Experimental Fiction: 10 Books With Unique Literary Techniques

This multigenerational novel explores the ways in which a family dynamic changes when they’re caught off guard by a teen pregnancy. During Melody’s coming-of-age ceremony, she recounts the ways in which her existence was not always the cause for celebration but had imploded her entire family’s relationship just sixteen years earlier. From there, perspectives shift from Melody, to her mother, to her father, and to her grandparents. Each of Melody’s family members gives their own account of the events which lead to the strained relationship between Melody’s mother and grandparents, as well as Melody’s estranged relationship with her own mother. As each perspective shifts, we learn about the complexities of motherhood and familial obligations, all before the party is over.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is framed as a letter from a son to his Vietnamese mother — one she will never be able to read. Throughout this letter the narrator, known only as Little Dog, describes short but defining moments throughout his own life, as well as his mother’s and grandmother’s experiences in Vietnam and as non-English speaking immigrants in Connecticut. Through these quick glimpses, we see the violence and racism that are at the center of this pain, and Little Dog’s desire to come out from under it, especially once he is able to come to terms with his sexuality. Vuong packs poetry and prose into this novel, with each moment brimming with imagery and metaphors. Its many layers show the inability to escape from generational trauma as well as the undeniable potential to heal from it.

Although this may seem like any other haunted house thriller, House of Leaves quickly turns into a book like no other. Classified as “ergodic literature,” Danielewski makes the reader work for the story by playing with the way we see the text on the pages — whether by overlapping the text or placing it upside-down and sideways. These puzzling pages (literally and figuratively) reflect the fictional documentary of a haunted house that is bigger on the inside than the outside and hold an infinite number of rooms — ones that the children of a young couple disappear into. While only some may dare to tackle this complexly interactive novel, the reward lies in escaping from the labyrinth of the house and Danielewski’s maze of a novel.

How long can a sentence go on before it’s considered a run-on? What if a sentence were an entire novella? Within this one long sentence, an elderly man tells his life story in the form of a drunken rambling to a bar full of women. From his tales as a soldier, to his crack at shoe cobbling, to his brewery business, the narrator flows from story to story without a moment’s pause. Through his lengthy yet captivating rambling, the narrator recounts what — and who— he’s loved and lost, and the wisdom he has gained from all of these events. Each of his anecdotes makes it more and more evident that life is like one long run-on sentence — it just keeps going.

While many “choose your own adventure” stories are confined to children’s literature, Julio Cortazar invites his readers to construct the story (and its variations) along with him. Paired with a table of instructions that suggests the reader start all the way at Chapter 73, Cortazar has the reader hopscotch around from chapter to chapter, in and out of sequence as they follow Horacio Oliveira through the streets of 1950s Paris. When you’re done with one sequence, feel free to experience the story again in any other direction. Despite the way this novel challenges a traditional linear form, all of the seemingly disconnected anecdotes weave together one way or another — it’s up to you to choose which one.

Made up of vignettes and anecdotes, Speedboat follows New York journalist Jen Fain as she recounts moments of her life in boarding school and college, as well as her experiences as an investigative journalist and later a speech writer — though not in this chronological order. Storylines get dropped and picked up several vignettes later or abandoned altogether. The swift changes in direction will keep you on your toes and make you wonder whether or not you’ll later return to the same timeline as the one you have just read. Each vignette is one of the many mixed-up puzzle pieces that is Jen Fain — putting her together is just part of the ride.

Written in interview style, Daisy Jones & the Six recounts a 1970s (fictional) rock band’s rise to stardom. Set and “recorded” decades after the band’s sensationalized break up, each interviewee brings their personal account of the lead-up to their downfall at the height of their careers. The interview, which takes place years after the central events, makes for clouded memories, and disconnection from those events. With these fuzzy recollections from multiple perspectives, Daisy Jones & the Six will make you come to your own conclusion about who is reliable and who isn’t. Despite disparities between versions of events, the characters can all agree that there are repercussions when it comes to sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.

“Bardo” is a transitional state between death and rebirth in Buddhist theology. Saunders tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s eleven-year-old son Willie, who is trapped in the “bardo” while his father grapples with his death. Lincoln in the Bardo includes several voices that interrupt each other to give their own opinions. With each one, we find out the reason for their interest in Willie’s reincarnation, as well as Willie’s own reluctance to leave, despite the consequences. The many different voices that guide this story are also accompanied by letters and historical excerpts which account for the real-life Willie Lincoln who died from typhoid fever. Saunders showcases his talents as a short-story writer with each voice sharing its own story, all while leading us to the bigger picture — how to help both Lincolns move on and out of the “bardo.”

Perhaps one of the blueprints for the novels above, Ulysses experiments with several unique literary techniques. Paralleling the journey home after the Trojan War in Homer’s The Odyssey, Ulysses takes place within a single day (don’t let its 1144 pages fool you), and follows three main characters — Stephen Dedalus, Leopoldo Bloom, and Molly Bloom — around Dublin on June 16, 1904. Each of the eighteen unique chapters aligns itself with an event from The Odyssey. Switching between third and first-person points of view, and deploying many styles such as stream of consciousness, script format, question and answer, and many more, Ulysses’ breadth of creative literary techniques will have you questioning how they could all come from just one book.