without having read "Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age" by Frances Yates just before it by coincidence which covers John Dee in great detail.

>>15390510
>>15390495
anyone got an epub for it?

>>15387231
Based Lanarkfag, this post alone make this thread worthy.

>>15387080
Since people have been talking about Borges itt I can only recommend his good friend Adolfo Bioy Casares, underrecognized outside of Argentina. Shares the borgesian task for experimentation but is also very competent at dialogue and capable of blending strangeness with mundane explorations of the Argentinian cities. Try any of his novels (startwith Sleeping in the Sun if you want an easy and seamless entry in his work, or The invention of Morel for a look at his younger and sharper works). A lovely and intringuing read all around.

I'll also recommend The Future Eve, by Villiers de l'Isle Adam. Not so obscure as you'll probably have heard of this one if you've studied literature in French (sometimes even at mere highschool level), but very undermentioned on /lit/. It's a kind of early, ironic, metaphysical sci-fi that's also a meditation on truth and appearance in a deliberately ornate prose. Villiers was a disciple of Baudelaire and it shows in this novel. Also one of the main character is Thomas Edison, that Villiers made a point to fictionalize while he was still alive.

>>15391768
Nope there aren't any ebooks for 95%+ of Wakefield Press works. They only publish stuff that hasn't been translated before and aren't exactly well known. It's like less than $15 and I promise you won't be disappointed

what's your peradam lit?

>>15391803
hmm. I tried to read "A Night of Serious Drinking" by Dumal and it was near indecipherable. Probably because it seems to be a book of inside jokes about his friends. You like this work though?

>>15391814
There's lot of Gurdjeff influence but it's great stand alone novel.
Coincidentally it is not finished and it coined a word without meaning that ironically shouldn't have one but to the seeker, and that's cool.

>>15391835
Yea the perdam thing is cool as heck

>>15391793
you've convinced me, I shall order it. thank you for the rec

>>15387080

threse threads truly are the best on /lit/. here are some of my recs

oppossing shore by gracq - not super obscure but definitely not well enough known. at times tedious style but evokes some gripping emotions. It's like the tartar steppe, similar vibe

suicide by leve - written in second person about the life of the protagonist (literally (you)) after his suicide

the other side of the mountain by bernanos - marine adventure story that spirals into a surrealist hellscape

journey round my skull by karynthie - autobiographic piece about an hungarian writer who has a brain tumour

D'Annunzio and Lovecraft's forbidden love child

>>15390083
Something about this book turned me off. Idk I’ll read it again soon maybe. Got to page 100

>>15387080
Just finished than one a few days ago. It's basically a Robert Crumb comic.

>>15387382
Sonntag is Karl's caretaker who turns out to be some weird kind of preacher.

>>15391768
it's on Gutenberg in german and french(?), also available in russian. didnt find the english version sadly
t. happy ruanon

captures the 20's feeling because it was written in the 20's. rather dreamy, a tad idealistic with beams of sharp reality piercing the facade, nothing spectacular happening while the feelings churn inside, shown so subtly or sincerely where it fits.
a bit of Stoner vibe, but describing only the college.
peak comfycore. great prose and very readable, i rarely see first-person prose so in-character yet still beautiful
t. ruanon

also, this shit slaps. to all the fellow eastaboos, download it right now.
currently reading it, took a break just to shill it here, incredibly comfy niche theme and interesting plot
written well & in a manner impossible to botcher by translating. great insight into why muslim drawings look weird

>>15387571
I found a first edition of 1982 for only 3$ couldn't believe my luck, especially considering the big corporate bookshops have a reprint of it for 27$

>>15392035
About to start this, its in a collection with Second Skin and Travesty
What am I in for?

>>15394525
The Lime Twig is a pretty damn tough book to read, not gonna lie. It's post-modern and not afraid to show it often disregarding writing conventions to the extreme. If you can make your way through it though be ready for some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read. The story itself is pretty extreme involving crimes and murder but its fun.

Travesty is good too you just need to know its about Albert Camus work/life/death.

Is there more like this?

I recommended this book a few times and anons loved it. Trust me if you are browsing lit you need to read it.

Frank Sinatra - That's Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiUqfxFttM
EVERYTHING MUST GO
Cream - White Room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR90gQ-SIaY
All I have are negative THOTs:
JOKER - Final Trailer - Now Playing In Theaters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY
Frank Sinatra - Send In The Clowns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlqM_32s59A
JOKER - Teaser Trailer - Now Playing In Theaters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t433PEQGErc
Marilyn Manson - The Dope Show (Official Music Video)
We Are All Clowns Now.. In Dhe Dope Shoa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R682M3ZEyk
JOKER Teaser Trailer (Amusement Mile leaked footage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BR8_Q5c98s
Jimmy Durante - Smile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnrdd3LrRY
Joker Teaser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsK3ZQg2KU
Dhe Guess Who - Laughing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvzdtn43vnI
I Used To Think Dhat My Life Was A Tragedy
[BiC Cristal]
But Now I Realize It/s A Fraud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ond6r5pafjw

>Comedianne Prank

>>15391689
one of my favorite passages from Speedboat
>My own mind is a tenement. --- Some elevators work. There are orange peels and muggings in the halls. Squatters and double locks on some floors, a few flowered window boxes, half-dressed bachelors cooling on the outside fire steps; plaster falls. Sometimes it seems that this may be a nervous breakdown --- sleeping all day, tears, insomnia at midnight and again at four a.m. Then it occurs to me that a lot of people have it. Or, of course, worse.

>>15394646
seconded. actually one of the first I read when I came to lit

>>15394646
ty anon, ordered it about a week ago

>>15394646
This book made me stop coming to /lit/. I recommend it as well.

>>15395160
yet here you are

>>15394833
Ah, nice. I love her imagery. Pitch Dark is tied for my favorite book of all time, definitely read it if you can.

>>15395238
I am weak, sorry anon

The Book of Monelle

French child-prodigy poet falls in love with a prostitute who later dies then leaves him traumatized. He then writes this book, filled with childish tales nest to Zarathustrian passages against nostalgia.

>>15395401
Check out the book I just posted above also from Wakefield if you liked Monelle. Its not as beautiful but it is special in its own way. The titular story "The Cathedral of Mist" is wonderfully evocative in its imagery,

Contemporary Indonesian literature set in Jakarta. Wild and crazy book but written wonderfully. I don't really like common "World Literature" but this is just a fun story.

>>15389562
His art is amazing though (imo). I saw a lot of his works on display at the GOMA in Glasgow a few years ago and fell in love. Read Lanark not long after.

Glasgow is an amazing city. Used to dream about running into Alasdair Gray in the streets one day. Sad it'll never happen now

>>15391495
Read this for a course in uni, was really awesome. Sold my copy to a local used bookstore cuz poor student. Wish I still had it

>>15394303
Damn that's lucky. Where was it if you don't mind me asking? Glasgow shops seem to know the value of Gray's work. I saw a copy of Poor Things in a charity shop for like 60 quid one time

Baphomet: The Temple Mystery Unveiled, Tracy Twyman
Works and Days, Hesiod
The Family Fang, Kevin Wilson

>>15395865
I'm not usually one for poetry but this book blew me away when I read it. I'd never seen such wonderful images in poems before. The colors especially, its like hes painting with words.

>>15387080

A WHITENESS

As sibilant as snow, that awfulness:
The light of Heaven on the weight of Earth;
Consummate, absent, call it what you will,
It does not waver, bend, but only stream
Endless assent, in möbii of ribands
That inlay beauty on all that they have
Predestined us to love, and we are lost,
Ever to mark those plays of passing light.

Under the name of God, under its sword,
Under the shoals of late pale fallen snow,
Under the penitence of shadowy walls
Whose every stone is spectral, under boughs
Where there is no deception, lies a whiteness:
Time’s limitless forehead, stung. The prick of thorns.

>>15387080

If you're looking for a memorable and remarkably written memoir that recounts the memories of a boyhood set in the free country, look no further. This book, is in every sense of the word, bucolic.
Set in early 1900s Montana.
An incredibly comfy and evocative read that I reccomend highly.

>>15387080

>>15396638
why is this book being memed so hard today

read this during my first year of highschool. it's what got me into reading.

>>15387080
low iq need not apply

anything by Gabrielle Wittkop. i've only read Death of C. so far (i think it's not translated to english yet), it was so resonating i've been putting off reading the rest of her, as if i'm saving the tastiest bits for later - anyone else also autistically puts off reading great books?
great style, peculiar essense, de sadian tradition turned more lit than coomer

>>15389500
>>15390043
>Flatland
>>15390341
>Heartsnatcher (Boris Vian)
>The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
good shit

>>15396844
> https://youtu.be/TedsiCaV2B4
holy kek

>>15396844
>>15396928
I think the og anon wants us to read the author not the book
in the same way people watch "the room" of course the bad acting is hilarious but just after that
you see that behind this horrible piece of art lies a disturbed man
i encourage such ventures granted you have the time to do that

>>15389191
yes

>>15396858
I want to read her. Wakefield press has Exemplary Departures by her which is based on Marcel Schwab's "Imaginary Lives" which I believe they also have.

>>15387584
Just ordered this. If this is anything like Steppenwolf I'm going to be very, very upset.

>>15390043
>Winesburg, Ohio
That's a very famous book.

>>15394833
Bullcrap.

>>15398366
It's not one of my favorite quotes from her but it seems ok, What did you think of the other passages linked before that one?

>>15398180
It isn't talked about very much on here, and it's not as well known as other, more famous books (Don Quixote, Moby Dick, For Whom the Bell Tolls, etc.)

>>15390043
bohumil hrabal is tops; really connected with his 'too loud a solitude' book hoard concept. --what i love is killing me and I'm ok with that

>>15395885
Toronto

>>15398023
hey anon you read that too? Did you read Berg?

>>15398958
Sorry anon, I have not actually read anything by Ann Quinn yet she is just on my radar. I hadn't heard of Berg till now either.

>>15390341
Goodreads reviews are mixed.

>>15398958
I will mention that after looking it up, the reviewer I respect most on Goodreads gave it a 2/5 and said that he liked the book "Tripticks" by her a lot more giving it a 5/5

>>15399092
>caring about Goodreads reviews

>>15399092
Goodreads is for self-inflated fags. I just look at the cover and read the summary on the back to decide if I'll like it or not.

>>15399101
>Ignoring the ability to find people with similar tastes to you from all around the world and use their reviews to determine new books to read from the countless potential works.
sad

>>15399092
My anons on /lit/ have a better taste for what is good than some lame goodreads nerd

>>15399158
Many of us are on goodreads though

this types of threads always showcase the plebness of lit to me. posting nobel winners and canonical latam writers as if they were "obscure"

>>15399146
Fair enough, but I was talking more about the overall score given on Goodreads. I suppose I wasn't clear in what I meant. My apologies.

>>15399202
Whatever helps you sleep at night, but I like it better than the sea of Guenon, Zizek, and Nick Land spam.

>>15387098
Has anyone read Eagleton's novel? I heard it is actually good unlike Bloom's one. Is Eagleton the only critic who had the ability to create?

>>15399202
lmao, how about you link some stuff then. I've actually been avoiding linking the most obscure stuff I know because theres no reason to post stuff that no one will ever actually read like pic related.

>>15387098
it's shit

>>15387231
>>15387288
>>15387498
>>15390085
>>15391373
>>15391803
>>15392035
>>15394430
>>15394646
>>15395723

This thread is amazing. I wish I saw stuff like these discussed more often, but im glad to see these anons out here

>>15399095
Berg is peak depressing brit-lit.
Pic related is good too.

>>15399166
this

>>15399463
No problem friendo, I post them for people just like you and the knowledge that the wonderful people publishing these works can gain new adherents.

>>15399526
kudos as well for posting Wakefield Press especially. I rarely see them around but ive collected a couple, including The Conductor

Okay going to try to contribute since this is one of the better threads recently.

First is Gerald Murnane, a contemporary Australian fiction writer whos slowly gaining traction

>>15399547
Oh I absolutely love them, I actually just got The Conductor and one of their new publications (pic). They are waiting at home for me to crack open tonight.

Carpentier is generally better known in english for The Kingdom of this World, but The Chase is an excellent read too.

Im going to copy and paste the description from Carpentiers wikipedia page because it unironically sells it well:

Carpentier's masterpiece, El Acoso, was originally published in Spanish in 1956 by, and translated into American English by Alfred Mac Adam as The Chase and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1989,[49] after over three decades of suppression in the United States for Carpentier's affiliation with Fidel Castro's Cuba[50] (Carpentier had been Cuba's ambassador to France during this time). The novel is one of the most influential novels in contemporary Latin American literature, cited by authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jose Donoso and others as a major influence in the movement known in North America as Latin American Magical Realism.[49] The novel is highly compressed, richly atmospheric, philosophical, stylistically brilliant, and non-linear; plot is treated almost as an inconsequential side-effect. Though short (121 pages in English), the novel exhibits a certain labyrinthine quality as its fragmented narrative cycles and circles in upon itself. Ostensibly a man is being chased by somewhat shadowy, probably sinister, perhaps governmental, forces. The action starts on a rainy night at a symphonic concert and music plays a part in the clues necessary to piece together what is happening.[49] The Chase is perhaps Carpentier's strongest novel, and easily one of the better novels written in the 20th century, though it is almost unknown in the English-speaking world in spite of Mac Adam's superb 1989 translation.

>>15387516
anyone have a link to this?

>>15399563
welcome, I'm lacking in Australian lit authors so this is nice to see.

A personal favourite. Highly recommended.

I will be honest im not entirely sure how obscure these are, but im going by the logic that i dont always see these authors or works discussed on this board, and I think people would enjoy them based on whats already been posted earlier in the thread.

last one for now so that im not just spamming

I don't think I've ever seen this mentioned - it's close in style to his his fellow Austrian Bernhard but the tone and perspective are far softer.

It's the only one of his works translated into English so far.

>>15399677
I'll be checking them all out thanks for the contributions

>>15399666
I tried to find this book online the other month and couldn't manage it but it looked cool. Is it worth buying? Whats it about/like.

>>15387288
Also anglos should check "short stories" by Rulfo and Arreola.

>>15391870
My dude. I almost feel obligated to treat this like a religious text since Blanchot's knowledge of inner states itself constitutes a form of spirituality. It really stands alone in the threshold between fiction, philosophy, and horror, basically creating its own genre as a novel of mental states. Hopefully it'll inspire a writer to pick up its strain someday

>>15395354
Well then looks like I'm NOT going to read Tartar Steppe. Thanks for ruining it, anon

>>15399790
I read it last year and admittedly my recollection of it isn't the best so I apologize.

It actually isn't a top recommendation, but it's enjoyable, even though i felt like I didn't quite "get it". You could characterize the style as somewhere between surrealism and magical realism, without either being fully accurate. I would say that it's very "dreamy" (take that how you will).

The stories start off strong; the early ones generally deal with people who, through some repeated, focused, or obsessive pursuit of a hobby/idea/activity, try to control their experience of reality or construct meaningful frameworks of experience. The characters are involved in relatively ordinary experiences, but they prompt psychological and philosophical reflections on the nature of being, meaning, language, images, etc. It's a good balance of philosophizing without dragging down the narrative. It's insightful without being pedantic.

Where the book started to lose me was the later stories. They begin to really blur the distinction between reality, memory, and fantasy. At one point there's a series of loosely connected stories in a sort of trilogy. The connections aren't completely obvious and develop subtly. I didn't feel like i fully comprehended the later stories in the collection, which ultimately led to me being slightly less enthusiastic for the book. I don't mean to offer this as a serious criticism, as I admit it was my own wavering focus and concentration which failed to fully grasp it.

Anyways the tl;dr is it's a pretty enjoyable book, with some confusing stories that you can try to work out if that sounds interesting.

>>15399790
>>15400068
Oh also I should note I got it from my university library. It would be worth buying for 20 bucks or less, I'd say. It's definitely something i would re-read in a couple years.

Here's one especially for anyone interested in contemporary Russian lit. Tatyana is a descendant of Nikolai Tolstoy, a distant relative of Leo.

Nothing posted ITT seems even the least bit interesting. You're all a bunch of faggot tryhards.

Good job.

>>15400192
>Nothing posted ITT seems even the least bit interesting. You're all a bunch of faggot tryhards.
>Good job.

>>15400192
feel free to post your own suggestions, homo.

>>15400068
Alright thanks for the very thorough review. I'm somewhat hesitant because I know about dreamlike short stories and they aren't my favorite but they can be great. And the first half sounds very intriguing to be sure. It's going on my maybe list.

This book is a weird one. It's by a relatively famous author (Strange Weather in Tokyo) but its a very unknown book by her, at least in English. It's a lot deeper and more literary than her famous work which probably lead to its obscurity. I can't really think of anything "great" about this book but for some reason it's stuck with me for years. It's a dark ghostly story about loss, pregnancy/abortion/children, marriage and infidelity. I think I connected it with it so much because it allows you to, its a very personal work.

Would recommend

Classic literature from Portugal. There are more famous works by Eca de Queiros but this is the one I read and it was good. It's almost like a "novel of ideas" in that its main characters spend most of the novel moving through different venues but spend most of their time discussing society, its ills and the solutions to them.

>>15399076
>>15399095

haven't read tripticks, but I read the fragments and Berg. good stuff. Some of Berg may have gone over my head, since I'm not a native speaker and also not from Britain, duh, but I liked both. I'd say Berg is more of a 3.5/5 or 4.5/5, depending on how much you like to read about the absurd dread of living. But on a side note, I never read anything really bad or uninteresting I found on these threads, my judgement may be clouded because I almost only read these obscure books.

I'll post a few. I'm only about two thirds of the way through this but it's one of the funniest books I've ever read.

Darkly beautiful surrealism.

>>15400532
Christ, I'm retarded. Here's the book

>>15400541
I enjoyed this book well enough. I read it when I was reading a bunch of early 20th century surreal short story collections like pic related.

>>15400226
No worries, I'm glad to oblige. Maybe shelf is honestly an appropriate shelf for this book

>>15400379
thanks for the suggestion. I remember looking at pic related in a store before and thought it looked interesting.
>>15400532
>>15400541
Bruno Schulz is wonderful. I considered posting it earlier but I wasn't sure that it counted as obscure. This should be necessary reading for anyone into 20th century european fiction.

>>15400559
never heard of Leppin but thanks for mentioning him

>>15391134
here is your (you) since no one has replied
but
ich werde es lesen, sieht so aus als ob nicht so viele hier deutsch koennen

>>15399616
>Carpentier
loved Kingdom immensely, read it in russian though. thanks for the rec, brother

>>15400721
Of course. One of the notable things that struck me, as mentioned in that wikipedia excerpt, is that The Chase is considered a masterpiece in spanish, but is relatively unknown in translation. This makes me want to share it

>>15400559
Did that include any Krzhizhanovsky? If not I highly recommend him. Much more fantastic and light-hearted than Schulz but still very good.
>>15400657
Maybe he's not obscure then. I don't really have any idea of what literary communities are like outside of /lit/, I've never known how to expose myself to them without going to school for it or something.

>>15400779
Oh hell yeah Krzhizh. A obligatory post for this thread, and it's criminal that i forgot him earlier.

As for Eca de Q I'd say he's obscure, although i dont know about in his own language. I've only seen him in one store, and among my friends and from my experience in lit i've seen him mentioned like only once or twice.

>>15400779
Is there a pdf/epub version of that book?

>>15400876
I was talking about Schulz, should've specified. Never heard of your guy.

Hilsenrath is very underrated

>>15400188
Ive come across some of Tatyana's works published by NYRB, great to see more of her stuff being translated

>>15400926
I've never looked, I'm not sure. I never really read ebooks.

>>15400657
I definitely want to read more of Queiros, The Illustrious House of Ramires is often said to be one of his best. As for Leppin, I would say his novel "Severin's Journey into the Darkness" is his best work, you can find it online.

See >>15391577

>>15400936
My bad. In my experience Schulz isn't very obscure for people who are generally into that (20th century middle european fiction). I've met a number of people who have read him, and they usually speak highly.

>>15400926
I see a lot of epubs on b-ok but no pdf sorry.

>>15400926
https://www.docdroid.net/z59LHQP/memories-of-the-future-krzhizhanovskii-pdf

Cesar Aira is arguably my favorite living author. Most of his works are fun philosophical intrigues.

>>15387288
Loved this one- I picked it up on a whim based on an offhand recommendation after reading a lot of other Latin American literature and was blown away

>>15387288
Hey do you know a good place to DL this in english? LibGen only has the castilian version

>>15403080
i checked b-ok but it only seems to have epub for english

>>15403097
>b-ok
Excellent thank you. Got any other suggestions for places to download epubs and the like?

>>15403110
mobilism.me
libgen.is
archive.org
soulseek

I dont its obscure, but I didnt see it around here

>>15403080
>LibGen only has the castilian version
This is literally impossible.

>>15403129
Nevermind. Jesus, Ligben has really gone to shit with how outdated it is.
If you can't get into BiB, mobilism, irc and b-ok.cc are your best bets.

>>15403097
>>15403110
>>15403123
https://the-eye.eu/public/Books/Bibliotik/
add this to your bookmarks

>>15403143
Bibliotik got leaked, it's here: >>15403144

>>15400192
This has been one of the best threads in a while. Stop being so angry

>>15403144
how do you search there? is there a search function?

>>15403151
I thought that was a partial rip.

>>15400559
Can i find Others' PAradise online anywhere? Read his journey into the dark and want more

>>15403316
I had to buy it after being unable to find it online. It's good though.

>>15403316
Request it on mobilism.me

>>15403324
Can you upload it online for so anon could read it? I know it's wrong to ask things like this but what to do
You can do it even with mobile phone only

>>15395401
I'd add Imaginary Lives by Schwob aswell.

>>15403340
I should register on mobilism, it's repugnant to what i usually do on the internet, but if there no other way i'll try

>>15403324
>>15403387
It’s on zlibrary. Check the sticky

>>15387170
Oh, I read this during some english course I did when younger. Loved it.

>>15403495
I don't see it there, only Blaugast and Journey into the dark

>>15387453

Anything he writes is worth reading. So good.

Good book about suicide

>>15403898
>Crevel killed himself by turning on the gas on his kitchen stove the night of 18 June 1935, several weeks before his 35th birthday.
Truly committed to his craft

Not exactly obscure, but nobody ever really talks about The Exorcist. It's fucking fantastic. The novel got eclipsed by the biggest splash in the history of horror films two years after it came out. Shame. Legion isn't nearly as good.

>>15404436
is it as good as steven king?

>>15399638
base af, also loser by him is a brilliant take on 'better to have failed than never to have tried at all'. the passage about how stubbornly the soul clings to the flesh made me gay

>>15392648
Since when is Ovid's Metamorphoses obscure?

The Necessity of the Mind: Caillois, Roger

anyone ever attempted this work that could comment on its quality? stumbled on it as a youth in a pile of abandoned neuroscience texts and couldn't wade through it, though it seemed a true gem.

Can somebody please please please let me know of a location where I can get an epub of the Crevel book? My interest is totally piqued. Thanks in advance.

>>15404463
If Stephen King wrote it it'd be his best book. It's a meditation on despair wrapped up in a horror story.

>>15405005
You can get it for 10 bucks because nobody seems to have pirated it.
https://archipelagobooks.org/book/my-body-and-i/

>>15405076
mmm yes, thanks for the link, but I was looking for a free dl...I gotta save money where I can, so if there was a way to read it for free, I would’ve preferred to. If not, I will eventually buy the book...

>>15387540
>>15387584
>>15390083
>>15391286
>>15391373
>>15392608
why is it a gem? am I to judge a book by its cover here?

>>15405115
You could check irc or mobilism, but it's not on the eye/BiB, archive.org, zlib nor Google open directories.

>>15387080
its literally about losing your waifu, totally up /lit/s street

>>15405204
Thanks for checking my good sir...I’ll keep my eyes peeled for it online and at my local libraries

>>15405194
Voss is the greatest Australian novel.

i wish there were people to discuss gordon lish with. peru and this are very unique and beautiful but people are put off by the immense autism i think.

>>15394532
>>15394625
>>15394646
based af. which one of you is paperbirb?

>>15405194
geology idiom; you would need the temporal equivalent of excavation gear to into.

>>15400192
Pseud detected

>>15405242
good ole paperpenis and his minion orpheus

>>15387288
This inspired Marquez a lot, right? Been a while since I read them, but isn't 100 years of solitude basically a long version of Pedro Paramo

anyone got The Conductor by Jean Ferry? there's a bunch of shady websites promising a pdf after i register but i dont trust that shit. im in russia so i cant really buy the real book, shipping would be 3x more than it

>>15405353
based havoc poster. he's like Guyotat's Tomb but on meth and utterly incompregensible

someone please save this thread

Perhaps not completely obscure but I rarely see Solzhenitsyn discussed here or anywhere, especially beyond The Gulag Archipelago and his political stances.

>>15405005
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Mon_corps_et_moi

You can get it for free here if you know that language, fren

>>15387517
borges plagiarized fernandez and went so far as to hide his influence from the literary world. all this was found out after borges' death.

>>15405654
Proof

>>15404972
Haven't read this but have read some other early Caillois (particularly that contained in the Edge of Surrealism reader) and he's pretty damn underrated. Very interesting thinker. In the face of surrealism and Bataille, he pleads for a rigorous (though just as zany) philosophy of science, while the style itself is youthful and impassioned (and not too rigorous ironically).
The intro to The Necessity of the Mind is by Denis Hollier and was republished in his Absent Without Leave. It's not bad either.

>>15405426
the meme archipelago is one of his weakest works, imo, too long and wind-up, regarded as non-fiction when it's not.
shit like Cancer Ward or One Day are far more humane and touching
(Cancer Ward is my rec btw. loved his style in russian, a lot of subtle neologisms)

These are not playing the obscurity game. Some of are just lesser known works of bigger authors. Others are things you usually don't find unless you get into a period or country.

The Forbidden Forest - Mircea Eliade. French edition is easier to find and cheaper.

Jardin d'epicure - Anatole France (not sure if translated but would be Garden of Epicurus)

A Perfect Vacuum - Stanislaw Lem. He's far from obscure but no one mentions his more playful experimental stuff ever.

Siren Land - Norman Douglas. South Wind as well.

The Devils of Loudun - Aldous Huxley. And really no one reads any of his non-Brave New World fiction - Crome Yellow, Those Barren Leaves, Point Counterpoint, Eyeless in Gaza.

Cassandra - Crista Wolf

Eleven Prague Corpses - Kirill Kobrin

The Salt Smugglers - Gerard de Nerval

Journey around my room - Xavier de Maistre

Genoa: A Telling of Wonders - Paul Metcalf. One of the least appreciated American novels of the last century.

The Queen's Necklace - Antal Szerb. He's getting more popular but still it's only Journey by Moonlight and Pendragon Legend people read.

Equal Danger (Il Contesto) - Leonardo Sciascia. NYRB pumped out a few of his works a while back but still no one in the Anglo world seems to notice him.

Jurgen - James Branch Cabell. He's waiting to be rediscovered by generations bred to feel his irony and metafiction.

Giovanni Papini - Four and Twenty Minds - As close to Marcel Schwob's Imaginary Lives as anyone else comes.

The Flower beneath the Foot - Ronald Firbank. Like a dark gay Wodehouse.

Anything from Roberto Calasso. Cadmus and Harmony or Ka are the best starting points probably.

>>15405826
>The Salt Smugglers - Gerard de Nerval
how did you like it? my feelings are mixed from the description and reviews

>>15405870
It's more fun than it is rich. And the fun depends largely on your tolerance for patchworked non(narratives). It's in the Jacques the Fatalist and At Swim-Two-Birds vein but without the depth of either - as in the play of the story never reaches up to a higher commentary on anything.

If you haven't read Nerval before it's probably better to start with the penguin edition sampling of his various works. He was all over in output genre and there's a bit of everything in there, including his Aurelia - which was influential on early surrealists - and Sylvie - which Proust loved.

>>15405826
>The Forbidden Forest - Mircea Eliade
Read almost everything by him, but don't get this novel still, read only half of it so far. In his "No Souvenirs" Mircea complains that his students and friends not getting it either, so i'm not feeling that bad about myself. Pdf of english edition easy to find, i don't seen french version available online, if anybody have a link it would be nice to compare both translations
>Giovanni Papini
Many times read about him in Mircea journals, never seen on 4chan though

>>15405826
>The Devils of Loudun

Cool book. I think it's in a weird place where no university would recommend it, since it heads into territory they'd want to look at from a post-feminism perspective, at the same time it's too scholarly to appeal for the fiction audience and doesn't have a premade market like his druggy stuff.

Just an amazing set of events though, especially in the ambiguity as to what's psychosis and what's grifting. And the investigatory procedures of the Catholic church, as in saint selection, remain hilarious.

>>15405930
i think i caught a glimpse of papini posting here recently. has anyone here read him? what did you think?
also >>15405910 thanks

>>15405426
I've had Cancer Ward lying around for a while now, but never brought myself to start reading it. How worth would it be?

>>15406051
very worth it, especially if you're into the soviet feel and humane, fair yet mundanely sad romance (it's a minor part of the story, but very touching, even i who dislikes romantic archs liked it). there's an air of hope and light amidst misery. many stories told in a subtle but fully telling way. idk about translation, but the prose was great, more in-character for the MC the more you progress despite 3rd person narrative

Found this collection of three plays by Reinhard Goering by accident. Unfortunatly I don't know wether there are any translations, but as there is atleast some study into him there might be.

Seeschlacht / Naval Encounter is a play about seven sailors on a battleship right before a fight. I didn't particuarly like it, but I'm not a huge fan of (literary) expressionism in general. It is the seemingly the most notable work of german dramatic expressionism though.

Die Retter / The Saviors is amazing. The blurb mentions someone saying that it anticipates Beckett and I can definitly agree with that. Very lyrical, but profound dialogue which elevates it somewhat flat, but genuine message about living in the moment. Also a minimalistic, but therefore quite efficient use of props and theatrical room and movement.

Die Südpolarexpidition des Kapitän Scott / The South Polar Expidition of Captain Scott is an interesting piece about nationalism/national pride, hope and futility set before the backdrop of Scotts immenent failure, known beforehand to the reader. A nice type of the dramatisation of real life events.

>>15387080

Bertrand Russell
Nightmares of Eminent Persons: And Other Stories

Short stories and then longer at the back of the book. Great not that well known as I thought it would be

>>15406289
cool cover

>>15406016
Most of Papini that was translated into English is available online now - https://archive.org/search.php?query=giovanni%20papini

I think The Devil and Gog are the only two missing.

>>15405505
I’ve been wanting to learn French, so I guess this is impetus for doing so

>>15405194
Pitch Dark has extensive discussion detailing why its a hidden gem if you follow the replies.
The Fortunate Fall is a post-cyberpunk story and the only published fiction of Raphael Carter. Award winning yet overlooked likely because it falls into the unique position of being too literary for the sci-fi crowd but too sci-fi for the literature crowd. The book was written in the 90s but still feels fresh enough that it could be written next year not decades ago.

>>15406534
okay based, thanks. i think i remember Gog being shilled here as well, i'll look into it. what's the best about Papini?

>>15406285
This is good. Easier to find when you realize it's translated into English as "Mood Indigo."

>>15407394
Thank you!

Anything from Wakefield Press
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/112815.Wakefield_Press

>>15405826
>Cassandra - Crista Wolf
tell me more about this

Bréviaire du chaos, Albert Caraco
Persuasion and Rhetoric, Carlo MIchelstaedter

based wakefield posters

>>15405356
Yeah huge influence. From the Wikipedia page:
>Gabriel García Márquez has said that he felt blocked as a novelist after writing his first four books and that it was only his life-changing discovery of Pedro Páramo in 1961 that opened his way to the composition of his masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Moreover, García Márquez claimed that he "could recite the whole book, forwards and backwards.

Though as the OP of the Pedro Paramo post, with it being one of my favourite books ever, I can’t stand One Hundred Years of Solitude for some reason

After getting through most classic /lit/core, this one broke me. Marvellous work of fiction.

Honourable mention goes to De Avonden (de Reve).

>>15399158
based

>>15394646
Great book, but damn it hits hard.

>>15405826
>Cabell
I really wish someone would bring out a reprint of his Poictesme/Litchfield novels, or at least a well-made ebook edition. Really one of the funniest, cruelest, and poignant writers in the English language