Absurdist Fiction Puns

Recently in a writing workshop for my degree, a professor recommended I look into reading and writing absurdist fiction because he thought it'd suit me well. I've continued on to my next workshop short story trying it out, and I'm just in love.

What I'm writing is just the most fun and crazy stuff I've ever imagined, and it makes almost no sense whatsoever in a good way. It feels so liberating. It's had me going in circles about what I truly want to write. I've always written fantasy and other types of genre fiction grounded in reality.

Can true absurdism seen in literary art mix with the usual genre fiction, or do I have to pick a side? I've seen people work in "weird fantasy", but I don't know if that's the same thing.

Not sure if I’m in the correct sub but any absurdist/surrealist book/short story recommendations?

Hi, Is anyone familiar with Absurdist fiction ?If so can you recommend any absurdist romance fiction?

I enjoyed reading absurdist fictions such as 'Metamorphosis' and 'The Trial' by Franz Kafka.These both revolved around a single characters journey within their world, while there is romance between the protagonist and other characters it isn't a shared absurdist experience, only the protagonist lives through the absurd.I'm interested in books with two connected characters who experience the absurd world through the same lense.

Thanks

Edit: Thanks for your suggestions, it does seem tricky to pair the two genres. Maybe it's not possible, I'll keep looking.

I started following Caroline after the creativity workshop scandal in January 2019, remaining an avid follower until she took that BEC trip to Cambridge and started selling her first round of tittáys in June 2019. (Unfortunately, I did buy a tittáy that ended up arriving months late. To this day, my partner still makes fun of me for it.) Then I discovered the weekly threads about her on r/blogsnark ... and the rest is history. The fact that I used to live in Sarasota is a cherry on top now regarding her adventures in quarantine.

I mostly lurk on here, but I was inspired to write an absurdist short story about our favorite smol bean a few months ago. I'm a writer for work and play, and I was re-doing my website when I realized that I never posted it on here after publishing! I hope y'all like it, and that it proves to be just as entertaining as her book that will never ship.

Just finished The Myths of Sisyphus (Camus) and have started Fear and Trembling (Kierkegaard) and I'm obsessed.

I find absurdism really interesting, and I've read the basic stuff like Beckett and Kafka, which I really enjoyed, but I'd like some more niche books to read if anyone has any.

edit: Definitely need to check out Albert Camus now.

I just read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt-Vonnegut, and I really liked the style, so I was wondering if there was anything similar to it. Penny for your thoughts, my fellow bookworms?

I can't seem to find good comedy in novel form that isn't either a satire of some sort or absurdist humor. Most everything on a list of "funny books to read" is satirical, non-fiction, or absurdist. Does anyone have recommendations for the kind of thing I'm looking for?

I call it Tall She-Yarns: Tasha Yar in the Tal Shiar

I'm developing a short story and, in the process of outlining and structuring, I realized that the best frame for my Fantasy concept was an Absurdist tragedy, of sorts.

I poke around the other writing subs and found, firstly, a general mis-use of the term 'Absurdist,' and secondly, no discussion on the craft of dealing with ideas that can feel cold or demoralizing or hopeless.

So what strategies/perspectives/tools do you like to use to keep a book engaging enough for a reader to keep turning the pages in spite of the crushing meaninglessness of the universe?

I've always loved the ridiculous humor and bite of the Hitchhikers books, as well as the detail and depth of more "hard sci-fi" like "We Are Legion: We Are Bob". The Draco Tavern has seemed to me like a perfect combination of these two, as we experience what seems like an "Everyman's" point of view, experience, and influence in a world unlike our own. The Draco Tavern stories easily come together and despite being able to stand alone, each one revealed a piece of the larger galaxy and universe in which it exists. In spite of the entertainment value of each individual story, I found myself most excited by the small revelations that provide more background to the world of The Draco Tavern, and I've struggled to find anything like it, since. Any help?

preferably contemporary but whatever works! also like murakami perhaps?

Maybe this is contrary to what genres like these are attempting to do but...

I greatly enjoy Kafka's work and works like Naked Lunch, but I'm seeking stories like these where the surreal, absurd elements -- the bizarre, the supernatural -- are more subtle and discreet, almost as if you have to look a bit harder to find the illogical, the unexplainable. The kind of thing where you do a double-take rather than outright stare into something you don't understand.

Since you can’t exactly stroll to the absurdist genre in a bookstore, I’d love to hear people’s favorite absurdist finds: either author-labeled or unexpected. I’ve read Camus, Kafka, Beckett, David Atkinson, Amelia Gray, and possibly some others I can’t think of now. Who am I missing?

Hi, so I was just wondering if anyone here has dabbled in writing an absurd story? I've read stuff by Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett and I find it hilarious for some reason. And apparently absurdist fiction happens be a good tool to bring across humour. I'm all about the funny and can't really find that much about absurdism, besides history and complex definitions. Could anyone maybe give me some tips on how to get started?

I've only recently realized that the sort of genre I most enjoy is absurdist fiction. Or so my research tells me is what it is. The only downfall is that I always find it in one-liners on Twitter ("Weird Twitter") or the podcast Welcome to Night Vale in that it is so wildly out there, yet borderline acceptable, and satirical. I'm seeing a lot of common aphorisms taken down a twisted or satirical path.

I'd love to find more extensive reads or just more content in general be it short stories or even plays.

Because I am unsure if I'm explaining it accurately or if I have the genre right, examples are as follows:

• nightvaleradio / ex- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
• tinynietzsche, neinquarterly, dogsdoingthings, communitytheatre, sextsfromthevoid

Edit: Of what I know is said to be absurdist fiction— I read A Series of Unfortunate Events in its entirety as a child, plan on starting my way through Vonnegut soon.

#Murder in "Utopia,,

###by Bryan Perkins

eBook | Absurdist Speculative Fiction | 23,000 words | Published October 2015 | $2.00

##Blurb

 Who am I today?
 Who am I tomorrow, then?
 How can I be both?

This is an absurd utopian science fiction piece in which a priest takes confession from several different characters, including a psychiatrist, all who live in a world that is unquestionably more utopian than the one we live in and many who turn out to be murderers of one form or another.

##A note from the author

For this novella my main goal was to produce a work that was at the same time absurdist and decidedly literary. I think I've succeeded in both aspects.

Murder in "Utopia,, was written without the use of quotation marks to distinguish dialogue from narration, much like you would find in a Cormac McCarthy novel. I however, unlike McCarthy who uses the same format for all his works, only wanted to forgo the use of quotation marks if it was for a purpose in the story that went beyond stylistic preferences. With Murder in "Utopia,, I found that purpose.

The story takes place almost entirely inside a priest's confessional office. Chapters alternate between a psychiatrist giving her confessions to the priest and the confessions of the very patients mentioned by the psychiatrist in her sessions. Every sentence that is written in the past tense is spoken aloud to the priest or by her, and every sentence that is written in the present tense is one of the priest's thoughts or an action she experiences.

I think you can see now why I found the quotation marks to be unnecessary, even without my having to spoil the plot-based reasoning found in the final chapter of the novella. I think you can also see why Murder in "Utopia,, may be a difficult read the first time through. There are no quotation marks to set off dialogue, the tense of the writing changes based on whether the words are spoken or experienced, and to top it all off, no names are mentioned for any of the characters, each being referred to only by their occupation or the pronouns her, she, etc.

But fear not, dear readers. Continue on despite your confusion. Confusion is part of the experience. And by the end, I think you may realize that you've found more clarity than you thought possible in such a jumbled, messy "utopia".

Thanks for reading along. I hope you enjoy the work and join me for more stories in the future.

We

A Cuticle in the Space Station

What do your first impressions and second takes say? Any lasting imprints? Did you find yourself thinking about this story after reading it, or did you find it forgettable?

And, of course, how can it be improved?

Please read the story and compile your initial critiques before reading below this, thanks!

Hopefully this spoiler tag works. Anyway, did the meta value of the writing come across? Was it obvious that some mistakes of writing were intentionally added to depict the main character as delusional? Also, did you catch the references or bother to look up references you did not know? Did they make the story more or less enjoyable? And if you didn't catch any references, did you think the story was nothing that stands out? Is there any publication who publishes things like this? I've looked into traditional places, but this story seems a bit too high-brow or out there to fit in with things they publish normally.

Thanks!

Please leave out camus/dostoyevsky

So I've been doing a lot of poking around and I can't seem to find anything concrete in terms of the parameters of what constitutes "absurdist fiction". I also haven't really been able to find articles (other than lists) about the history of absurdist fiction, or its most important contributors. Anyone know of any good resources or know, offhand, any fun or interesting details?

I'm getting into absurdism now. I read The Stranger and loved it, and now I'm reading through Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Any other recommendations?

I am looking for absurdist fiction, leaning more towards tragedy rather than comedy, i.e., something that doesn't have wacky nonsensical humor. Optionally, it could be a tragedy with bits of comedy; preferably where the main character dies.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'd like to read opinions on whether there are any distinguishing lines between these three. Also, what do you consider to be the best example of nihilism in fiction? Thank you.

It's obviously not finished, and what's there needs some editing. Hope you like!

“He’s mad, Arthur.” “No doubt about that, Arthur.” “But what is it? A girl? an argument with his parents? A franchise he’s a fan of was denied a sequel again?” “Shut your mouths!” Yelled Arthur, through his pillow. “Definitely mad.” said Arthur. “He looks like he’s about to scream.” said Arthur. Arthur (The Arthur laying on the bed.) screamed into his pillow. “What a prediction, Arthur!” said Arthur. (One of the ones wearing a newscasters headset and suit.) “I try my best, it’s my job after all.” Said the other Newscaster Arthur. Arthur jumped up on the bed and punched one of themselves, waving his arms in a flurry of fury. The newscasters seemed to disappear, only to reappear at the other side of the bed. “Attacking the audience, isn’t that a little low, Arthur?” Arthur then leaped over the bed, only to hit pure closet. “Your anger confuses us, why is Arthur having a fuss? Don’t be shy, tell us why! Tell us, tell us why you cry!” Arthur stood up from his encounter with the closet to see 4 barbershop quartet versions of himself, singing in harmony. "Problems with Arthur are like wounds and sand, you need to accept our helping hand, join our merry band, and SIIINNNNNNGG" Arthur proceed to scream, out loud this time. He got up from his bed to pace around the room. He turned around to see Dr. Arthur standing on the other side of his bed. "You know, sometimes it seems you are hiding your feelings. Do you understand why this could worry your parents? They care about me and so do you." Dr. Arthur disappeared, and therapist Arthur sat by his bed in a large dark chair. Therapist Arthur patted the bed. "Lay down and we can figure all this out that we're going through." Arthur lied on the bed. Not the Arthur that was pacing around, Emotional Arthur. "I keep having hallucinations... about myself." "We'll that sounds very selfish of you." "I JUST CAN'T CONTROL MY FEELINGS SOMETIMES I JUST-" Therapist Arthur had shoved a pillow over emotional Arthur's face, smothering him. "Bhrlihehdikkjrhrlllderrldjdjdjdlsodjdkslwlskmd.. Arthur: "I don't smother my feelings. I don't." Therapist Arthur: "If you're not going to be honest with your parents, or your doctor, at least be honest with yourself." The two Arthur's faded away. Arthur layer down on his bed. He decided long ago the hallucinations weren't hallucinations. He feels he isn't creative enough to come up with the stuff he says to him. He