# Recommend a great piece of contemporary fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732 "2011-01-24T03:08:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/1 "2011-01-24T03:08:55Z")
I’ve got an Amazon gift certificate, and I’m realizing it’s been a while since I sat down with a novel. Since the dopers are such a cultured bunch, I’m hoping they can give me some ideas. I’m looking for something modern, not a classic. But I’m hoping for something thought-provoking and it’s okay if it’s a little dense. Ideally, I’d find one of those books that shifts the way you look at the world for a while, but I know that’s a tall order. An international setting is nice, but I’m open to anything. A good solid collection of short stories might also fit the bill. I’m thinking along the lines of **The Poisonwood Bible** , or the works of Haruku Murakami. I’m not sure if there are any Ha Jin fans around here, but I’m a huge fan of Ha Jin. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/2 "2011-01-24T03:24:24Z")
David Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/3 "2011-01-24T03:27:52Z")
Define “contemporary”. But for the nonce I’ll chance my arm on: The Time-Traveller’s Wife Snowcrash Disgrace Enduring Love Atonement (I’m sre you can check them out on Amazon as well as I can) ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/4 "2011-01-24T03:28:27Z")
Tobias Wolff, THE NIGHT IN QUESTION–spectacular short stories. Mary Gordon’s SPENDING is the best novel I’ve read in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/5 "2011-01-24T03:40:55Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > David Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_. Excellent choice. It fits the criteria – thought-provoking, a bit dense, will shift the way you look at the world, international setting, etc. _English Passengers_ by Matthew Kneale fits too. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/6 "2011-01-24T03:59:27Z")
Russell Banks. [Cloudsplitter](http://www.amazon.com/Cloudsplitter-Novel-Russell-Banks/dp/0060930861). As unlike Cloud Atlas as any book can be. A doorstop, but an awesome novel about John Brown. Will probably change the way you look at history. ---
**Author:** ![alenaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7feea3/32.png) [@alenaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alenaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/7 "2011-01-24T04:17:26Z")
Try ‘Middlesex’ by Eugene Stephanides, it’s beautifully written if nothing else. If you feel like short stories I’d recommend ‘Too Much Happiness’ by Alice Munro (or anything else written by her, she’s great). ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/8 "2011-01-24T04:29:15Z")
I loved _Gilead_ by Marilynne Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/9 "2011-01-24T04:52:46Z")
I have _Cutting for Stone_ on my to-read list. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/10 "2011-01-24T05:06:19Z")
I second the recommendation for _Cloud Atlas_, though it’s more of a journey through time than through the world. I loved _Shantaram_ by Gregory David Roberts. It’s a “mostly autobiographical” novel about an ex-thief living in the slums of India. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/11 "2011-01-24T05:08:20Z")
> [@alenaroo](#): > > Try ‘Middlesex’ by Eugene Stephanides, it’s beautifully written if nothing else. I was going to say this. Great book. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/12 "2011-01-24T06:07:02Z")
_The Love of Stones_ by Tobias Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/13 "2011-01-24T13:40:20Z")
_Await Your Reply_ by Dan Chaon. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/14 "2011-01-24T13:47:31Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I was going to say this. Great book. But you were going to correct the author’s name, right?😛 It’s Jeffrey Eugenides. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/15 "2011-01-24T14:20:17Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > But you were going to correct the author’s name, right?😛 It’s Jeffrey Eugenides. Oh, yeah- Stephanides, Eugenides… it’s all Greek to me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/16 "2011-01-24T14:22:21Z")
Murakami is excellent; _Kafka on the Shore_ is probably a good starting point, or jump in to what I think is his masterpiece, _The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle_. Jose Saramago is another good choice if you want to expand your horizons: _Baltasar and Blimunda_ and _The Stone Raft_ are my favorites. There’s always _Midnight’s Children_. And finally for a more recent novel, I’d heartily recommend Julie Orringer’s _The Invisible Bridge_. The story of a Hungarian Jewish young man who goes to Paris in 1937 to study architecture - from that setup, you think you know where the story is going, but trust me it will surprise you. Wonderfully written. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/17 "2011-01-24T14:26:05Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Define “contemporary”. But for the nonce I’ll chance my arm on: > > The Time-Traveller’s Wife > Snowcrash > **Disgrace** > Enduring Love > Atonement > > (I’m sre you can check them out on Amazon as well as I can) **even sven** , given your interest in other cultures, I came into recommend \*\*Disgrace \*\*by J.M. Coetzee. It is a powerful book that can be read on the level of individuals going through a situation and also as an allegory for South Africa coming to grips with its apartheid past. It is not long and the crystalline prose is straightforward and Hemingway-like in its direct clarity. It will engage you through to the last sentence and stay with you for a long time. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/18 "2011-01-24T14:46:41Z")
Oh - and by the way, I love Haruki Murakami. His books The Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Kafka on the Shore make for a trilogy of similarly-themed-and-toned books and would go well together. Books like Norwegian Wood are very different and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is in its own category, too. All worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/19 "2011-01-24T15:10:43Z")
> [@Helena](#): > > I have _Cutting for Stone_ on my to-read list. I just read that, and I liked it very much. I’ll propose _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_, or _The Yiddish Policeman’s Union_, both by Michael Chabon. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732/20 "2011-01-24T15:40:08Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I’ll propose _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_ Heh–I read very little modern mimetic fiction, and even this one isn’t entirely mimetic. But I definitely second the recommendation. It’s primarily a love story between the two title characters, with American Jewish 20th-century culture as the third main character. Good stuff. For a book with a modern, international setting that can shift how you see the world for a little bit, there’s always **The City and the City** , by China Mieville. Granted, the two cities of the title aren’t real, but it’s very, very interesting look at life in modern post-Soviet Eastern Europe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-great-piece-of-contemporary-fiction/568732.md?page=2)