Whats the strangest book you've ever read?

[vorpal_wombat]

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien - absolutely bizarre in the most unexpected of ways. If oyu want surreal, this pretty much caps it.

You beat me to it, certainly one very strange book.
The Glade Within the Grove by David Foster is another weird one.

 

[GyroCaptain]

probably the necromnicon.

i was like...wait...what?Woah! WOOOAAH!

Still, you'd think even a mad arab would proofread better. Abdul al-Hazred needed an editor to help keep the eldritch horrors concise.

Jorge Luis Borges' The Circular Ruins is not a short story to be read while stoned. Nor is T'lon Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.

 

[bowserboy26578]

not so much strange as it is awesome, but 'I am America and so can you' by Stephan Colbert

 

[teknoarcanist]

'John Dies at the End' is pretty bizarre too, but in a fun way. It's like if Douglas Adams tried his hand at horror.

Seconded! That book was increadibly odd. Also, out of curiosity, did you read it online or is it being sold anywhere, I can't find it in any of my local book shops...

Oh, and 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream' by Harlan Ellison, that was just down right disturbing.

Read it online. You can order it off of Amazon, I think.

 

[A Random Player]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. So...surreal.

 

[Gerafin]

Vellum, by Hal Duncan. Totally weird, with a plot that regularly jumps between time periods real and fantastical, giving you enough of a glimpse of different characters to create a thoroughly crazy atmosphere. I loved it, personally; a lot of the scenes have stuck with me for years because of their ridiculously raw, powerful imagery.

House of Leaves was good too, it definitely deserves top place in the "weird" category out of anything I've read... but I mention Vellum because nobody else has. It has a sequel, I think called "Ink," that I haven't gotten around to yet. I have a pile to work through first, though

 

[Fingerprint]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. So...surreal.

That was a f**king funny book, a stunning satire...

 

[Spleenbag]

Oh God, I've read so many. Preacher definitely stands out as an example of badassery though.
Hitchhiker's Guide kicks ass. Breakfast of Champions was really damn weird. Catch-22 has a bunch of weird crap that makes you laugh out loud and it's one of my favorite books. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, one of Lovecraft's less-well-received works due to it being all fantasy, was an acid trip.

 

[Caimekaze]

I'll say 'A Wrinkle in Time'.
I was, like, 8 or 9 when I read it, so I'd probably find it less odd now (Nearly 25).
But, as far as memory goes, it was odd.

Yes, that was quite the puzzler, but it does get easier to understand as you grow older.

I'm surprised this book hasn't popped up yet: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. It revolves around the story of a child with autism who wants to solve the murder of his next door neighbour's dog, and goes out to try and find what happened. It's told from his point of view, and is quite the mind scewery.

 

[jboking]

Naked Lunch easily, why you ask? "Burroughs himself stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order." That's why.

Honorable mention to anything written by Kurt Vonnegut.

 

[jezz8me]

I cannot believe no one has mentioned Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carol is a wierd and wonderful genius.

 

[cancerbombs]

The Bhagavad Gita. Seriously, if you wanna read some messed up stuff, go read some Hindu or Norse mythology.

 

[PTSpyder]

Leaving out manga of course, would hands down have to be "Candy". This weird book from the 50's about a spoiled and seemingly mildly retarded teenage girl's sexual awakening.

 

[letsnoobtehpwns]

I am America and So Can You by Stephen Colbert. I bought this book thinking that it would be an intelligent life story of the man but it's filled with puzzles, mazes and funny stories. Still great though!

 

[Disembodied_Dave]

Jorge Luis Borges' The Circular Ruins

I'm glad that I was not the first person to bring this story up..
Everyone should go out and spend the 20 bucks to get his complete works.. The vast majority of his stuff is amazing.
"A dialog about a dialog" and "The Secret Miracle" being my favorite.
"The Book of Sand" and "The Immortal" are also pretty interesting.

 

[PirateKing]

Galaxarena. I think that's how it was spelled.
I read it when I was ten. Maybe today I would have a better understanding of it.

 

[TheDustyBanana]

Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove just because it featured a prehistoric lizard-thing having sex with a fuel truck.

But in general terms of strangness: Rant by Chuck Palahniuk. It was the first book I ever read by him so I didn't know what to expect at all.

 

[Spleenbag]

My book budget is going to have to bend over and take it this month, I'm afraid. Books ahoy!

 

[ThaBenMan]

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, one of Lovecraft's less-well-received works due to it being all fantasy, was an acid trip.

I love Dreamquest, probably my favorite of Lovecraft's works.

Another great weird book is The Areas of My Expertise [http://www.amazon.com/Areas-My-Expertise-John-Hodgman/dp/B0013JFC8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239304061&sr=1-1] by John Hodgman (the "I'm a PC" guy from the Mac ads). It's like an almanac or reference book full of crazy stuff the author made up. There's a section about how Hoboes tried to overthrow the US Government in the 30's, but were then defeated by Herbert Hoover's pneumatic militia. and a list of 700 traditional Hobo names (don't feel bad about stealing any - if the Hoboes hadn't taken to the stars, they would steal your name without hesitation. They would even steal your reflection, and sell it to the still surface of a moonlit pond. And then drain the pond out of spite.) It's hilarious, I'd definitely recommend it.