When mulling over boat trips that inspired major
works of fiction, we inevitably think of Mark
Twain piloting the 865-ton Memphis down the
Mississippi River, Joseph Conrad serving as a
steamboat captain in the Congo, or Herman
Melville's 18-month trip to the South Pacific.
But 150 years ago this week, a very short boat trip
took place that resulted in a very big book—perhaps
not in word count (it's only one-tenth the size of
Moby Dick), but certainly by any
other measure.
If you know which book I'm refer-
ring to, you will probably credit its
inspiration to a young girl named
Alice. But I have a different view,
and prefer to give props to a for-
gotten Anglican minister, who
may be the real reason why we
now enjoy the famous story of
Alice in Wonderland.
On July 4, 1862, mathematician Charles Dodgson—
better known to us as Lewis Carroll—spent a
pleasant afternoon with a small party of acquaintances.
The group embarked on a rowing expedition from
Oxford, journeying to Godstow some three miles
away, where they stopped to have tea on the river
bank. Dodgson was joined by his friend Reverend
Robinson Duckworth and the three Liddell sisters:
Edith (age 8), Alice (age 10) and Lorina (age 13). As
he often did on such occasions, Dodgson regaled his
companions with an extemporized tale, filled with
such fantastic and humorous characters and incidents
as might delight the young ladies in his charge.
He named the protagonist of his fanciful story Alice,
after the middle Liddell sister. He told of his
heroine's pursuit of the White Rabbit, her journey
down a rabbit hole, and Alice’s ensuing adventures
in a magical, topsy-turvy world now known to us
as Wonderland. Alice Liddell was so charmed by
the tale that she insisted Mr. Dodgson write it down
for her. The young mathematician did just that, and
later presented her with a manuscript entitled Alice's
Adventures Under Ground.
Dodgson had already sent the story to George
MacDonald, an author whose works would later
influence C.S. Lewis (who called MacDonald his
"master") and J. R. R. Tolkien. MacDonald submitted
the manuscript to the ultimate test—he gave it to his
own children to read, and relayed their enthusiastic
response to Dodgson, who embarked on rewrites
with an eye toward publication. The new version,
now entitled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was
almost twice as long as the earlier manuscript, and
benefited from the addition of now famous scenes
involving the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter's tea
party. With the further enhancement of illustrations
by John Tenniel, the story was published in 1865,
and credited to author Lewis Carroll.
Those tracing the history of this now famous work
typically focus on the catalytic role of the young
real-life Alice, ten year old Alice Liddell, in inspiring
the story. But I have a different opinion, and see the
other adult, the forgotten Reverend Duckworth—
a talented singer, who was then a fellow at my alma
mater Trinity College, Oxford—playing the decisive
role in shaping the peculiar character of Alice in
Wonderland. In Duckworth's account of the day, he
provides these important details: "I rowed stroke
and he rowed bow…and the story was actually
composed and spoken over my shoulder for the
benefit of Alice Liddell."
And why is this important? This unusual setting
for literary invention helps us understand why
Carroll's narrative has the distinct flavor of a tale
aimed simultaneously at children and adults. As
readers of this classic are aware (and even more so,
readers of Martin Gardner's marvelous annotated
version of the work), this book is much more than
an amusing story for young children, but a
multilayered work filled with many things—allusions,
puns, philosophical speculation and humorous asides
—far more suited to an audience of grownups.
These coexist with the fantastic fairy tale elements
that no doubt delighted the Liddell sisters. So give
the fine Reverend his due for forcing his friend to
extemporize in a manner suited to both young and
old.
Carroll was neither the first nor the last to instill
adult concerns into stories for children—other
bearers of tales, from Aesop to Lemony Snicket
have done the same. But Carroll is the preeminent
master of this distinctive breed of fictive multivalence,
mixing in wildly different elements in a provocative
manner that anticipates postmodern narrative
techniques, even while understanding the demands
of composing stories for younger readers. This
balancing act, never easy, would be beyond many
celebrated authors who write with skill and success
for either adults or children, but would be
flummoxed trying to do both at the same
time.
The memorable characters—the Queen of Hearts,
the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat,
and others—provide much of the magic here. They
are the parts of this story most often remembered
and discussed…and most easily transferred to other
media via the book's numerous adaptations. Of these,
there are no shortage: Carroll’s work has inspired
films, cartoons, video games, graphic novels,
stage productions, operas, radio broadcasts, and
theme park rides. But the real essence of Carroll's
achievement, namely his unique mixture of the playful,
profound and paradoxical, is far less easy to transplant
into other formats. For this reason, even those who
think they are intimately familiar with the story of
Alice from these adaptations are likely to be surprised
and delighted when they first encounter Carroll's
book.
This in itself offers a valuable lesson. In our day
and age, many are inclined to see a story on the
printed page as one-dimensional, as inevitably falling
short of the technologically-enhanced tales shown
on the screen, turbocharged with special effects, 3D,
and all the other advances that Carroll—himself a
devoted photographer fascinated with the visual
image—could never have anticipated. Yet with this
particular story the roles are reversed. When grappling
with Alice in Wonderland, the movie or computer screen
is the flat, undifferentiated surface, while the printed
page takes on extraordinary depth, conveying a
plenitude of meanings and marvels that cannot
be "enhanced" or even replicated by the most
advanced digital tools.
And that may be the greatest wonder of
Wonderland. It's a wonder, moreover, that need
not ever expire, given the extraordinary nature of
Carroll's imagination. For this book, in
contradistinction to almost every other narrative
for children, delights in asking questions rather
than offering answers, in opening doors and
passageways (or rabbit holes, for that matter), rather
than shutting them off, in inspiring creativity rather
than serving it up pre-packaged. And that’s a kind
of wonder we ought always to nurture, and never
to outgrow.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature, and popular culture.
His newest book is The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire.
works of fiction, we inevitably think of Mark
Twain piloting the 865-ton Memphis down the
Mississippi River, Joseph Conrad serving as a
steamboat captain in the Congo, or Herman
Melville's 18-month trip to the South Pacific.
But 150 years ago this week, a very short boat trip
took place that resulted in a very big book—perhaps
not in word count (it's only one-tenth the size of
Moby Dick), but certainly by any
other measure.
If you know which book I'm refer-
ring to, you will probably credit its
inspiration to a young girl named
Alice. But I have a different view,
and prefer to give props to a for-
gotten Anglican minister, who
may be the real reason why we
now enjoy the famous story of
Alice in Wonderland.
On July 4, 1862, mathematician Charles Dodgson—
better known to us as Lewis Carroll—spent a
pleasant afternoon with a small party of acquaintances.
The group embarked on a rowing expedition from
Oxford, journeying to Godstow some three miles
away, where they stopped to have tea on the river
bank. Dodgson was joined by his friend Reverend
Robinson Duckworth and the three Liddell sisters:
Edith (age 8), Alice (age 10) and Lorina (age 13). As
he often did on such occasions, Dodgson regaled his
companions with an extemporized tale, filled with
such fantastic and humorous characters and incidents
as might delight the young ladies in his charge.
He named the protagonist of his fanciful story Alice,
after the middle Liddell sister. He told of his
heroine's pursuit of the White Rabbit, her journey
down a rabbit hole, and Alice’s ensuing adventures
in a magical, topsy-turvy world now known to us
as Wonderland. Alice Liddell was so charmed by
the tale that she insisted Mr. Dodgson write it down
for her. The young mathematician did just that, and
later presented her with a manuscript entitled Alice's
Adventures Under Ground.
Dodgson had already sent the story to George
MacDonald, an author whose works would later
influence C.S. Lewis (who called MacDonald his
"master") and J. R. R. Tolkien. MacDonald submitted
the manuscript to the ultimate test—he gave it to his
own children to read, and relayed their enthusiastic
response to Dodgson, who embarked on rewrites
with an eye toward publication. The new version,
now entitled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was
almost twice as long as the earlier manuscript, and
benefited from the addition of now famous scenes
involving the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter's tea
party. With the further enhancement of illustrations
by John Tenniel, the story was published in 1865,
and credited to author Lewis Carroll.
Those tracing the history of this now famous work
typically focus on the catalytic role of the young
real-life Alice, ten year old Alice Liddell, in inspiring
the story. But I have a different opinion, and see the
other adult, the forgotten Reverend Duckworth—
a talented singer, who was then a fellow at my alma
mater Trinity College, Oxford—playing the decisive
role in shaping the peculiar character of Alice in
Wonderland. In Duckworth's account of the day, he
provides these important details: "I rowed stroke
and he rowed bow…and the story was actually
composed and spoken over my shoulder for the
benefit of Alice Liddell."
And why is this important? This unusual setting
for literary invention helps us understand why
Carroll's narrative has the distinct flavor of a tale
aimed simultaneously at children and adults. As
readers of this classic are aware (and even more so,
readers of Martin Gardner's marvelous annotated
version of the work), this book is much more than
an amusing story for young children, but a
multilayered work filled with many things—allusions,
puns, philosophical speculation and humorous asides
—far more suited to an audience of grownups.
These coexist with the fantastic fairy tale elements
that no doubt delighted the Liddell sisters. So give
the fine Reverend his due for forcing his friend to
extemporize in a manner suited to both young and
old.
Carroll was neither the first nor the last to instill
adult concerns into stories for children—other
bearers of tales, from Aesop to Lemony Snicket
have done the same. But Carroll is the preeminent
master of this distinctive breed of fictive multivalence,
mixing in wildly different elements in a provocative
manner that anticipates postmodern narrative
techniques, even while understanding the demands
of composing stories for younger readers. This
balancing act, never easy, would be beyond many
celebrated authors who write with skill and success
for either adults or children, but would be
flummoxed trying to do both at the same
time.
The memorable characters—the Queen of Hearts,
the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat,
and others—provide much of the magic here. They
are the parts of this story most often remembered
and discussed…and most easily transferred to other
media via the book's numerous adaptations. Of these,
there are no shortage: Carroll’s work has inspired
films, cartoons, video games, graphic novels,
stage productions, operas, radio broadcasts, and
theme park rides. But the real essence of Carroll's
achievement, namely his unique mixture of the playful,
profound and paradoxical, is far less easy to transplant
into other formats. For this reason, even those who
think they are intimately familiar with the story of
Alice from these adaptations are likely to be surprised
and delighted when they first encounter Carroll's
book.
This in itself offers a valuable lesson. In our day
and age, many are inclined to see a story on the
printed page as one-dimensional, as inevitably falling
short of the technologically-enhanced tales shown
on the screen, turbocharged with special effects, 3D,
and all the other advances that Carroll—himself a
devoted photographer fascinated with the visual
image—could never have anticipated. Yet with this
particular story the roles are reversed. When grappling
with Alice in Wonderland, the movie or computer screen
is the flat, undifferentiated surface, while the printed
page takes on extraordinary depth, conveying a
plenitude of meanings and marvels that cannot
be "enhanced" or even replicated by the most
advanced digital tools.
And that may be the greatest wonder of
Wonderland. It's a wonder, moreover, that need
not ever expire, given the extraordinary nature of
Carroll's imagination. For this book, in
contradistinction to almost every other narrative
for children, delights in asking questions rather
than offering answers, in opening doors and
passageways (or rabbit holes, for that matter), rather
than shutting them off, in inspiring creativity rather
than serving it up pre-packaged. And that’s a kind
of wonder we ought always to nurture, and never
to outgrow.
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature, and popular culture.
His newest book is The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire.
| THE YEAR OF MAGICAL READING How Alice Got to Wonderland by Ted Gioia |
Click on image to purchase
| The Year of Magical Reading (click here) |
Welcome to my year of magical
reading. Each week during the
course of 2012, I will explore an
important work of fiction that
incorporates elements of magic,
fantasy or the surreal. My choices
will cross conventional boundary
lines of genre, style and
historical period—indeed,
one of my intentions in
this project is to show
how the conventional
labels applied to these
works have become
constraining, deaden-
ing and misleading.
In its earliest days, story-
telling almost always
partook of the magical.
Only in recent years have we
segregated works arising from this
venerable tradition into publishing
industry categories such as
"magical realism" or "paranormal"
or "fantasy" or some other 'genre'
pigeonhole. These labels are not
without their value, but too often
they have blinded us to the rich
and multidimensional heritage
beyond category that these works
share.
This larger heritage is mimicked in
our individual lives: most of us first
experienced the joys of narrative
fiction through stories of myth and
magic, the fanciful and
phantasmagorical; but only a very
few retain into adulthood this
sense of the kind of enchantment
possible only through storytelling.
As such, revisiting this stream of
fiction from a mature, literate
perspective both broadens our
horizons and allows us to
recapture some of that magic in
our imaginative lives.
The Year of Magical Reading:
Week 1: Midnight's Children by
Salman Rushdie
Week 2: The House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende
Week 3: The Witches of Eastwick
by John Updike
Week 4: Magic for Beginners by
Kelly Link
Week 5: The Tin Drum by Günter
Grass
Week 6: The Golden Ass by
Apuleius
Week 7: The Tiger's Wife by Téa
Obreht
Week 8: One Hundred Years of
Solitude by Gabriel García
Márquez
Week 9: The Book of Laughter
and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
Week 10: Gargantua and
Pantagruel by François Rabelais
Week 11: The Famished Road by
Ben Okri
Week 12: Like Water for
Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Week 13: Winter's Tale by Mark
Helprin
Week 14: Dhalgren by Samuel R.
Delany
Week 15: Johnathan Strange &
Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Week 16: The Master and
Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Week 17: Dangerous Laughter by
Steven Millhauser
Week 18: Conjure Wife by Fritz
Leiber
Week 19: 1Q84 by Haruki
Murakami
Week 20: The Hobbit by J.R.R.
Tolkien
Week 21: Aura by Carlos Fuentes
Week 22: Dr. Faustus by Thomas
Mann
Week 23: Orlando by Virginia
Woolf
Week 24: Little, Big by John
Crowley
Week 25: The White Hotel by D.
M. Thomas
Week 26: Neverwhere by Neil
Gaiman
Week 27: Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Week 28: Fifth Business by
Robertson Davies
Week 29: The Kingdom of This
World by Alejo Carpentier
Week 30: The Bear Comes Home
by Rafi Zabor
Week 31: The Color of Magic by
Terry Pratchett
Week 32: Ficciones by Jorge Luis
Borges
Week 33: Beloved by Toni
Morrison
Week 34: Dona Flor and Her Two
Husbands by Jorge Amado
Week 35: Hard-Boiled
Wonderland and the End of the
World by Haruki Murakami
Week 36: What Dreams May
Come by Richard Matheson
Week 37: Practical Magic by Alice
Hoffman
Week 38: Blindess by José
Saramago
Week 39: The Fortress of
Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Week 40: The Magicians by Lev
Grossman
Week 41: Suddenly, A Knock at
the Door by Etgar Keret
Week 42: Cloudstreet by Tim
Winton
Week 43: The Obscene Bird of
NIght by José Donoso
Week 44: The Fifty Year Sword
by Mark Z. Danielewski
Week 45: Gulliver's Travels by
Jonathan Swift
Week 46: Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Week 47: The End of the Affair by
Graham Greene
Week 48: The Chronicles of
Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Week 49: Hieroglyphic Tales by
Horace Walpole
Week 50: The View from the
Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier
Week 51: Gods Without Men by
Hari Kunzru
Week 52: At Swim-Two-Birds by
Flann O'Brien
reading. Each week during the
course of 2012, I will explore an
important work of fiction that
incorporates elements of magic,
fantasy or the surreal. My choices
will cross conventional boundary
lines of genre, style and
historical period—indeed,
one of my intentions in
this project is to show
how the conventional
labels applied to these
works have become
constraining, deaden-
ing and misleading.
In its earliest days, story-
telling almost always
partook of the magical.
Only in recent years have we
segregated works arising from this
venerable tradition into publishing
industry categories such as
"magical realism" or "paranormal"
or "fantasy" or some other 'genre'
pigeonhole. These labels are not
without their value, but too often
they have blinded us to the rich
and multidimensional heritage
beyond category that these works
share.
This larger heritage is mimicked in
our individual lives: most of us first
experienced the joys of narrative
fiction through stories of myth and
magic, the fanciful and
phantasmagorical; but only a very
few retain into adulthood this
sense of the kind of enchantment
possible only through storytelling.
As such, revisiting this stream of
fiction from a mature, literate
perspective both broadens our
horizons and allows us to
recapture some of that magic in
our imaginative lives.
The Year of Magical Reading:
Week 1: Midnight's Children by
Salman Rushdie
Week 2: The House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende
Week 3: The Witches of Eastwick
by John Updike
Week 4: Magic for Beginners by
Kelly Link
Week 5: The Tin Drum by Günter
Grass
Week 6: The Golden Ass by
Apuleius
Week 7: The Tiger's Wife by Téa
Obreht
Week 8: One Hundred Years of
Solitude by Gabriel García
Márquez
Week 9: The Book of Laughter
and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
Week 10: Gargantua and
Pantagruel by François Rabelais
Week 11: The Famished Road by
Ben Okri
Week 12: Like Water for
Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Week 13: Winter's Tale by Mark
Helprin
Week 14: Dhalgren by Samuel R.
Delany
Week 15: Johnathan Strange &
Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Week 16: The Master and
Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Week 17: Dangerous Laughter by
Steven Millhauser
Week 18: Conjure Wife by Fritz
Leiber
Week 19: 1Q84 by Haruki
Murakami
Week 20: The Hobbit by J.R.R.
Tolkien
Week 21: Aura by Carlos Fuentes
Week 22: Dr. Faustus by Thomas
Mann
Week 23: Orlando by Virginia
Woolf
Week 24: Little, Big by John
Crowley
Week 25: The White Hotel by D.
M. Thomas
Week 26: Neverwhere by Neil
Gaiman
Week 27: Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Week 28: Fifth Business by
Robertson Davies
Week 29: The Kingdom of This
World by Alejo Carpentier
Week 30: The Bear Comes Home
by Rafi Zabor
Week 31: The Color of Magic by
Terry Pratchett
Week 32: Ficciones by Jorge Luis
Borges
Week 33: Beloved by Toni
Morrison
Week 34: Dona Flor and Her Two
Husbands by Jorge Amado
Week 35: Hard-Boiled
Wonderland and the End of the
World by Haruki Murakami
Week 36: What Dreams May
Come by Richard Matheson
Week 37: Practical Magic by Alice
Hoffman
Week 38: Blindess by José
Saramago
Week 39: The Fortress of
Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Week 40: The Magicians by Lev
Grossman
Week 41: Suddenly, A Knock at
the Door by Etgar Keret
Week 42: Cloudstreet by Tim
Winton
Week 43: The Obscene Bird of
NIght by José Donoso
Week 44: The Fifty Year Sword
by Mark Z. Danielewski
Week 45: Gulliver's Travels by
Jonathan Swift
Week 46: Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Week 47: The End of the Affair by
Graham Greene
Week 48: The Chronicles of
Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Week 49: Hieroglyphic Tales by
Horace Walpole
Week 50: The View from the
Seventh Layer by Kevin Brockmeier
Week 51: Gods Without Men by
Hari Kunzru
Week 52: At Swim-Two-Birds by
Flann O'Brien
| 150 years ago this week, Lewis Carroll took the now famous boat trip with Alice Liddell that inspired his book Alice in Wonderland. But did a little-known Anglican minister play a bigger role than the real-life Alice in the creation of this classic work? |
| Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tedgioia |
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials from
publishers, authors, publicists or other
parties.