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Magical Realism: Recommendations?


ccstat

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My reading fare (within speculative fiction) is pretty solidly in the high fantasy genre, with regular excursions into hard science fiction and occasional forays into urban fantasy. However, I am interested in exploring what some have termed magical realism, and I'm looking for recommendations.

 

I recognize that "magical realism" is a debated term, so let me clarify what I mean by it. Maybe someone else will have a better name to use. The setting is essentially our world, but incorporating fantastic elements (e.g. ghosts, ESP, curses) in a matter-of-fact (but usually unsystematic) way. This differs from urban fantasy, where the magical world is present and often well developed, but is hidden from most people. I'm looking for settings with no secret history and no special class of magical elite who are in-the-know.

 

There are various examples listed on wikipedia, but I think I would prefer to trust recommendations from this group. A well-known title on the list is The Green Mile by Stephen King. I have read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, also on the list. It fits the criteria, but I consider it a bit of an edge case. Another I've read that strikes me as being in the right vein is The Card Turner by Louis Sachar.

 

Your thoughts?

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Thanks for responding, and it is possible that I have read (and even enjoyed) a book or two by Sanderson. However, at least by how I'm intending the term, those books don't fall under "magical realism". Having a fully-realized world or realistic interactions of economics, culture, religion, characters, etc. aren't part of the definition.

 

A secondary world (different planet/ecology/culture) immediately disqualifies the Cosmere, Rithmatist, and the short stories (though the 1980s Era Mistborn might be similar to what I'm looking for). Alcatraz is an example of the "hidden world" version of magic, where it's there in our world but nobody mundane knows about it. Steelheart is much closer, but looking at what changes with the advent of the supernatural (there were no Epics before Calamity, and afterward everything was different). A "magical realism" version would be more along the lines of me going to work and finding my office-mate has telekinesis. (She could have an evil Epic personality, or she could just helpfully lift things off tall shelves, depending on the story to be told.) It is something that doesn't fit in our world but doesn't break it either.

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I think most of Stephen Kings books would fall into this catagory. A lot of his books are set in our world and the magic/fantasy elements that exist are only known about by a few people. For example in the book The Shining the main character is a boy who has the ability to see things other people can't. I would suggest The Green Mile, The Shining, It, Carrie, Lisey's Story,and Duma Key. Those are a few off the top of my head that are by Stephen King and would fit your criteria.

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Hmm. I would generally recommend the books of José Saramago, but they're on the more eclectic end of magical realism, at times, because they don't always go in our world: sometimes they involve a slightly strange setting, so you might not find them suitable given your criteria.

 

I would also recommend Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay and any of his books that aren't Fionavar--the former is targeted for a slightly younger audience, but I'd always recommend anything by him because his prose is so good. The latter, again, may not fit, if only because they involve a different world that is very much inspired by historical periods like the Reconquista. But some of the books like The Lions of Al-Rassan or River of Stars have these magical realism elements since there's no proper stipulation of magic as part of the framework of these worlds. Other books like Tigana or A Song for Arbonne are much clearer about the magic, so I suspect you won't want to touch those.

 

Other than that, you might enjoy The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North, or Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Sean Ferrell's Man in the Empty Suit might meet your criteria; so might his other book: Numb. And in addition, you may want to look at Robert J. Bennett's other books--like Mr Shivers. All the Light We Cannot See, or The Bone Clocks might also qualify. That's pretty much off the top of my head; I hope some of these yield fruitful leads.

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Thanks for the great suggestions! That list will be very helpful.

Part of this is simply interest in expanding my reading experience, so even if some of these don't turn out to be exactly the genre I'm looking for I suspect I will still enjoy them. The other half of my reason for investigating magical realism is that I have a story idea that I've tried in two different settings, and neither of them worked very well because they made mystical elements too systematic and explainable. I think it would fit really well in this category, though, so I want to do research on the tone and tropes of this part of fantasy.

 

@Kasimir:

I have read Death With Interruptions by Saramago, and I'm interested in trying more of his work. Do you have any particular titles you recommend? (on their own merits, not necessarily for fitting my criteria above).

Similarly, I've only read one of Guy Gavriel Kay's books (Under Heaven), but was very impressed. Your suggestions are well taken there.

I don't know any of the others you mentioned but I will be sure to look them up. Thanks again!

 

@JUBBA:

I'm superficially familiar with King, but haven't actually read any of his books. Do you have a favorite or two that you would recommend starting with? (i.e. personal favorite, not necessarily one that best matches my definition)

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My favorite Stephen King books were the dark tower seven book series. These books take place in another world but some characters move between worlds so there are some characters from our world. My favorite part about the dark tower books is the fact that most of Stephen Kings other books are slightly connected to them. For example there are characters in the series that show up in other books. Places and character names pop up in different books and I like the feeling of "knowing" the place or charater from a previous book. His books are kind of like Sanderson's cosmere books with the dark tower series being the main storyline/world that connects them all. I think that is why I love how Sanderson's cosmere books are all connected. I also loved The Stand which is about a plague killing most of the world's population and how the survivors meet up and cope. I also loved The Green Mile which is about a prisoner on death row with some special abilities. You do not have to read the dark tower series to understand any of his other books, but if you enjoy his books it is fun to see the connections.

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I enjoyed Death With Interruptions as well--the other of his works I would immediately recommend is The History of the Siege of Lisbon. I also enjoyed his The Gospel According To Jesus Christ, but I think it is doubtless important to clarify: Saramago is an atheist. I felt his treatment of the material was interesting, and if you've read Death, you're used to his run-on style. All the same, the book may cause offense, and I think it's been banned in some places. So, caveat emptor.

 

No problem, and I hope you find some helpful and enjoyable books!

 

P.S. Under Heaven was actually the first GGK book I read, so I'm always happy to see more people picking that one up.

 

Edit: Two other titles that have occurred to me: Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni.

Edited by Kasimir
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One Hundred Years of Solitude pretty much invented... we'll call it "modern magic realism", so that should be on your list. (Full disclosure, I have not read it yet :P )

 

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie is fantastic. 

Little, Big by John Crowley is also very good. His Aeygpt sequence also qualifies as magic realism, but I would wait to try those until you've got more experience under your belt, particularly with Crowley. 

 

Make sure you are also in the right mood is what I would say about reading magic realism. Tight plots and explanations don't really factor into these types of books, at least the ones I've read. 

 

As far as things that are similar but not quite: Jorge Luis Borges. Spend the fifty bucks on the collection of his short stories and read them. A couple of those would qualify as magic realism, but a lot also are close to the border between fantasy and magic realism. If you're strapped for cash, find a copy of Ficciones (Fictions), that would be "essential".

 

Nnedi Okorafor's Who Fears Death is borderline magic realism/fantasy/post-apocalyptic tale and should be in everyone's To Be Read Pile any way. 

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Not quite what magical realism is. Those are definite fantasy, just in our world. However, there are some pretty good books that are in the vein of what you want. Lovely Bones is a great book.  Something Wicked this Way Comes is really good.

 

But no, Magical Realism isn't speculative Fiction. Magical Realism is a term used to describe Realism novels that evoke a feeling of a sort of magical presence that isn't actually really there. The excellent, crowning example of this is Bless Me, Ultima. A really great book. But definitely not what you're looking for. But things like that. Salmon Rushdie is really great at this kind of stuff, and some of those do actually tip directly into fantasy. Again, 100 Years of Solitude is one of the biggest achievements in the whole Movement and genre, but isn't what you'r looking for based on your description of ideal book recommendations. It is, however, extremely good and rather different from most other books. But if you want something completely outside of what you usually read, 100 Years of Solitude, and Bless me, Ultima would be great, and are truly Magical Realism.

 

Reading Magical Realism evokes the same feeling as reading mythical fantasy, but actually have very, very little fantasy in them, if at all. 

 

So yeah, there's a bit of an explanation on Magical Realism. Anyway, the type of books you're looking for have some excellent options, including the ones you yourself listed, the ones I listed, and I saw a few others.Though I have heard things about Jose saramago, I have not gotten around to reading his books. i really wanted to, and I remember I was going to start, then got distracted, and then I heard he passed away. But I will definitely get to him.

 

Based on your description, Salmon Rushdie will either be hit-or-miss for you, or you'r discover something new you like.

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Based on your definition, I can recall more magical realism movies and TV shows than I can books - maybe you could look up who wrote the stories for those on IMDB and see if they've written anything else?

 

One book that might fit your criteria is "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers. (FYI - It is nothing like the POTC movie of the same name, other than that it includes Blackbeard the pirate.) This book is described as historical fantasy, but IMO it was more ghosts, curses, vodun, and a bunch of mysterious supernatural stuff that none of the characters understood or could control. The story is very dark but the plot twists make it a fun read. I haven't read anything else by Powers, but you might check out his other works - he's written quite a few books and I think they're all stand-alones with a wide variety of styles and settings.

 

hth

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Based on your definition, I can recall more magical realism movies and TV shows than I can books - maybe you could look up who wrote the stories for those on IMDB and see if they've written anything else?

Fair point about movies: Forrest Gump is a fantastic example. I've got a whole write-up on Forrest Gump. But the basic premise of my view on it is that the movie builds this mythic life of this almost legendary character in current times, and places him on the outside periphery of the crux of historical turning points throughout his life. It's really interesting. That movie, as far as I am concerned, is the perfect example and summery of Magical Realism.

 

I would say Raising Arizona is an excellent example as well, but that has the more Absurdism angle, making things pointedly impractical and improbable and making those the stylistic points of the movie. But, do to an inherent aspect of the Coen Brothers' style, the movie rides on both tracks: Magical Realism, and Absurdism, and it works out beautifully. Big Lebowski does this as well. Again, since it is embedded in their style, that's simply how it turns out.

 

Forrest Gump however uses reasonable and plausible points but presents them in this sort of legend, and this combination is the focal point in the style of the movie. That is what makes Forrest Gump a prime example of Magical Realism. Probably the most successful execution of the genre in movies.

 

I find these sorts of things really interesting, and really exciting to notice. 

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Thanks so much to all of you for the recommendations! And Nait, thank you for the analysis. That is a helpful explanation. 

The only problem now is that my To Read list has about doubled in length, and my reading time is dwindling with some work deadlines...

Do any of you have access to a time machine? Or a bendalloy misting?

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Thanks so much to all of you for the recommendations! And Nait, thank you for the analysis. That is a helpful explanation. 

The only problem now is that my To Read list has about doubled in length, and my reading time is dwindling with some work deadlines...

Do any of you have access to a time machine? Or a bendalloy misting?

I know the feeling. Writing has pretty much taken away my reading time. I still get a descent amount in since I don't sleep well (see Fight Club for details). As for the time machine, you will need to discuss that with the Chums of Chance, or the Doctor. 

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By your definition... I can't think of anything. If we went by my definition of magical realism, Name of the Wind counts, until they start introducing the name of the wind... There are, as someone else stated on this topic, far more magical realism TV series than books; while it may not entirely qualify, I'd recommend Constantine.

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