Susan Hill writes about curses and misfortunes, but her own career seemed
charmed almost from the outset. How many authors get a novel accepted by a
major publisher while they are still in high school? Ms. Hill was studying for A
Levels while checking out the intense press coverage of her debut book The
Enclosure—a book that was branded by the Daily Mail as a “sex-ridden
sensational novel.” Of course, that was the year (1960) of the Lady
Chatterley's Lover trial, and such denunciations only helped sales.
After this promising start, Hill enjoyed an
extraordinary string of successes in her
twenties and early thirties. She won the
Somerset Maugham for I’m the King of
the Castle (1970), the Whitbread Novel
Award for The Bird of Night (1972) and
the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The
Albatross (1972)—the latter title also
made the shortlist for the Booker Prize.
That same year Hill was invited to become
a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,
the elite literary organization, founded by
King George IV in 1820, which has allowed
most of the great British authors of the last
two centuries, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge
to J.K. Rowling to put the esteemed initials
FRSL after their names.
Such accolades outght to be sufficient for even
a charmed literary life, but Hill saved her biggest success for middle age. In
1983, not long after Hill’s fortieth birthday, she published The Woman in
Black, a compact horror novel, that has enjoyed enormous multimedia
success. The stage play adaptation is the second longest-running dramatic
production in the history of London’s West End—topped only by The
Mousetrap. But it has proven almost as successful in Mexico and Japan. The
play has been translated into at least a dozen languages and put on stage in
some forty countries. The 2012 film version landed Harry Potter star Daniel
Radcliffe as leading man, and grossed more than $100 million, setting a box
office record for British horror flicks. Hill’s story has also shown up on
television and radio.
But the novel that started this cascade of success continues to find an
enthusiastic audience—a significant portion of it the children (and probably
grandchildren) of its first generation of readers. The Woman in Black is, in
short, a modern horror classic. The book is frequently assigned in schools—no
doubt providing some satisfaction to Ms. Hill, who was told by the
headmistress of Barr’s Hill, after the 'scandal' of her debut novel, that she "had
brought shame and disgrace" to the school. When Hill makes a public
appearance, the large contingent of teenage fans—seemingly more suitable for
a Justin Bieber or One Direction performance—stands out in the audience.
Yet, despite all this acclaim, The Woman in
Black is an unlikely success story. Hill's
novel came out in the era that launched A
Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th
as blockbuster franchises. The horror genre
was getting bloodier and bloodier, with rising
body counts and falling IQ points. Even horror
novels were expected to churn out senseless
gore—just check out Jack Ketchum’s bestselling
Off Season go see how unsophisticated scare
stories were in the early 1980s. In the midst
of all that mutilation and dismemberment, Hill
delivered a taut, slow-paced gothic ghost story,
and somehow turned it into a mass market
sensation.
Yes, a charmed life…how else can we account for it? Who would have thought
that atmospheric suspense, a throwback to Daphne du Maurier if not Horace
Walpole, could captivate the Freddy Krueger generation? Yet, in an odd way,
Hill may have wisely timed her moment. At the very same juncture that The
Woman in Black appeared in print, Universal was embarking on a program of
re-releasing five classic Alfred Hitchcock films into movie theaters, and
proving that a new generation of fans appreciated blood-free horror stories,
built on implication rather than decapitation. Hill was working that same
groove—indeed, you could almost imagine her, in an earlier day, writing
screenplays for Mr. Hitchcock (and she later penned a sequel to Rebecca, one
of that director’s biggest box office hits).
So much of The Woman in Black builds on mood, setting and the unspoken
aspects of the story. A junior attorney, Arthur Kipps, has been sent by his firm
to Crythin Gifford, a remote village in northeast England. Here he is to attend
the funeral of deceased client, Alice Drablow, and review her private papers in
preparation for settling the estate. But almost from the start, Kipps senses he
has been assigned eerie, unsettling mission. Nobody wants to talk about Mrs.
Drablow, but everyone who knew her seems to be withholding information.
Some dark secret must be involved, but our young hero has no idea what it
might be.
Another writer might be able to sustain this ambiguous tension, without any
violence or physical threat let alone bloodshed, for twenty or thirty pages, but
Hill maintains it for most of the novel. And when some disturbing deed finally
breaks the ominous tranquility, it is presented indirectly—heard in the
distance, or described in a letter.
If the book has gravitational center, it is neither the hero Kipps nor the
deceased Drablow. Even the mysterious woman in dark, seen at a distance at
several junctures in the book, is merely a bit player for most of the story’s
duration. The real star of this novel is the house, the Drablow family manor,
described and situated by the author with extraordinary care. I’ve read plenty
of books about haunted houses, but this one comes to life in a way few others
match. You will be able to see it vividly in your mind’s eye: the isolated manor
at the end of a long causeway, surrounded by marshland and murky water,
shrouded fog and mist. I’m hardly surprised that this novel was made into a
successful movie—the visual element jumps off the page and almost demands
transference to the screen.
And the most important supporting role here goes to the weather. "English
weather is a gift to English writers," Hill has commented, and she
demonstrates that again and again in The Woman in Black. "I am sure it is
possible to set a ghost story on a bright sunny day," she adds—but she must
have been saving that trick for another book. In this novel, the fog, the cold,
the rising damp and falling mist are employed with subtle skill, and even
become key elements in the plot. I suspect that readers of this novel, when
recalling it years later, think first of the mist and the house, and only later of
the protagonist and his preoccupations.
But Hill isn’t just a mood-maker and scene-setter. When she eventually
unleashes her malevolent lady dressed in mourning, she will shock you—and
with all the more intensity because of the great care she has devoted to laying
the groundwork for this moment. The slow build-up pays off with a vengeance
when Hill moves her story into its final paces.
No, this isn’t a novel for horror genre fans seeking another Books of Blood or
American Psycho. This novel is a throwback, a reminder of an earlier
conception of suspense storytelling. But if you are old school, you will find
kindred spirits in this novel—in which people have access to automobiles, but
still prefer to travel in a pony-drawn carriage, and ignore the telephone in
order to send letters by post.
This feels like a Victorian novel, even though it was written in Thatcher’s
England and set in a modern day. There’s nothing virtual or digital to be found
anywhere in these pages. But the eerie isn't digital either—that elusive quality
thrives at the border between the palpable and the metaphysical, the perceived
and the imagined. And those are intersections Susan Hill knows well, and
where her woman in black lurks. It’s old school indeed, but hardly a nostalgia
trip, and suspenseful in ways the new schools might want to emulate.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His most recent book,
Love Songs: The Hidden History, is published by Oxford University Press.
Publication date: February 22, 2016
charmed almost from the outset. How many authors get a novel accepted by a
major publisher while they are still in high school? Ms. Hill was studying for A
Levels while checking out the intense press coverage of her debut book The
Enclosure—a book that was branded by the Daily Mail as a “sex-ridden
sensational novel.” Of course, that was the year (1960) of the Lady
Chatterley's Lover trial, and such denunciations only helped sales.
After this promising start, Hill enjoyed an
extraordinary string of successes in her
twenties and early thirties. She won the
Somerset Maugham for I’m the King of
the Castle (1970), the Whitbread Novel
Award for The Bird of Night (1972) and
the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The
Albatross (1972)—the latter title also
made the shortlist for the Booker Prize.
That same year Hill was invited to become
a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature,
the elite literary organization, founded by
King George IV in 1820, which has allowed
most of the great British authors of the last
two centuries, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge
to J.K. Rowling to put the esteemed initials
FRSL after their names.
Such accolades outght to be sufficient for even
a charmed literary life, but Hill saved her biggest success for middle age. In
1983, not long after Hill’s fortieth birthday, she published The Woman in
Black, a compact horror novel, that has enjoyed enormous multimedia
success. The stage play adaptation is the second longest-running dramatic
production in the history of London’s West End—topped only by The
Mousetrap. But it has proven almost as successful in Mexico and Japan. The
play has been translated into at least a dozen languages and put on stage in
some forty countries. The 2012 film version landed Harry Potter star Daniel
Radcliffe as leading man, and grossed more than $100 million, setting a box
office record for British horror flicks. Hill’s story has also shown up on
television and radio.
But the novel that started this cascade of success continues to find an
enthusiastic audience—a significant portion of it the children (and probably
grandchildren) of its first generation of readers. The Woman in Black is, in
short, a modern horror classic. The book is frequently assigned in schools—no
doubt providing some satisfaction to Ms. Hill, who was told by the
headmistress of Barr’s Hill, after the 'scandal' of her debut novel, that she "had
brought shame and disgrace" to the school. When Hill makes a public
appearance, the large contingent of teenage fans—seemingly more suitable for
a Justin Bieber or One Direction performance—stands out in the audience.
Yet, despite all this acclaim, The Woman in
Black is an unlikely success story. Hill's
novel came out in the era that launched A
Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th
as blockbuster franchises. The horror genre
was getting bloodier and bloodier, with rising
body counts and falling IQ points. Even horror
novels were expected to churn out senseless
gore—just check out Jack Ketchum’s bestselling
Off Season go see how unsophisticated scare
stories were in the early 1980s. In the midst
of all that mutilation and dismemberment, Hill
delivered a taut, slow-paced gothic ghost story,
and somehow turned it into a mass market
sensation.
Yes, a charmed life…how else can we account for it? Who would have thought
that atmospheric suspense, a throwback to Daphne du Maurier if not Horace
Walpole, could captivate the Freddy Krueger generation? Yet, in an odd way,
Hill may have wisely timed her moment. At the very same juncture that The
Woman in Black appeared in print, Universal was embarking on a program of
re-releasing five classic Alfred Hitchcock films into movie theaters, and
proving that a new generation of fans appreciated blood-free horror stories,
built on implication rather than decapitation. Hill was working that same
groove—indeed, you could almost imagine her, in an earlier day, writing
screenplays for Mr. Hitchcock (and she later penned a sequel to Rebecca, one
of that director’s biggest box office hits).
So much of The Woman in Black builds on mood, setting and the unspoken
aspects of the story. A junior attorney, Arthur Kipps, has been sent by his firm
to Crythin Gifford, a remote village in northeast England. Here he is to attend
the funeral of deceased client, Alice Drablow, and review her private papers in
preparation for settling the estate. But almost from the start, Kipps senses he
has been assigned eerie, unsettling mission. Nobody wants to talk about Mrs.
Drablow, but everyone who knew her seems to be withholding information.
Some dark secret must be involved, but our young hero has no idea what it
might be.
Another writer might be able to sustain this ambiguous tension, without any
violence or physical threat let alone bloodshed, for twenty or thirty pages, but
Hill maintains it for most of the novel. And when some disturbing deed finally
breaks the ominous tranquility, it is presented indirectly—heard in the
distance, or described in a letter.
If the book has gravitational center, it is neither the hero Kipps nor the
deceased Drablow. Even the mysterious woman in dark, seen at a distance at
several junctures in the book, is merely a bit player for most of the story’s
duration. The real star of this novel is the house, the Drablow family manor,
described and situated by the author with extraordinary care. I’ve read plenty
of books about haunted houses, but this one comes to life in a way few others
match. You will be able to see it vividly in your mind’s eye: the isolated manor
at the end of a long causeway, surrounded by marshland and murky water,
shrouded fog and mist. I’m hardly surprised that this novel was made into a
successful movie—the visual element jumps off the page and almost demands
transference to the screen.
And the most important supporting role here goes to the weather. "English
weather is a gift to English writers," Hill has commented, and she
demonstrates that again and again in The Woman in Black. "I am sure it is
possible to set a ghost story on a bright sunny day," she adds—but she must
have been saving that trick for another book. In this novel, the fog, the cold,
the rising damp and falling mist are employed with subtle skill, and even
become key elements in the plot. I suspect that readers of this novel, when
recalling it years later, think first of the mist and the house, and only later of
the protagonist and his preoccupations.
But Hill isn’t just a mood-maker and scene-setter. When she eventually
unleashes her malevolent lady dressed in mourning, she will shock you—and
with all the more intensity because of the great care she has devoted to laying
the groundwork for this moment. The slow build-up pays off with a vengeance
when Hill moves her story into its final paces.
No, this isn’t a novel for horror genre fans seeking another Books of Blood or
American Psycho. This novel is a throwback, a reminder of an earlier
conception of suspense storytelling. But if you are old school, you will find
kindred spirits in this novel—in which people have access to automobiles, but
still prefer to travel in a pony-drawn carriage, and ignore the telephone in
order to send letters by post.
This feels like a Victorian novel, even though it was written in Thatcher’s
England and set in a modern day. There’s nothing virtual or digital to be found
anywhere in these pages. But the eerie isn't digital either—that elusive quality
thrives at the border between the palpable and the metaphysical, the perceived
and the imagined. And those are intersections Susan Hill knows well, and
where her woman in black lurks. It’s old school indeed, but hardly a nostalgia
trip, and suspenseful in ways the new schools might want to emulate.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His most recent book,
Love Songs: The Hidden History, is published by Oxford University Press.
Publication date: February 22, 2016
| The Woman in Black by Susan Hill |
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Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
The New Canon
Great literary works
published since 1985
Great Books Guide
Reviews of current books
Postmodern Mystery
Experimental works of mystery &
suspense
Fractious Fiction
Radical, unconventional and
experimental fiction
This is my year of horrible reading. I am
reading the classics of horror fiction during the
course of 2016, and each week will write about
a significant work in the genre. You are invited
to join me in my annus horribilis. During the
course of the year—if we survive—we will
have tackled zombies, serial killers, ghosts,
demons, vampires, and monsters of all
denominations. Check back each week for a
new title...but remember to bring along garlic,
silver bullets and a protective amulet. T.G.
reading the classics of horror fiction during the
course of 2016, and each week will write about
a significant work in the genre. You are invited
to join me in my annus horribilis. During the
course of the year—if we survive—we will
have tackled zombies, serial killers, ghosts,
demons, vampires, and monsters of all
denominations. Check back each week for a
new title...but remember to bring along garlic,
silver bullets and a protective amulet. T.G.
Essay by Ted Gioia
| conceptual fiction Exploring the Non-Realist Tradition in Fiction |
My Year of Horrible Reading
Week 1:
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
Week 2:
The Haunting of Hill House
By Shirley Jackson
Week 3:
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
By Edgar Allan Poe
Week 4:
Carrie
By Stephen King
Week 5:
The Passion According to G.H.
By Clarice Lispector
Week 6:
Tales
By H.P. Lovecraft
Week 7:
The Exorcist
By William Peter Blatty
Week 8:
The Woman in Black
By Susan Hill
Week 1:
Dracula
By Bram Stoker
Week 2:
The Haunting of Hill House
By Shirley Jackson
Week 3:
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
By Edgar Allan Poe
Week 4:
Carrie
By Stephen King
Week 5:
The Passion According to G.H.
By Clarice Lispector
Week 6:
Tales
By H.P. Lovecraft
Week 7:
The Exorcist
By William Peter Blatty
Week 8:
The Woman in Black
By Susan Hill
| To purchase, click on image |
If you are old school, you
will find kindred spirits
in this novel—in which
people have access to
automobiles, but still
prefer to travel in a pony-
drawn carriage, and
ignore the telephone in
order to send letters by
post.
will find kindred spirits
in this novel—in which
people have access to
automobiles, but still
prefer to travel in a pony-
drawn carriage, and
ignore the telephone in
order to send letters by
post.
Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
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
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
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
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
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
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
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
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
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
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
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
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
My Year of Horrible Reading
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
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
_____
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
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or other parties.
All rights reserved.
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
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
Fowles, John
A Maggot
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
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
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
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
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
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
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
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
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
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
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
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The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
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