Essay by Ted Gioia
| Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany |
Even as science fiction authors became more daring
in the 1960s, few found ways of reconciling the leading
experimental tendencies of the day with the demands
of genre fiction. In the world of literary fiction, novelists
were stretching syntax and semantics, engaging in fanciful
wordplay and moving
beyond the time-honored
conventions of narrative
structure. In science fiction,
in contrast, authors were
enlivening their tales with
more expansive plot lines—
embracing sociological and
religious themes and bor-
rowing heavily from current
thinking about mythology
and psychology—yet the
language of their stories still
betrayed sci-fi's pulp fiction
roots. The leading science fiction authors might construct
elaborate spaceships or time machines….but were usually
afraid to tinker with sentence structures.
Except for Samuel R. Delany. Delany had grand ambitions
for science fiction. A prodigy who started writing in his
teens, and had published seven sci-fi novels before the age
of 25, Delany aimed not only to broaden the themes of
genre lit but also its language. Sometimes his prose took
on the fanciful qualities of poetry, at other times he wrote
in a stream-of-consciousness style or even experimented with
the way the words were presented on the page. Not all of
his risk-taking paid off—his most famous novel, Dhalgren,
is like Ulysses' evil twin—but at his best, Delany was one of
the great visionaries of sci-fi, taking genre fiction to places
it had never been before.
Related Reviews
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
Babel-17, written around the time of Delany's 23rd birthday,
still stands out as one of the most successful attempts to
mix the language games of modernists and postmodernists
with a taut science fiction plot line. Delany achieves this
by making linguistics a key part of his plot—an unusual
move for any novelist, highbrow or lowbrow, but very
much in keeping with sci-fi's absorption of the human
sciences during this period. As a result, the unconventional
sentences and page layouts that often seem gratuitous in
other Delany books not only fit seamlessly here, but are
even essential to the unfolding story.
Our chief protagonist, Rydra Wong is a poet, skilled linguist
and intergalactic literary celebrity…and, yes, a starship
captain in her spare time. Leading characters in Delany's
stories often come across as extensions of the author, and
like her creator, Wong is obsessed with the way meaning
is conveyed in language. Because of her knack with words,
Wong has been enlisted by the military to assist in breaking
a code called Babel-17. This code has been detected on
radio transmissions that are invariably timed to coincide
with acts of sabotage at various parts of the galaxy.
Wong soon realizes that Babel-17 is not a code, but a
language, and a peculiar one at that. Is it a kind of
communicative music? Is it a more precise logical
framework for concepts? Is it a type of computer language,
but designed for people instead of machines? Is it a
linguistic tool for brainwashing? Or is it simply an
evolutionary dead-end, destroying those who use it too
much? For once, Delany has a legitimate excuse to
integrate his musings on words and extravagant
phraseology into a sci-fi thriller, and though Chomsky
might not approve of the theoretical orientation of this
tale—which violates his theory of generative grammar at
every turn—Delany both enlightens and entertains. The
result is one of the landmarks of linguistic sci-fi, setting
the foundation for later works such as Stanislaw Lem's
His Master's Voice, China Miéville's Embassytown, Ted
Chiang's "Understand" and Don DeLilllo's Ratner's Star.
If the idea of linguistic science fiction leaves you
apprehensive, rest assured that Delany successfully
integrates his story of language and translation into a
fast-paced adventure story—not always a given with
this author. In order to unravel the intricacies of
Babel-17, Wong needs to set out in a spaceship, and is
soon caught up in the ongoing galactic conflict between
the Alliance and the Invaders. Over the course of this
novel, Delany presents the full range of action scenarios,
from hand-to-hand combat to full-scale spaceship
battles. But even in the midst of combat, he finds a way
to employ his experimental techniques. Delany's description
of a terrorist attack at an official dinner is one of the
strangest fight scenes in sci-fi history, with more attention
lavished on the food than fighting. "The fruit platters
were pushed aside by the emerging peacocks, cooked,
dressed and reassembled with sugared heads, tail
feathers swaying....Tureens of caldo verde crowded
the wine basins….Fruit rolled over the edge." It's as if
the NY Times had fired its war correspondents and
replaced them with restaurant reviewers.
The same distinctive Delany-esqe mixture of combat
and unusual language stands out in his big battle scene
—here, for inexplicable reasons, the military commander
relies on psychoanalytical jargon for all his strategizing
and communications to the troops. I found this inspired
bit of doggerel strangely appealing: "Neurotics advance.
Maintain contact to avoid separation anxiety….Let the
criminally insane schiz out….Neurotics proceed with
delusions of grandeur….Stimulate severe depression,
noncommunicative, with repressed hostility….Commence
the first psychotic episode…."
As such passages may suggest, readers need to make
allowances for this author's eccentricities. And there are
many quirks here, as you might expect from a writer
who proclaims Let the criminally insane schiz out. Be
forewarned: If you are waiting for Delany to explain
why he makes a soldier talk like Sigmund Freud or
worries more about the food than the fatalities at a
bloody banquet or has put some incongruous bit of
poetry in the middle of his story…you will be waiting
in vain. He forces you to construct with your own
interpretation—if you can.
Almost every one of Delany’s novels could have been
named Stranger in a Strange Book. But here the strangeness
works. Even today many doubt that genre conventions
can coexist with literary experimentation. Babel-17 is a
corrective to that skepticism, an avant-garde space opera
that sets its own terms of engagement and played a key
role in reinventing science fiction during a period of
transition and transgression. A half-century later, the
tables have turned, and highbrow literary authors are
now trying to assimilate aspects of genre fiction. It's to
Delany’s credit that, even in this changed environment,
this brash novel still can serve as a touchstone and role
model.
Publication date: March 31, 2012
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. His
latest book is Love Songs: The Hidden History, published by
Oxford University Press.
in the 1960s, few found ways of reconciling the leading
experimental tendencies of the day with the demands
of genre fiction. In the world of literary fiction, novelists
were stretching syntax and semantics, engaging in fanciful
wordplay and moving
beyond the time-honored
conventions of narrative
structure. In science fiction,
in contrast, authors were
enlivening their tales with
more expansive plot lines—
embracing sociological and
religious themes and bor-
rowing heavily from current
thinking about mythology
and psychology—yet the
language of their stories still
betrayed sci-fi's pulp fiction
roots. The leading science fiction authors might construct
elaborate spaceships or time machines….but were usually
afraid to tinker with sentence structures.
Except for Samuel R. Delany. Delany had grand ambitions
for science fiction. A prodigy who started writing in his
teens, and had published seven sci-fi novels before the age
of 25, Delany aimed not only to broaden the themes of
genre lit but also its language. Sometimes his prose took
on the fanciful qualities of poetry, at other times he wrote
in a stream-of-consciousness style or even experimented with
the way the words were presented on the page. Not all of
his risk-taking paid off—his most famous novel, Dhalgren,
is like Ulysses' evil twin—but at his best, Delany was one of
the great visionaries of sci-fi, taking genre fiction to places
it had never been before.
Related Reviews
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
Babel-17, written around the time of Delany's 23rd birthday,
still stands out as one of the most successful attempts to
mix the language games of modernists and postmodernists
with a taut science fiction plot line. Delany achieves this
by making linguistics a key part of his plot—an unusual
move for any novelist, highbrow or lowbrow, but very
much in keeping with sci-fi's absorption of the human
sciences during this period. As a result, the unconventional
sentences and page layouts that often seem gratuitous in
other Delany books not only fit seamlessly here, but are
even essential to the unfolding story.
Our chief protagonist, Rydra Wong is a poet, skilled linguist
and intergalactic literary celebrity…and, yes, a starship
captain in her spare time. Leading characters in Delany's
stories often come across as extensions of the author, and
like her creator, Wong is obsessed with the way meaning
is conveyed in language. Because of her knack with words,
Wong has been enlisted by the military to assist in breaking
a code called Babel-17. This code has been detected on
radio transmissions that are invariably timed to coincide
with acts of sabotage at various parts of the galaxy.
Wong soon realizes that Babel-17 is not a code, but a
language, and a peculiar one at that. Is it a kind of
communicative music? Is it a more precise logical
framework for concepts? Is it a type of computer language,
but designed for people instead of machines? Is it a
linguistic tool for brainwashing? Or is it simply an
evolutionary dead-end, destroying those who use it too
much? For once, Delany has a legitimate excuse to
integrate his musings on words and extravagant
phraseology into a sci-fi thriller, and though Chomsky
might not approve of the theoretical orientation of this
tale—which violates his theory of generative grammar at
every turn—Delany both enlightens and entertains. The
result is one of the landmarks of linguistic sci-fi, setting
the foundation for later works such as Stanislaw Lem's
His Master's Voice, China Miéville's Embassytown, Ted
Chiang's "Understand" and Don DeLilllo's Ratner's Star.
If the idea of linguistic science fiction leaves you
apprehensive, rest assured that Delany successfully
integrates his story of language and translation into a
fast-paced adventure story—not always a given with
this author. In order to unravel the intricacies of
Babel-17, Wong needs to set out in a spaceship, and is
soon caught up in the ongoing galactic conflict between
the Alliance and the Invaders. Over the course of this
novel, Delany presents the full range of action scenarios,
from hand-to-hand combat to full-scale spaceship
battles. But even in the midst of combat, he finds a way
to employ his experimental techniques. Delany's description
of a terrorist attack at an official dinner is one of the
strangest fight scenes in sci-fi history, with more attention
lavished on the food than fighting. "The fruit platters
were pushed aside by the emerging peacocks, cooked,
dressed and reassembled with sugared heads, tail
feathers swaying....Tureens of caldo verde crowded
the wine basins….Fruit rolled over the edge." It's as if
the NY Times had fired its war correspondents and
replaced them with restaurant reviewers.
The same distinctive Delany-esqe mixture of combat
and unusual language stands out in his big battle scene
—here, for inexplicable reasons, the military commander
relies on psychoanalytical jargon for all his strategizing
and communications to the troops. I found this inspired
bit of doggerel strangely appealing: "Neurotics advance.
Maintain contact to avoid separation anxiety….Let the
criminally insane schiz out….Neurotics proceed with
delusions of grandeur….Stimulate severe depression,
noncommunicative, with repressed hostility….Commence
the first psychotic episode…."
As such passages may suggest, readers need to make
allowances for this author's eccentricities. And there are
many quirks here, as you might expect from a writer
who proclaims Let the criminally insane schiz out. Be
forewarned: If you are waiting for Delany to explain
why he makes a soldier talk like Sigmund Freud or
worries more about the food than the fatalities at a
bloody banquet or has put some incongruous bit of
poetry in the middle of his story…you will be waiting
in vain. He forces you to construct with your own
interpretation—if you can.
Almost every one of Delany’s novels could have been
named Stranger in a Strange Book. But here the strangeness
works. Even today many doubt that genre conventions
can coexist with literary experimentation. Babel-17 is a
corrective to that skepticism, an avant-garde space opera
that sets its own terms of engagement and played a key
role in reinventing science fiction during a period of
transition and transgression. A half-century later, the
tables have turned, and highbrow literary authors are
now trying to assimilate aspects of genre fiction. It's to
Delany’s credit that, even in this changed environment,
this brash novel still can serve as a touchstone and role
model.
Publication date: March 31, 2012
Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. His
latest book is Love Songs: The Hidden History, published by
Oxford University Press.
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
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When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
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Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
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Love in the Ruins
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Gateway
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Store of the Worlds
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Frankenstein
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Dying Inside
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City
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Norstrilia
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Snow Crash
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Glasshouse
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More Than Human
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Some of Your Blood
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Gulliver's Travels
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Warm Worlds and Otherwise
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The Mixed Men
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Cat's Cradle
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Infinite Jest
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Hieroglyphic Tales
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The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
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The Illuminatus! Trilogy
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Cloudstreet
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Orlando
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The Bear Comes Home
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Lord of Light
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This Immortal
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