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Post by doccreed on Mar 18, 2019 21:01:48 GMT
My appreciation for books about magical realism has grown over the past decade. I like how such books are grounded in reality, as opposed to books of fantasy or science fiction, let's say, but augment serious themes and realistic people and places. Some of these stories are emotionally powerful, and symbolism climbs to another level, coming alive, and readers are more awake somehow. I'm sure I've brought up this subject before, but I'm creating this thread for this type of book. I've recently purchased a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude and hope to start it soon. Another book that interests me is Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. Here is a reviewer who actually reads the opening paragraph:
The novel I'm writing has surprised me because I'm being lured down this path and I'm trying to understand the nature of it. To me, it is something entirely different than introducing supernatural elements or ghosts. Usually, the protagonist and other characters are not astonished by these magical elements at all. Maybe I like how effortlessly the writer allows his characters to embrace the impossible and mysterious with a childlike grasp. The reader never asks, 'why', really. Yet the reader rides along in wonder and undulation. There is a fairytale quality, I suppose.
I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm not interested in links to websites. I want to hear your opinion. Refresh my memory on some of your favorites.
Thanks! Here are some notable books I've read with magical realism.
Big Fish- Daniel Wallace
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician- Daniel Wallace
Shoeless Joe- W.P. Kinsella
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy- W.P. Kinsella
Swamplandia!- Karen Russell
The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
I think hollygolightly said George Saunders liked this form. If I'm not mistaken, his novel Lincoln in the Bardo has magical realism. Is there anyone here who doesn't like it? Why?
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Post by hollygolightly on Mar 19, 2019 2:35:05 GMT
Wow! I'd never heard those words Magical Realism - but it is precisely the kind of writing I love to read. I have not read Lincoln in the Bardo - cry my pardon to Sai Saunders, but sheesh! An entire novel by him? I don't know about that. You go first, doccreed ! Let me know how you fare. I think we can safely say T.C. Boyle is of that genre. The first thing of his I read was The Road to Wellville. And as I was cracking up over it at work during lunch one day, someone told me all of it was loosely based on the real Kellogg brothers. And that novel led me to his short stories. Alice Hoffman is another that comes to mind. And for certain - Isabel Allende. I listened to the reviewer reading the chapter - sounded magical! It made me think of Louise Erdrich.
I'll try it with a list
The Road to Wellville T.C. Boyle
Master Butchers Singing Club Louise Erdrich
Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman
The Witches of Eastwick Jonathan Irving
Roald Dahl, even - I'm thinking specifically of Matilda, but most any of them will do. And that brings me to Tim Burton - and Magical Realism is just the word I'd use for his movies.
All of the above have more than just the one book I'd consider Magical Realism, now that I know there's a word for it. I'm going to wear that phrase out.
PS - Dumbo comes out this week! The commercials had the feeling of Big Fish. I'm going to Fiddler on the Roof Thursday, but next Thursday I'm taking myself to see Dumbo.
I'm tired and I have a cold. I'm getting silly on my cold meds. We'll have to discuss further. I'm fascinated now.
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Post by doccreed on Mar 19, 2019 3:32:55 GMT
Wow! I'd never heard those words Magical Realism - but it is precisely the kind of writing I love to read. I have not read Lincoln in the Bardo - cry my pardon to Sai Saunders, but sheesh! An entire novel by him? I don't know about that. You go first, doccreed ! Let me know how you fare. I think we can safely say T.C. Boyle is of that genre. The first thing of his I read was The Road to Wellville. And as I was cracking up over it at work during lunch one day, someone told me all of it was loosely based on the real Kellogg brothers. And that novel led me to his short stories. Alice Hoffman is another that comes to mind. And for certain - Isabel Allende. I listened to the reviewer reading the chapter - sounded magical! It made me think of Louise Erdrich.
I'll try it with a list
The Road to Wellville T.C. Boyle
Master Butchers Singing Club Louise Erdrich
Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman
The Witches of Eastwick Jonathan Irving
Roald Dahl, even - I'm thinking specifically of Matilda, but most any of them will do. And that brings me to Tim Burton - and Magical Realism is just the word I'd use for his movies.
All of the above have more than just the one book I'd consider Magical Realism, now that I know there's a word for it. I'm going to wear that phrase out.
PS - Dumbo comes out this week! The commercials had the feeling of Big Fish. I'm going to Fiddler on the Roof Thursday, but next Thursday I'm taking myself to see Dumbo.
I'm tired and I have a cold. I'm getting silly on my cold meds. We'll have to discuss further. I'm fascinated now.
I have read The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. Is there another book of the same name or is that your cold medicine talking? Thanks for the recs and your comments. |
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Post by hollygolightly on Mar 19, 2019 13:15:15 GMT
doccreed - Yep -you're right - that was the cold meds talking. I play this game sometimes called : DO NOT GOOGLE. Where I come up with my answer without googling. It's a dangerous game. But I was close - Irving/Updike - one of those John guys ! This morning's question that I am not googling is : On Green Acres, what was the pig's name? Anyone here remember - without googling - ?
Have a good day! The cold is better this morning, so I'm trying to stay off the cold meds until I get payroll done. I don't trust my bookkeeping on Alka-Seltzer Cold & Sinus.
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Post by doccreed on Jul 26, 2019 16:08:42 GMT
doccreed - Yep -you're right - that was the cold meds talking. I play this game sometimes called : DO NOT GOOGLE. Where I come up with my answer without googling. It's a dangerous game. But I was close - Irving/Updike - one of those John guys ! This morning's question that I am not googling is : On Green Acres, what was the pig's name? Anyone here remember - without googling - ?
Have a good day! The cold is better this morning, so I'm trying to stay off the cold meds until I get payroll done. I don't trust my bookkeeping on Alka-Seltzer Cold & Sinus.
How far have you gotten in One Hundred Years of Solitude? (And I have no idea about the pig's name. Refused to Google.)  |
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Post by hollygolightly on Jul 27, 2019 23:54:52 GMT
We must be the only Magical Realism fans, doccreed!
I'm about half way through One Hundred Years of Solitude - I got a fever earlier this week that waylaid me. And then a friend from here & SKMB sent me some books - and one of them drew me right in. You Will Know Me (thank you morgan!!) It's one of those can't put it down mysteries that take my mind off of things for a bit. Just what I needed.
I'll get back to 100 Years soon - because it's really great, just a slow read because it's also kind of confusing.
When I say "Magical Realism" to my Firestick remote, she finds me all sorts of stuff to fall asleep to!
So much eye candy if you google those words and look at the images.
Something else I'm into that probably falls into this category: Steampunk. The Ogre makes me furniture and stuff with a steampunk twist to it. Stuff like the towel racks and shelves in our master bath are steampunk. Steam punk art on my bedroom walls. Oh - and Anthropomorphic Art. I love that stuff.
My daughter got tagged by an ad on Facebook that said "Face it - your mother is weird: get her some Calamityware for Mother's Day". (Google it!!)
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Post by morgan on Jul 30, 2019 0:09:14 GMT
Hope you are feeling better hollygolightly! So glad you're loving that book as much as I did! And I really like steampunk style as well. 
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2020 19:17:29 GMT
Magical Realism, eh? Never thought of it as a genre actually but its a good point. One that immediately comes to mind is Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. And The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. Haruki Murakami write quite a lot of that kind. Oh, And Red Sorghum by Mo Yan. You have already mentioned Isobel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez that also like to write that kind of books.
Those are the ones i remember of the kind i think you mean.
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Post by neesy on Jul 11, 2020 1:49:58 GMT
doccreed - Yep -you're right - that was the cold meds talking. I play this game sometimes called : DO NOT GOOGLE. Where I come up with my answer without googling. It's a dangerous game. But I was close - Irving/Updike - one of those John guys ! This morning's question that I am not googling is : On Green Acres, what was the pig's name? Anyone here remember - without googling - ?
Have a good day! The cold is better this morning, so I'm trying to stay off the cold meds until I get payroll done. I don't trust my bookkeeping on Alka-Seltzer Cold & Sinus.  Magical Realism, eh? Never thought of it as a genre actually but its a good point. One that immediately comes to mind is Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. And The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. Haruki Murakami write quite a lot of that kind. Oh, And Red Sorghum by Mo Yan. You have already mentioned Isobel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez that also like to write that kind of books.
Those are the ones i remember of the kind i think you mean. Would the book "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham count? I really enjoyed that one
It's a fantasy or science fiction but still grounded in reality as it portrays what happens after a big disaster, like a nuclear war
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 2:38:03 GMT
doccreed - Yep -you're right - that was the cold meds talking. I play this game sometimes called : DO NOT GOOGLE. Where I come up with my answer without googling. It's a dangerous game. But I was close - Irving/Updike - one of those John guys ! This morning's question that I am not googling is : On Green Acres, what was the pig's name? Anyone here remember - without googling - ?
Have a good day! The cold is better this morning, so I'm trying to stay off the cold meds until I get payroll done. I don't trust my bookkeeping on Alka-Seltzer Cold & Sinus. Magical Realism, eh? Never thought of it as a genre actually but its a good point. One that immediately comes to mind is Midnights Children by Salman Rushdie. And The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. Haruki Murakami write quite a lot of that kind. Oh, And Red Sorghum by Mo Yan. You have already mentioned Isobel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez that also like to write that kind of books.
Those are the ones i remember of the kind i think you mean. Would the book "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham count? I really enjoyed that one
It's a fantasy or science fiction but still grounded in reality as it portrays what happens after a big disaster, like a nuclear war
The Chrysalids is a great Book, one of wyndhams best. But i wouldn't count it as Magical Realism. There is that element of telepathy in it but its given a not very magical explaination. But it is one of SF,s great classics. Its power stems from its closeness to reality but there is no magic or these dreams versus reality part that can exist. But if you liked The Chrysalids you should read more of Wyndham. He wrote some great SF, from the era when authors still understood that you told the story and when it was over you wrote the end. Nowadays too many books are overlong. Possibly i have misunderstood what can be called Magical Realism, just my opinion. |
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Post by neesy on Jul 11, 2020 2:41:31 GMT
The pig's name was Arnold (and no I did not Google) Would the book "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham count? I really enjoyed that one
It's a fantasy or science fiction but still grounded in reality as it portrays what happens after a big disaster, like a nuclear war
The Chrysalids is a great Book, one of wyndhams best. But i wouldn't count it as Magical Realism. There is that element of telepathy in it but its given a not very magical explaination. But it is one of SF,s great classics. Its power stems from its closeness to reality but there is no magic or these dreams versus reality part that can exist. But if you liked The Chrysalids you should read more of Wyndham. He wrote some great SF, from the era when authors still understood that you told the story and when it was over you wrote the end. Nowadays too many books are overlong. Possibly i have misunderstood what can be called Magical Realism, just my opinion. I think you're right - I didn't actually look up magical realism
What about Stephen King's Rose Madder? Would you call that magical realism?
(Okay - I finally looked it up and apparently the book The Green Mile would be a good example of magical realism)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 2:50:28 GMT
The Chrysalids is a great Book, one of wyndhams best. But i wouldn't count it as Magical Realism. There is that element of telepathy in it but its given a not very magical explaination. But it is one of SF,s great classics. Its power stems from its closeness to reality but there is no magic or these dreams versus reality part that can exist. But if you liked The Chrysalids you should read more of Wyndham. He wrote some great SF, from the era when authors still understood that you told the story and when it was over you wrote the end. Nowadays too many books are overlong. Possibly i have misunderstood what can be called Magical Realism, just my opinion. I think you're right - I didn't actually look up magical realism
What about Stephen King's Rose Madder? Would you call that magical realism?
(Okay - I finally looked it up and apparently the book The Green Mile would be a good example of magical realism)
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Post by morgan on Jul 11, 2020 5:41:51 GMT
I'm very confused by this classification. Would T.C. Boyle's The Tortilla Curtain count? What is the difference between magical realism and surrealism?
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Post by neesy on Jul 12, 2020 0:33:03 GMT
I'm very confused by this classification. Would T.C. Boyle's The Tortilla Curtain count? What is the difference between magical realism and surrealism? The Tortilla Curtain? Do you read this on Taco Tuesdays?
Okay - to be honest I don't know the difference between surrealism and magical realism
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