Surreal imagery

[Fishbowl Helmet]

I've read a bunch of the classic children's stories with surreal elements, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, many of the Oz books, etc. I've also read some literary works with surreal elements, William S. Burroughs and James Joyce. Genre fiction with surreal elements, Clive Barker and Philip K. Dick. And other writers such as Hunter S. Thompson.

I'm wondering what other posters here have found in regards to well-written surreal imagery in prose fiction. Someone who could describe a Dali or Moebius in prose and make it sing. Dreams, dream sequences, surreal fantasy... anything really. Even if it's just a paragraph in a novel that depicts a surreal image well. Anything.

Please.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I don't mean to self-promote, but my upcoming Hairy London is exactly this - surreal, and a little bit mad.

 

[Toby Frost]

Although a lot of his stuff is set in the real world, I thought that Ramsey Campbell's use of description in The Doll Who Ate His Mother was quite surreal. Mervyn Peake uses some quite surreal imagery in the Gormenghast books.

I suppose a lot of 60's SFF might fit the description, too. The Compleat Traveller in Black by John Brunner is a particular favourite, although a lot of other writers would could. Brian Aldiss springs to mind.

 

[martin321]

If you want surreal imagery and dream sequences then you could do a lot worse than read some H.P. Lovecraft:

The Colour Out of Space - this story is concerned with impossible colours.
The Call of Cthulhu - describes impossible non-euclidean geometries at one point in the story.
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath - has various dream sequences in which cats play a prominent role.

Many of his other stories have similar themes.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Yeah. Lovecraft is a personal favorite. Way too tired to post if I left him off. And Chambers. Colour Out of Space was the only piece of fiction that ever scared me.

Thanks for the recs.

Stephen, that's the vague direction I'm going with my WIP, hence the desire for well done surreal imagery.

 

[Randy M.]

Yeah. Lovecraft is a personal favorite. Way too tired to post if I left him off. And Chambers. Colour Out of Space was the only piece of fiction that ever scared me.

Thanks for the recs.

Stephen, that's the vague direction I'm going with my WIP, hence the desire for well done surreal imagery.

"Le Peau Verte" by Caitlin Kiernan (a rather drug-y surrealism)
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" by Harlan Ellison (this might be arguable, but I remember the ending as nightmarishly surreal)
The Crystal World by J. G. Ballard
The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell (but rather subtle most of the time)

Randy M.

 

[rai]

I think of two books off the top of my head, not sure if they are what you are looking for but I believe they are surreal.


'Ubik' by Philip K Dick


The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov


The Master and Margarita | Journey to Perplexity


The story is centered on a visit by Satan to Moscow to get a Queen to preside over his annual ball, or maybe just to have some fun. The devil is an affable fellow, rather clever and slick, and his assistants are colorful clowns. The most amusing is an enormous black tomcat given to ironic and satirical jibes. They wreak havoc amongst the stuffy Soviet toadies and functionaries they encounter, and they retrieve Margarita to preside over Satan’s grand ball. Interwoven with this tale of witchcraft and demonic mischief is a story of the confrontation of Jesus and Pontius Pilate

 

[Minorsage]

One of my favourite bizarre reads is A Night of Serious Drinking by Rene Daumal. It's a little hard to come by [$$], but very surreal. I'm not even sure I understood three quarters of it.

 

[wam]

Definitely some parts of Borges - the library is usually referred to as an influence on many. Although I've never read it, I remember several parts of Finnegan's Wake on TV that would qualify.