Let’s discuss unique books. What is the first one that comes to your mind? The uniqueness can be about the book’s plot, structure, ideas, themes, topics etc.
For me such a book is Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. It’s been a while since I’ve read it but I remember how mindblowing it was for me. Every time I thought it couldn’t surprise me more, it actually did. There’s a bit of everything there: peculiar characters, a substance called ice-nine that can freeze water on contact (as humans are around 60% water, it can instantly kill them), a fictional religion called Bokononism based on the idea that human life has no absolute truth or meaning, a tiny island nation with its own bizarre world. All of these come together to show us a satire of the absurdity of humanity.
As for a unique book structure, I have to say it’s Cain’s Jawbone by Edward Mathers. It’s a kind of puzzle book where pages are not in order and you need to arrange them in order to guess whodunnit. I haven’t finished this one yet but it’s a cool challenge.
Edward P Jones: The Known World, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer for fiction. It’s about the complexity of slavery on a micro, local level, where a white man raises a black slave like a son, who then grows up to own a black slave himself, but that’s far too simple a synopsis.
The best part was the structure, and the way he’d introduce characters. You’re going down the road, and you spot a person. Then there is an entire section about the backstory of that person, leading up to the moment you meet them in the road, and then the story continues. After a while, every time a new character pops up, you get their fascinating back story, and you’re right back into the plot. I actually caught myself saying here we go again, with a chuckle.
Virtuosic writing, deeply drawn characters, fascinating perspective.