We recommend: An adventurous list of good reads
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Editor’s note: Interactive storytelling—which requires the viewer or reader—to co-create the narrative doesn't always work (ask Netflix). But when done well, it makes the act of reading so much more fulfilling and fun. These books—picked by the splainer team—are the best of the ‘choose your adventure’ genre.
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, translated by Gregory Rabassa: This novel was among the first of the “boom” novels of 1960s Latin American Literature, and is often described as an antinovel—because it invited readers to involve themselves in the book, by jumping through the 56-section novel, with an additional 99 sections to immerse yourself in. It takes you through the adventures of an Argentinian writer called Horacio Oliviera, from Paris to Buenos Aires, and through his jobs as a salesman, a keeper of a circus cat, and an asylum attendant. The game-like hops across sections in the book is what makes this novel an engrossing read.
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu: This book won the American National Book Award for Fiction in 2020 for its unique presentation and style. The book is split into two sections: one where the protagonist is the main character and the other where he is the “Generic Asian Man” playing a background character in a cop drama. The entire book is written in a screenplay format but what stands out is the way Charles Yu switches between second and third person narratives that makes you the main character in specific instances, constantly pulling you in and out of the story.
The Unfortunates by BS Johnson: This one is more popularly known as “the book in a box”, because that’s exactly how it’s presented—a book, with all the chapters bound individually, and the start and end demarcated, but you’re free to read the rest in the order you choose. The novel follows a disenchanted sports writer, as he grapples with the ghosts of his past while on an assignment.
The Most Boring Book Ever Written by Daniel Pitts and Rudolf Kerkhoven: Spoiler alert, this is not the most boring book ever written! It follows the protagonist who is a dude living an absolutely mundane life. Readers get to make his choices which then land you on different pages in the book to find where that choice ultimately took him at the end of the day. Though there is a beginning, middle and end, the book doesn’t follow the traditional format of a book in terms of a story arc which leads to character development and change.
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski: Horror novels don’t feel as scary as horror films right? Think again! This eerie offering is written in the most unconventional way that makes the readers physically engage with the book, because some of the words and passages appear scattered or upside down. Readers are also expected to decode a letter. The plot revolves around a family moving into a haunted house and realise that the house is bigger on the inside—sort of like Kevin Bacon's 2020 film ‘You Should Have Left’. In the novel’s physical copy, the word ‘house’ is in blue colour and different narrators have different fonts.
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino: Books have the power to transport you places by simply turning a page and that’s what makes ‘Invisible Cities’ special—the novel is largely a conversation between the Mongol Ruler Kublai Khan and the Venetian explorer Marco Polo. The chapters of the book seem to be describing a variety of cities, built within reality and fantasy. However, as you immerse yourself in the diverse narratives, it becomes clear that they are all descriptions of the city of Venice. Riddled with detail, this is a book that could make you pause and read pages over and over to absorb the settings.
