Aw, man, all that thinking I did could have been avoided my better reading comprehension.
Eta: it often seems like every other book I read is a quest, and yet now I can't think of any.
I am not...I am not the damsel in distress. I am not some case. I have to work this. I've lived in a cave for 5 years in a world where they killed my kind like cattle. I am not going to be cut down by some monster flu. I am better than that. What a wonder...how very scared I am.
Fred ,'A Hole in the World'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
-t - May 13, 2010 10:47:21 am PDT #11392 of 28344
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Strix - May 13, 2010 10:50:50 am PDT #11393 of 28344
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
You might want to add Oryx and Crake and/or After The Flood (Atwood) to the dystopian list. I love Handmaid's Tale, but the later one's are, IMHO, drily hilarious, and really modern and terrifying, and all-too-plausible, with a more eco-focus. LOVE.
Quest...does it have to be a physical journey? Because I love Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison unreasonably, and it's a definite mental joun...yeah, I dunno if it fits. But you should all read it.
Brain fried, sense later.
Kat - May 13, 2010 12:27:24 pm PDT #11394 of 28344
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
For quests, Siddhartha.
I love Handmaid's Tale, but the later one's are, IMHO, drily hilarious, and really modern and terrifying, and all-too-plausible, with a more eco-focus. LOVE
AGREED.
Beverly - May 13, 2010 12:57:47 pm PDT #11395 of 28344
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
King writes long well, but my favorite of his is a collection of shorts, Night Shift. Scary stuff in small packages. Gray Matter has stuck with me for a very long time. As has the title story.
erin_obscure - May 13, 2010 1:01:40 pm PDT #11396 of 28344
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
Re: King, the Dark Tower series is wholy quest, and pretty darned epic (even including commentary on descent and lists of weaponry) but might take a few months to finish. On the plus side, there's an awful lot of side topics and universal themes in there to discuss.
Kathy A - May 13, 2010 1:13:41 pm PDT #11397 of 28344
We're very stretchy. - Connie Neil
Night Shift was my very first collection of short stories--love those! I think my favorite from that book are the one where the guy has to walk around his highrise on the ledge for a bet, and the one where a guy decides to quit smoking via an extremely strict program.
§ ita § - May 13, 2010 1:17:22 pm PDT #11398 of 28344
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
The Raft from Skeleton Crew is the King short story that sticks with me the most. Goddamned being pulled through the slats. Ick.
Thinking of King and quests, does The Talisman count? I haven't read it in forever, but it does seem to fit.
erin_obscure - May 13, 2010 1:37:23 pm PDT #11399 of 28344
Occasionally I’m callous and strange
I can never forget the final sentence of "survivor type" but can't recall which short story collection that was from.
talisman was a quest, but a rather boring one.
Ginger - May 13, 2010 2:13:27 pm PDT #11400 of 28344
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Quests: On the Road
Ulysses (James Joyce)
As I Lay Dying is written as a quest, but it's not a book I'd ever recommend.
Huckleberry Finn is often discussed as a quest, in the sense of an episodic journey towards enlightenment.
Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion books are all quests. Bujold is my default answer for many questions.
Heinlein's Glory Road
If you want a short story for dystopias, there's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas."
I wouldn't know which Stand to recommend. I love the book, but lord does the man need editing.
§ ita § - May 13, 2010 2:15:16 pm PDT #11401 of 28344
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
talisman was a quest, but a rather boring one.
Heretic!
Okay, I adored it at the time. But it's been 20 years.