7 Books That Challenge Genre, Style And Structure

7 Books That Challenge Genre, Style And Structure

Here is a list of 7 books that challenge genre, style and structure.

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

This book is metafiction – story within a story. The book within a book is a novel in verse, along with a commentary on it by the editor.

Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright

Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright

This novel is an experimental attempt to transform the structure of a novel. It is entirely written without using the letter ‘e’. Such a work is called a lipogram.

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar

This novel is also experimental in its form and structure, and introduces to literature the concept of expendable chapters.

Alphabetical Africa by Walter Abish

Alphabetical Africa by Walter Abish

This book is not just weird, but a stroke of brilliance and genius literature. The first chapter contains only words beginning with the letter A.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

This book blurs lines between a lot of genres. It is a satire, but also theological, with elements of fantasy and supernature.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The temporal and structural form of this book, along with its linguistic notions of sense, are quite warped.

Diary of a Bad Year by J. M. Coetzee

Diary of a Bad Year by J. M. Coetzee

The form this book takes is particularly unusual. In the beginning, the page is split into two horizontal rows.

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