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Weird freak historical fiction
14w
Books
Glorious Exploits (Ferdia Lennon)
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A delicate balance of funny and heart wrenching, in that distinctly Irish way. Lennon’s debut novel unfolds in Syracuse during the Peloponnesian War, centering around two unemployed potters who cope with their joblessness by putting on a production of Medea using a bunch of Athenian prisoners. He uses a modern Irish vernacular throughout, which I thought made the story incredibly readable. Walks the line between thoughtful literary fiction and an easy summer read.
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20w
Books
Sudden Death (Álvaro Enrigue)
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The latest in my pursuit of Weird Freak Historical fiction. I also recommend You Dreamed of Empires, but if I had to choose between any of his three (English) books it would be this one. This was the bizarre, kaleidoscopic, meta-fiction that Enrigue writes so masterfully. Partly taking place during a single fictional tennis match between Caravaggio and Quevedo, partly unfolding in Mexico and Spain after Hernán Cortés’s invasion and all the while slowly unraveling and reforming the history of 16th century Europe to suit the author’s narrative, it’s hard to exactly put this book into words for those who haven’t read it. It requires some starting and stopping to fill yourself in on some of the historical figures, and sifting through what is and isn’t real, but that’s part of the fun. There is also a scene where Fillide Melandroni is lowkey fujoshing out on the tennis court. Tenez!
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21w
Books
Orlando: A Biography (Virginia Woolf)
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Arguably the catalyst for my Weird Freak Historical Fiction journey, though it may not immediately seem to fit into this sub genre. Definitely a little racist (or at least racial?) at times, because this is Virginia Woolf we’re talking about. Still worth reading, especially if the 1992 film starring TILDA SWINTON!!!! is on your watchlist—it would not have been watchable for me if I had not read the book.
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21w
Books
The Seventh Function of Language (Laurent Binet)
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Weird and fun and infinitely re-readable. May be a rip-off of The Name of the Rose, but that is not something I care about right now.
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