# Reccomend me Fun and Complex Novels

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-me-fun-and-complex-novels/680860>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 8, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-me-fun-and-complex-novels/680860 "2014-02-08T21:28:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-me-fun-and-complex-novels/680860/21 "2014-02-09T16:18:32Z")

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I’ll second Umberto Ecco’s _Foucault’s Pendulum._ It had me scrambling for references and was dark fun.

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**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-me-fun-and-complex-novels/680860/22 "2014-02-09T21:27:04Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Barth’s **LETTERS** is a masterpiece of complexity. It does help if you have read all of Barth’s previous works first, but you can manage with just one or two. **LETTERS** ties them all together in a structure that’s about as complex as it gets.
> 
> The book, subtitled, “an old time epistolary novel by seven fictitious drolls & dreamers each of which imagines himself factual,” is made up of letters by characters in his previous books, plus one by a new character and a seventh by the author himself. The dates of the letters, when put on a calendar turned sideways, spell out the word “LETTERS.” If you take the first letter in each letter and place in on the calendar the day they were written, it spells out the subtitle. The letters are presented to the reader chronologically by the day of the week they were written; thus all the Monday letters are first presented, then the Tuesday ones, etc. (this means things are not necessarily in chronological order). Each day of the week is assigned to one character from Barth’s works.
> 
> And that’s just the structure. The story is even more complex.  
> The book was not considered a success, but I loved it.

Sounds intriguing; I need to find a copy of that. I went through a Barth-reading phase years ago and read _The Floating Opera_, _Chimera_, and the afore-mentioned three books, but somehow missed _LETTERS_. I see it’s been out for 35 years…!!!

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**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reccomend-me-fun-and-complex-novels/680860/23 "2014-02-09T22:27:25Z")

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> [@Cartesian\_Rationalist](#):
>
> I suppose surrealism is an important aspect to it, as are multiple characters.

Rushdie’s your man. I can personally recommend _The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh,_ and _Midnight’s Children._ The first and the last in particular will send your surrealism meter into the red. Characters galore. Oh, and wonderful writing.

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