What is the most "obscure" book you ever read? I mean "obscure" as "almost nobody knows about it".
Prolly shit tier national ya I read for school or literature from my country (I am from argentina)
I think my rarest non-argentine Pepe would be "beyond this place" a novel by Cronin that i foubd laying around my house or "la familia de pascual duarte" by Cela (which is a Nobel laureate anyway)
>>7703861
Probably one of the monographs I've read, if dissertations don't count. Because I doubt more than a dozen other people have read any given dissertation.
The library/museum catalogs I've read probably rank up there in obscurity as well.
>>7703861
Bunch! by David R. Bunch
I collect small press books from around the world. I got some excellent ones from Singspore, and when I was in Prague last month I picked up quite a few local poetry books that were translated to English.
The play of Heinrich von Kleist "The family Schroffenstein"
Or The Burial of the Rats by Bram Stoker
>>7703954
This. There are tons of great non-fiction monographs out there that are landmarks in their studies, but it turns out very few people like to read about the drama of the War of the Triple Alliance (the Paraguay one) for fun.
Also, Execution by Hunger by Miron Dolot (fic) was a book I found out about watching a video of a professor of mine at a conference on modern Ukranian studies. I picked it up, and it turned out to be one of the best books ive ever read.
A book about color in cinema that one of my teacher wrote, and a book about the Proletkult movement.
>>7703971
That war was a damn shame
t.argie
>>7703979
https://filetea.me/t1spSyDohNJTCyxkxq998FSvg
.azw3 version, its a great book.
Milkbottle H by Gil Orlovitz
try something written by durrenmatt, he is switzerland nihilistic grottesque po-mo
Goodreads said the least rated book I read last year was a Philip Larkin book, which I find hard to believe as 'obscure' since he's actually one of the few poets read by the public.
>>7703942
I read Los Chicos de la Guerra, found it in my dads collection. It was pretty good
Thomas Osborne's Political essays. The kind of thing only historians and educated Irish Nationalists seek
>>7703992
Mine from last year
Watchmen
OP's diary t.bh
I read a google translated version of Aleksandr Dugin's Foundation of Geopolitics
A book that examined the technical aspects of every single shot in The Birth of a Nation.
>>7703981
>NYRB
>obscure
>>7704047
Just the Birth of a Nation by Paul McEwan, unless you're really really into film history I wouldn't advise it, it's interesting but after about 500 descriptions of Mid-range long-lens shots it gets exhausting. It's really only for scholarly disputes about the film at this point because there's so much debate because of the inconsistencies of different editions of the film, different parts were censored and reedited in every town so no two copies of the film itself are alike.
I only read this for a film seminar on the birth of a nation last semester.
>>7704098
I'm in my first semester of cinema studies so I was curious about it. I've never seen any Griffith feature film tho, only some short movies...
Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior by Stephanie Barbe Hammer
Also, not super obscure, but nobody ever talks about Mark Leyner on here.
>>7704113
Oh really? You should really check out The Birth of a Nation then at some point, it's pretty rough to sit through for 3 hours, though. I've only watched it once all the way through. His shorts are pretty great "Those Awful Hats". He's the closest thing America got to Eisenstein in the early period of film, so its worth seeing technically of course, which is the traditional way of teaching it. The seminar I took involved a different idea around BoaN: Film theory (mostly gaze/signifiers/consciousness), Techniques, the Scoring (especially Ride of the Valkyrie), it's implications and representational strategies seen in other genres (Sci-fi racism, Cartoon minstrelsy, etc), current race theory ideas, and also just film history. It's really rich to look at it through these lenses, and not as a Klan recruitment film as it was used or just a piece of landmark cinema.
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardee
>>7704138
Yeah, all my teachers tell me to watch BoaN and Intolerance... I know this might not be that important when you study a film in a theorical or historical approach, but did you like it?
>>7703861
Hermann Lenz novels
I bet none of you have. I have this cover too. The reason i read it desu
>>7703861
It was 1934 - Alberto Moravia
Never seen it be talked about in /lit/.
>>7704158
The first half is close to unwatchable for enjoyment desu, it's a huge civil war reenactment essentially for a long time. The last 20-30 minutes are great though, the movie is also just really confusing to follow, there's lines of so many relationships and interactions, and then cross-cutting starts and he casted women that all look the same so it's pretty easy to get hung up on for a while. I would definitely recommend anyone somewhat interested in film to watch it at least once, if not the first half then at least the second half.
>>7704140
That is recommended in every frogposter thread about women.
One of the books my Grampa wrote in dialect (I'm Italian) most likely.
A privately and cheaply published collation of quotes and passages relating to Goethean and Steinerian mysticism from a bunch of German authors and English poets.
>>7703861
My diary desu.
>>7704134
>Mark Leyner
Is he any good? I only know about him because of that one time he was on TV with DFW and Franzen.
>>7703861
Only obsucure in /lit/ though
>>7703861
A book a friend of my father wrote and published. There's probably less than 10 people in the world that read it.
>>7704287
>Bolaño
>obscure
>>7703861
The Journal of a Disappointed Man- WNP Barbellion
http://www.pseudopodium.org/barbellionblog/
Not sure if its a popular read or not, I had never heard of it before coming across a copy.
I found it in a local bookshop, not that good
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
Haven't finished it, probably the most batshit loco book I've come across.
>>7703981
i've read that
A couple of Andrey Kurkov's books. They were solid, but the translations to engrish are mostly crap.
The Faction Paradox series (basically some writers from Dr Who that got sick of writing Dr Who and formed their own small press SF line).
<- This
At least, no one here seems to have read it.
Because /mu/
Anaxagoras of Clazomenae. At least I don't know anybody else who's actually read it.
I also read a lot of books by the Cambridge Ritualists who are largely out of print and offer an obscure interpretation of the art of classical antiquity.
Also Baudrillard's book Impossible Exchange. I didn't even know that book existed until recently and I've been reading him for the past 10 years.
>>7704032
sounds fun
>>7704459
Ill be reading Death and the Penguin soon, its in my pile. Any good?
>>7704517
my nigga
This one.
Never read something like this, it kind of defies the normal structure you find in books and is more of a stream of mini-chapters of 1to 4 pages. Kind of chose it ad random in the bookshop.
Written by a Vietnamese-quebecois woman, this book was semi-relevant for the refugee-problematics.
>>7705222
forgot to add pic
>>7703861
Permutation City by Greg Egan
Not really 'obscure', but I've never discussed Geoff Dyer with anyone, a contemporary author I do enjoy.
>>7703861
A Book of Dreams by Peter Reich. I regret giving it to my ex.
>>7705247
Not obscure, he's the single most discussed of the post post cyberpunk writers.
My ex-English/French teacher's poetry collection, only bought it because he was leaving that year and he was nice to me
If the book is in print it isn't obscure.
>>7705363
That's a retarded standard since everything that's self-published on Amazon is technically "in print".
>>7704134
>>7704382
I read the Honeyglazed Scrotum or whatever it was called (only because of the, yes, title that I don't even remember and can't be arsed to do a three seconds look up on, but you get the gist). Going in it sounds much like a moderately successful stand-up comedian thought he could write a book, that kind of tiresome constant attempt at humour, with the occasional high-brow reference sprinkled in, gratuitously at first, to then spin into meta and mythology on the way. It gets better, basically, but is not quite worth going through the whole set-up for imo, most of it is unfunny and the guy probably wrote some other books that may be better intros and more idiosyncratic (or at least less desperately so)
"I Served the King of England' by Bohumil Hrabil
>>7703861
The Fire of the Desert Folk by Ferdynand Ossendowski
>>7705400
That sounds like it could either be mildly amusing or entirely terrible. Might as well add it to my distant backlog.
>>7705561
That's a great book. So bittersweet though.
>>7704178
>Moravia
>obscure
o i am lauffin
>>7705171
It's great! Reminds me of Chekhov. Funnier the bleaker it gets. Read the President's Last Love though, it's better, funnier, and the translation is more accurate.
>>7705561
Hrabal is one of the most loved Czech authors there are, anon. Anyone loved enough to be translated and published by a major publisher isn't obscure anyway.
>>7705227
A quaint little tale of a happy Asian family starting a new life in Canada..
>>7703861
probably random locally published shit that's on sale for $1 at book shops.
I have a book by the archbishop of los angeles calling for a reform to the catholic church. that's probably the most obscure thing from someone that doesn't live in/around where I am.
>>7705852
It's pretty obscure.
>>7704547
Do you have an ebook version of that?
>>7705876
Weird thing is that China has the richest archery tradition in history, to the point that Archers in China are as common as Smiths in the western world.
>>7703861
"La foresta degli dei" (The forest of gods), by Stanis Mulas.
Would be really surprised if anyone here recognized it.
Great book though.
>>7703861
Books about lesser known voages by less prominent explorers
>>7703861
Akutagawa's Kappa.
You know you've found a weird book when you're not even ten pages in and a talking fetus has already demanded its own abortion.
>>7705908
No I wish. I asked my wife for some books for christmas and that was one she picked.
>>7703861
Turks Fruit by Jan Wolkers, though it is quite popular in the Netherlands (I am American).
>>7705950
Weird? Try amazing as fuck. Love me some Akutagawa.
This nonsense, as a kid
![41MW49RQ9WL[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/2Tvhg8v.jpg "41MW49RQ9WL[1].jpg")
>>7703861
This book on fractional reserve banking. It changed my entire way of thinking about the economy.
>>7703861
Haze by L. E. Moddesitt. Apparently I'm the only person who ever read it, although it's one of my recent favorites.
Time Snake and Super Clown by Vincent King
I purchased it on a whim after hearing it was a "rare book". Although it was short, it was complete and satisfied me throughout. My copy is near mint.
>>7705400
I think TSFN was pretty great, actually. Yeah, a little immature sometimes, but the language is beautiful, and it's just really inventive.
The world is a stage, by Michael Spears. Pure genius. The guy's mind is incredible. It's like, we're all in this fucking play that God wrote, and we're all completely oblivious to the idea. Then he writes all this other shit about time and space and the universe. It's fucking crazy.
I've never seen Frame mentioned on here by anyone else, and I doubt anyone here has read this book in particular.
>>7703861
Either Quintilians work or Flettners "Mein weg zum Rotor"
I'm still amazed that I found this surprisingly good and obscure gem at my local pleb thriftshop along with a few other Sukenick Novels.
>>7705950
>implying Akutagawa is obscure
Alien Coprophages From Outer Space
it's about aliens who kidnap obese people because human shit is a powerful drug for their system. The protagonist is a morbidly obese man whose only friend is a Schwarzenegger hallucination trying to get him in shape.
I'm not joking.
>>7705673
It's a lot more obscure than Bohemia
This motherfucker right here. It's an hilarious parody of noir novels written by some venezuelan guy (I think he was a lawyer in real life). It's funny, gritty and gory. From late 70s or early 80s. Full of local references from Caracas. The plot is about a suicide wave that nobody can explain, but the clues led to people with financial and political power. The book is weird as fuck (there are chapters made as photonovels and comic strips). Never in my life I have seen other thing like this. I suppose it was a pre-Internet thing. But it's actually a super fun read, because it has quirky style but at the same time there fucked up parts that nearly make you vomit.
Also, the name of the author is a pun: Otrova Gomas is "otro vago más" ("just another slacker"). In Venezuela he published a lot of humour and parody books.
>>7707827
You're an idiot
>>7703861
Personally, this one. Now I'm searching for 'The Ice Palace', by Tarjei Vesaas.
>>7703861
I don't think I have really, but in my mind it's Max Picard's book Hitler inside of us.
I read Tajore Arkle as a kid, it is by a famous Australian author that writes boat loads. Only reason why it's obscure is because it's out of print and I will never get to touch that book again.
Eternity by the Stars by Auguste Blanqui
Memoirs of a Superfluous Man
>>7707694
Fuck off you shill
This is probably the most obscure book i own
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks.
>>7704178
Actually Moravia is quite famous here in Europe. In Italy is still discussed a lot. Yesterday I read an article about him on a newspaper...
However, among the most obscure and beautiful books I've read, I'd mention two psychoanalytical clinical case by two italian junghians: "la scala che scende nell'acqua" by Aldo Carotenuto, which is long out of print and was translated in English as "the spiral way" (the correct translation would be "the stairs that descends into water") and "madre di morte" by Augusto Romano. This one was never translated, the title in english is "death's mother". Both are very fascinating voyages into the core of the human soul...
>>7704168
That is a pretty neat cover. Is the book any good?
pulp paperback Resident Evil book about zombies that use guns
>>7708150
lol. try harder.
Almost certainly a book a friend wrote called "Seven Sins". It sucked, but on the other hand the main character was a dragon.
>>7703981
Ayyy, I've read that too.
>For God and for Her
Christian of Brunswick, first recorded victim of waifuism
>>7703861
Found through Project Gutenberg's RSS feed:
- A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
- Perseverance Island; or, The Robinson Crusoe of the 19th Century
Read in childhood:
- Rebel Siege
- A Nose for Trouble
There was this book that was basically about people and was really long (like something Pynchon but it wasn't). I remember not liking it a whole lot though.
Anyway, I tried looking it up but I can't remember what it was called but I knew it was one of those obscure books that you see lying around the old house and look up online and can't find shit on but one item listed on shopping.
But whatever, if it's shit the first time, why try reading it again?
>>7710295
>video game tie in merchandise
>obscure
Anyway, for me I'd say a book of plays by some guy from my town I had to read in 11th grade English. Want a laugh, check out his awesome website:
http://www.garyearlross.net/
>>7710455
Here's a gallery of his MS paint book covers
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/garyearlross/books.html
My dad is the type of guy that reads like 60+ books a year. But, its almost entirely kindle single tier schlock. I read this book because he recommended it and weeew, its pretty schlocky.
there's a /lit/izen who shills his own work on here under the name John von Dorf. His work "I am John von Dorf" is fucking great, tbqh. I'll never bring it up to him when he shills it, especially since the beginning is a little heavy-handed, but it's really a great read for the average 4chan user who feels like they've been very affected by being raised by the internet. There's also a lot of sexual frustration and exclusion among his peers, so I related to that also. He is, however, an athlete, and I am not, so he lost me occasionally.
The Trial of Gilles De Rais
or maybe Liner Notes by Andy Mister
The Tower of Geburah by John White
Creepy Christian themed book that turns into LOTR on acid. Read it as a kid, when I actually read books, and I've never met anyone who's heard of it. It's good.
The Widow Had a Gun
a bunch of local books they made us read in highschool.
From a Garden in the Antipodes
It's a collection of poems from the New Zealand Imagist Ursula Bethell. I had to read it for a Uni paper I did. Nothing deeply profound or ground breaking, but I took enjoyment out of her passion for writing about Gardens and nature, reminds me of those old medieval Persian Poets.
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
Deathwatch
Larva: Midsummer's Night Babel
Milkbottle H
Element 79
Dealer: Portrait of a Cocaine Merchant
The Dumb House
The Polyglots
Futility
idk, let me know if anyone's read one of these
Found this book by chance in an antique shop in London. I don't have it with me right now but here is the title page.
Most of the poems are decent at best. The only thing I could really find on the poet was his obituary.
>>7710765
>Milkbottle H
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16079778-milkbottle-h
holy fuck why haven't I heard of this
>>7703861
Pic related, and then I graduated high school.
a book that a school teacher wrote around 1900, when he was working in the same area of rural sweden that i grew up in, with a collection of stories centered around the poor farmers who lived there and with a lot of old folklore and supernatural shit. don't know exactly how many copies there are, but i'd be surprised if it were more than maybe 100-200
>>7711986
He's shit, tho.
>>7703861
The Zeroes by Patrick Roesle
probably the primal screamer by nick blinko
>>7704287
Read it.
>>7703861
I'm not sure what's most obscure of what I've read, since I've probably forgotten it for good reason. The best obscure book I've read is The Necessary Angel by Wallace Stevens, mostly for the delicious Someone Puts A Pineapple Together, one of the best poems in the English language about what it takes to be a poet, and for anyone who can make sense of it, the most profoundly playful one written by an American.
Lucky Per
my 4th grade teacher wrote and published a actual book about our school and how amazing it is shouting out every aspect of the school but making himself a superhero. everyone got a copy but i think i was the only one who read it
>>7712248
Did we go to the same school?
>>7703861
http://www.amazon.ca/First-Class-Dirt-Latoya-Strickland/dp/1450011713
The book my sister where she supposedly thinks she made history by writing it.
Yes, it was awful.
>>7712380
>Currently unavailable.
>We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
>>7712383
History making book ladies and gentlemen.
At least it was funny seeing my own name mentioned in a book, though. Even if the portrayal was idiotic.
Idk, maybe a sentimental journey. I wrote about the sorrows of young werther for a y13 essay and neither of my teachers had heard of it and thought it was the most obscure shit ever.
>>7712031
The Goodreads reviews will probably give you a better idea of what the book is like than I will because those people put an confusingly large amount of time into their reviews, but all in all, I'd say that if you like Joycean style writing that places primary focus on bending and morphing language to its structural limits, with an only secondary focus on plot, while loading up on esoteric references, then I'd say it's for you; otherwise I really wouldn't bother because at times it borders on unreadable, to be honest.
>>7712054
Not contesting that point. I meant to say that I read it in high school and got to appear smart in relation to everyone else, who didn't know about it at the time.
