Gimmicks

Beschrijving
Books which challenge formal conventions of the reading experience (i.e., the layout of the book, reading order, the relationship between main text and secondary matter such as notes, titles, etc.). For this list I'm not interested in postmodern and metafictional experiments with style/genre or narrative point of view.
1
3,911 leden
258 besprekingen
3.9
6 Members
guyalice, sturlington, souloftherose, spiphany, cej1027, ahef1963
Verklaringen
sturlington: Gradual erasure of letters of the alphabet from the narrative.
spiphany: Story is told using ever fewer letters of the alphabet.
2
2,875 leden
68 besprekingen
4.2
3
8,691 leden
96 besprekingen
3.9
3 Members
sturlington, spiphany, ahef1963
Verklaringen
spiphany: Pages and chapters are numbered backwards
4
525 leden
20 besprekingen
3.8
3 Members
guyalice, spiphany, ManWithAnAgenda
Verklaringen
spiphany: Can be read straight through or in an order chosen by the reader according to instructions at the beginning of the book.
5
15,549 leden
374 besprekingen
4.1
6
3,795 leden
233 besprekingen
3.9
3 Members
KimarieBee, sturlington, ahef1963,spiphany
Verklaringen
sturlington: The narrator reads another book, which is contained inside the first book, but the last chapters are missing.
7
3,246 leden
86 besprekingen
3.8
2 Members
guyalice, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Published as a vintage-looking library book with marginal notations and loose documents (letters, postcards, notes, etc.) tucked between the pages
8
2,079 leden
34 besprekingen
3.1
2 Members
guyalice, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Two stories printed 180° from each other, requiring the reader to rotate the book while reading
9
1,567 leden
51 besprekingen
3.8
2 Members
charl08, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Consists of two stories; half the printings of the book start with one story, half with the other
10
582 leden
13 besprekingen
½ 3.7
2 Members
charl08, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: The "front" and "back" of the book are each the starting place for two stories that meet in the middle.
11
332 leden
54 besprekingen
½ 3.6
2 Members
guyalice, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Bound like an accordian with two parallel stories, one on each side of the page.
12
306 leden
12 besprekingen
½ 3.3
2 Members
guyalice, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Consists only of footnotes
13
211 leden
23 besprekingen
3.8
14
2 Members
guyalice, spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Two separate version of the book were written ("female" perspective and "male" perspective); the printed editions are the same except for a key chapter.
15
5,090 leden
99 besprekingen
4.2
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Suggested reading order requires the reader to skip forwards and backwards through the book rather than reading the chapters in order.
16
1,545 leden
43 besprekingen
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Written without the use of the letter "e"
17
944 leden
40 besprekingen
½ 4.4
Member
spiphany
18
884 leden
32 besprekingen
3.9
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Consists entirely of footnotes
19
710 leden
136 besprekingen
½ 3.4
20
632 leden
22 besprekingen
3.9
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Published in two editions ("dark" and "light") which have the same main text but contain different extra material (advertisements, recommendations, etc) between the chapters.
21
575 leden
19 besprekingen
4
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Each chapter uses only a single vowel.
22
454 leden
17 besprekingen
3.8
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Consists of die-cut pages of Bruno Schulz's "Street of Crocodiles"; the story is formed using the non-cut-out words and letters.
23
409 leden
15 besprekingen
½ 3.3
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Every sentence is a question.
24
405 leden
9 besprekingen
4.1
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: The individual sections of the book are sold in a box rather than being bound together in a fixed reading order.
25
399 leden
7 besprekingen
½ 3.7
Member
sturlington
Verklaringen
sturlington: The book is about the breakdown of language, as experienced by the narrator.
26
347 leden
67 besprekingen
½ 3.4
Member
sturlington
Verklaringen
sturlington: Told as if from the point of view of multiple security monitors, often with text in corresponding columns.
27
297 leden
3 besprekingen
½ 3.3
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Epistolary novel; the reader is presented with three suggested reading orders: the Conformist, the Cynic, and the Quixotic
28
239 leden
6 besprekingen
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
29
220 leden
8 besprekingen
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Consists of a set of letters which, the reader is informed, can be read in any order.
30
184 leden
2 besprekingen
3.9
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: The "front" and "back" of the book are each the starting place for two stories that meet in the middle.
31
142 leden
1 bespreking
½ 3.5
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Chapters can be read in any order. The book is laid out like a Tarot deck.
32
110 leden
2 besprekingen
½ 3.6
Member
Moomin_Mama
Verklaringen
Moomin_Mama: A grown up choose-your-own-adventure that can also be read cover to cover.
33
96 leden
3 besprekingen
4.1
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: The "front" and "back" of the book are each the starting place for two stories that meet in the middle.
34
81 leden
2 besprekingen
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
35
74 leden
5 besprekingen
3.2
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Sold as loose, unbound pages in a box.
36
74 leden
3.2
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Mixture of prose and other documents; the paragraphs are randomly shuffled so that each printed edition is different.
37
50 leden
1 bespreking
3
Member
spiphany
38
15 leden
1 bespreking
½ 4.5
Member
spiphany
39
10 leden
5
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Sold as a collection of color-coded booklets in a slipcase; the author provides 16 suggested reading orders
40
7 leden
1 bespreking
3
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Each page has two columns, one with the main story and a second in smaller print with thoughts or comments on the characters and sometimes completely unrelated material.
41
7 leden
1
Member
spiphany
42
6 leden
1 bespreking
3
Member
spiphany
43
door Duo 96
4 leden
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: Text consists of the last sentences of 375 other novels.
44
4 leden
Member
spiphany
Verklaringen
spiphany: The "front" and "back" of the book are each the starting place for two stories that meet in the middle.
45
1 lid
Member
spiphany
46
2,125 leden
22 besprekingen
3.9
2 Members
aulsmith, souloftherose,sturlington ,spiphany
Verklaringen
aulsmith: A set of ethnographic notes about a future Pacific Northwest with a novella twined into the notes.
spiphany : experiments with narrative conventions, not the physical characteristics of the book
47
668 leden
15 besprekingen
3.8
Member
aulsmith,spiphany
Verklaringen
aulsmith: Two main narrators, one the author of a book, the other either a character in that book or the author's grandson.
spiphany : experiments with narrative conventions, not the physical characteristics of the book
48
378 leden
20 besprekingen
3.9
49
157 leden
5 besprekingen
3
50
62 leden
1 bespreking
½ 3.6
51
49 leden
1 bespreking
½ 3.7
52
32 leden
4 besprekingen
3.2
53
30 leden
2 besprekingen
½ 3.6