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Postmodern Masterpieces
Playful and experimental, these brilliant works are also surprisingly fun reads.
Published on June 16, 2023
2666: A Novel
Roberto BolañoRoberto Bolaño’s posthumously-published behemoth of a novel is one of those books that defies description, but is undeniably a masterpiece. Like many postmodern works, it traverses time, nations, and characters, but it never feels like an experiment for experimentation’s sake.
If On A Winter's Night A Traveler
Italo CalvinoA novel of beginnings that never conclude, Calvino’s classic is essentially comprised of a convoluted anti-plot. But for a novel so explicitly frustrating the expectations of the reader, it’s a wonderfully fun read — allusive, playful, and often hilarious.
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
Vladimir NabokovMany of Nabokov’s works could’ve made this list, but I’ll choose “Ada or Ardor” because it’s criminally under-read. Romance, an alternative universe, and history coalesce into a remarkable story. Like so many of his novels, it is self-referential, challenging, and deeply rewarding.