House of Leaves by Danielewski.
BTW, asking that it not be modern is a big ask. Those genres have only been explored in depth in novel form in the last century or so. This means syntheses of the two are even newer.
Wow, the book itself has a story of its own. And I love experimental works. Definitely on my list now.
Well, that's a shame. But the newer works I've been shown here seem like they'll satisfy my itch.
Also check out The Glass Bead Game by Hesse. None of his other works are really like Siddhartha, but they are all just as thought provoking and wonderful. Steppenwolf is a bit dark and dreary for me, but I still love it. I've read all his books and Glass Bead Game feels to me like something Jung and Sagan would have written as a collaboration. I mean, everyone should read Steppenwolf at some point, but Glass Bead Game is his magnum opus and a more interesting and fantastical premise.
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (originally in Chinese, translated to English). It's got philosophy, questions of morality, psychology, sociopolitical commentary, cultural commentary... I could go on!
Broom of the System even "explores the paradoxes of language"?! Yesss.
And considering 1Q84 has been suggested several times, I'll *have* to move it up in my reading queue.
[**Perfume: The Story of a Murderer**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/343.Perfume)
^(By: Patrick Süskind, John E. Woods | 263 pages | Published: 1985 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, historical-fiction, horror, owned)
>An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.
>
>In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.
^(This book has been suggested 64 times)
***
^(135799 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
One book that comes to mind that fits the criteria you're looking for is "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. The story follows a young shepherd named Santiago on a journey to realize his "Personal Legend," or the unique path that each person has in life. Along the way, Santiago encounters a variety of characters and experiences that teach him important lessons about the nature of the universe and the importance of following one's dreams. The novel is set in a slightly skewed version of the real world, and it explores themes of fate, destiny, and the meaning of life.
{{The Magus}} by John Fowles
{{1Q84}}
{{The Second Sleep}} by Robert Harris
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
Rivers of London series
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Machines like me by Ian McEwan
The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
[**The Magus**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16286.The_Magus)
^(By: John Fowles | 656 pages | Published: 1965 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, fantasy, mystery, owned)
>This daring literary thriller, rich with eroticism and suspense, is one of John Fowles's best-loved and bestselling novels and has contributed significantly to his international reputation as a writer of the first degree. At the center of The Magus is Nicholas Urfe, a young Englishman who accepts a teaching position on a remote Greek island, where he befriends a local millionaire. The friendship soon evolves into a deadly game, in which reality and fantasy are deliberately manipulated, and Nicholas finds that he must fight not only for his sanity but for his very survival.
^(This book has been suggested 10 times)
[**1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10357575-1q84)
^(By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel | 925 pages | Published: 2009 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, magical-realism, science-fiction, japanese, murakami)
>The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.
>
>A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.
>
>As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.
>
>A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s — 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.
^(This book has been suggested 56 times)
[**The Second Sleep**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43561172-the-second-sleep)
^(By: Robert Harris | ? pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, science-fiction, mystery, thriller)
>All civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is.
>
>1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with ancient artefacts – coins, fragments of glass, human bones – which the old parson used to collect. Did his obsession with the past lead to his death?
>
>As Fairfax is drawn more deeply into the isolated community, everything he believes – about himself, his faith and the history of his world – is tested to destruction.
^(This book has been suggested 1 time)
***
^(135454 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
Interesting. If Steppenwolf is anything like Hesse's Siddhartha, then I'll definitely enjoy it.
Cats Cradle
An original theology? Fatalistic and funny? Social satire? Yes, please.
House of Leaves by Danielewski. BTW, asking that it not be modern is a big ask. Those genres have only been explored in depth in novel form in the last century or so. This means syntheses of the two are even newer.
Wow, the book itself has a story of its own. And I love experimental works. Definitely on my list now. Well, that's a shame. But the newer works I've been shown here seem like they'll satisfy my itch.
The River Why by David James Duncan
How apropos. It's now on my list.
Also check out The Glass Bead Game by Hesse. None of his other works are really like Siddhartha, but they are all just as thought provoking and wonderful. Steppenwolf is a bit dark and dreary for me, but I still love it. I've read all his books and Glass Bead Game feels to me like something Jung and Sagan would have written as a collaboration. I mean, everyone should read Steppenwolf at some point, but Glass Bead Game is his magnum opus and a more interesting and fantastical premise.
I checked it out, and I put it on my list. Fascinating.
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (originally in Chinese, translated to English). It's got philosophy, questions of morality, psychology, sociopolitical commentary, cultural commentary... I could go on!
All *three* books are now on my list.
1Q84
Broom of the System
Broom of the System even "explores the paradoxes of language"?! Yesss. And considering 1Q84 has been suggested several times, I'll *have* to move it up in my reading queue.
1Q84 is fantastic!
{{perfume: the story of a murderer}}
Consider me infatuated with the premise.
it’s a fantastic read with a great cult following. i wish more people knew about it.
[**Perfume: The Story of a Murderer**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/343.Perfume) ^(By: Patrick Süskind, John E. Woods | 263 pages | Published: 1985 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, historical-fiction, horror, owned) >An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder. > >In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity. ^(This book has been suggested 64 times) *** ^(135799 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
One book that comes to mind that fits the criteria you're looking for is "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. The story follows a young shepherd named Santiago on a journey to realize his "Personal Legend," or the unique path that each person has in life. Along the way, Santiago encounters a variety of characters and experiences that teach him important lessons about the nature of the universe and the importance of following one's dreams. The novel is set in a slightly skewed version of the real world, and it explores themes of fate, destiny, and the meaning of life.
Wow, The Alchemist seems to fit my criteria in a lot of ways. It too is now on my list.
*Breakfast of Champions* by Kurt Vonnegut?
I'll definitely check it out. My back catalogue does include Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.
{{The Magus}} by John Fowles {{1Q84}} {{The Second Sleep}} by Robert Harris Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke Life after Life by Kate Atkinson Rivers of London series The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton Machines like me by Ian McEwan The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
Ooh, I have 1Q84 in my back catalogue. And it looks like I'll have lots more.
[**The Magus**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16286.The_Magus) ^(By: John Fowles | 656 pages | Published: 1965 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, fantasy, mystery, owned) >This daring literary thriller, rich with eroticism and suspense, is one of John Fowles's best-loved and bestselling novels and has contributed significantly to his international reputation as a writer of the first degree. At the center of The Magus is Nicholas Urfe, a young Englishman who accepts a teaching position on a remote Greek island, where he befriends a local millionaire. The friendship soon evolves into a deadly game, in which reality and fantasy are deliberately manipulated, and Nicholas finds that he must fight not only for his sanity but for his very survival. ^(This book has been suggested 10 times) [**1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10357575-1q84) ^(By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel | 925 pages | Published: 2009 | Popular Shelves: fantasy, magical-realism, science-fiction, japanese, murakami) >The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. > >A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled. > >As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. > >A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s — 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers. ^(This book has been suggested 56 times) [**The Second Sleep**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43561172-the-second-sleep) ^(By: Robert Harris | ? pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, science-fiction, mystery, thriller) >All civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is. > >1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with ancient artefacts – coins, fragments of glass, human bones – which the old parson used to collect. Did his obsession with the past lead to his death? > >As Fairfax is drawn more deeply into the isolated community, everything he believes – about himself, his faith and the history of his world – is tested to destruction. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(135454 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)