r/suggestmeabook • u/Thump180 • 18h ago
Literary Cigarette fiction
I heard a few social media posts coining a unofficial sub genre of fiction booke. Its described as "short bleak existential books that feel like your smoking a cigarette at 2am". I assume the most famous example would be the stranger by Albert camus. But I'm looking for that vibe
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u/jcd280 17h ago edited 13h ago
...Hello, immediately made me think of...
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
...or (and I have no clue why)...
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton
...happy hunting, pleasant reading...
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u/whoa_itsanavalanche 11h ago
Comment must have been edited to ensure maximum effectiveness of dot dot dots
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u/Dizzy-Captain7422 11h ago
Raymond Carver immediately comes to mind, particularly What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. His stories are bleak, minimalist, and full of lonely people trying unsuccessfully to connect with each other.
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u/NihilisticMushroom 18h ago
These have been recommended to death on Reddit, but A Short Stay in Hell and The Divine Farce. The former fits your request better.
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u/Dark_Foggy_Evenings 17h ago
Ghosts of My Life by Mark Fisher. Whilst listening to James ‘The Caretaker’ Leyland Kirby.
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u/highgroundservitude 14h ago
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness by Irene Solà kinda fits this vibe
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u/WinterWontStopComing 12h ago
Some of Ted Chiang’s short stories. Especially “Hell is the absence of god”
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u/Shadow_Sides 8h ago edited 8h ago
Angels or Jesus Son by Denis Johnson
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Maybe Blood Meridian or Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy
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u/throbbingeye 6h ago
Still Life With a Woodpecker by Tom Robbins takes place inside a pack of cigarettes 😀
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u/RangerBumble 17h ago
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges