Books like The Maniac
12 books with a reading profile close to The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut. Deep, inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
The Employees
by Olga Ravn
Also deep and inward-looking · science fiction, literary
Set aboard the Six-Thousand Ship orbiting the planet New Discovery, the narrative unfolds through a series of witness statements delivered to an anonymous committee.
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2
The Candy House
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
Bix Bouton, a tech entrepreneur who appeared in A Visit from the Goon Squad, develops a technology called Own Your Unconscious.
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3
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Also deep and open-ended · history, literary
The narrative centers on Anjum, a hijra who establishes a guesthouse called the Jannat Guest House within a Delhi cemetery, providing a sanctuary for society’s outcasts.
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4
Frankissstein
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
The narrative follows two parallel timelines.
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5
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum
Also deep and inward-looking · science fiction, literary
In a high-tech Tokyo, a data processor known as a Calcutec performs mental data encryption for a clandestine organization called the System.
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6
Little Eyes
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
In Samanta Schweblin's novel, a new device called a kentuki, a small robot animal with a camera for eyes, becomes a global craze.
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7
Poor Things
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
Archibald McCandless, a Glasgow medical student in the 1880s, tells how his friend, the surgeon Godwin Baxter, rescued a drowned pregnant woman and transplanted her unborn child's brain into her body.
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8
Under the Skin
by Michel Faber
Also deep and inward-looking · science fiction, literary
Isserley drives the lonely roads of the Scottish Highlands searching for muscular male hitchhikers to pick up in her modified vehicle.
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9
Watchmen
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
Set in an alternate 1985 where costumed vigilantes are real and Richard Nixon remains President, the narrative begins with the murder of Edward Blake, known as the Comedian.
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10
Bloodchild and Other Stories
Also deep and thought-provoking · science fiction, literary
This collection centers on biological interdependence and the physical cost of survival.
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11
The Invention of Morel
by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
A fugitive on a remote, deserted island discovers he is not alone, but rather surrounded by a group of people who seem to be caught in a perpetual, unchangeable loop of their past.
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12
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Also deep and thought-provoking · science fiction, literary
In this dystopian novel, the United States prison system operates as a televised death match.
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