[WHDean]

I have a special place in my heart for WTF stories. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't have a WTF category-nor does anyone else.

What is a WTF story, you ask? Well, it's like a story with a plot twist, but the twist goes off into a place you just couldn't see coming. The classic WTF story is Jorge Luis Borges' "The Aleph." The film "Donnie Darko" might be a more familiar example. Sure, the film doesn't quite affect the 40 year old the way it does the 18 year old, but still, it's an excellent example of a WTF story.

What a WTF story is not. "Zany" stories filled with crazy people doing incomprehensible things aren't usually WFT stories. Nor are most po-mo stories. Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five is borderline, but I'll give it WTF classification.

If you've read a WTF story, post it here.

 

[anguabell]

One of the best WTF stories ever written is Axolotl by Julio Cortazar. You'll find it here I believe:

 

[NogDog]

I'm not sure if it's a "WTF" book, maybe more of a lower-case "wtf", but Death and the Penguin took some "interesting" plot turns, and on top of that was a very good book (IMHO). I think its overall quirkiness perhaps makes its plot turns not quite so surprising, since the reader is kind of confused as to "what's up with that penguin, anyway?" in the first place.

 

[WHDean]

One of the best WTF stories ever written is Axolotl by Julio Cortazar. You'll find it here I believe:

I'm not sure if it's a "WTF" book, maybe more of a lower-case "wtf", but Death and the Penguin took some "interesting" plot turns, and on top of that was a very good book (IMHO). I think its overall quirkiness perhaps makes its plot turns not quite so surprising, since the reader is kind of confused as to "what's up with that penguin, anyway?" in the first place.

Thanks to both of you. I requested the books from my library to have a look at them, but they both sounds like what I'm looking for. I hadn't heard of either author before. Nog's book called Gogol to mind...

 

[NogDog]

FYI, I didn't find the sequel, Penguin Lost to be nearly as satisfying, but really loved the first one.

 

[WHDean]

So I read "Axolotl." It definitely qualifies as a WTF story. While I'm still digesting it, I think the effect of the twist would've been much stronger when I was younger. (How should I put this without giving much away?) The "subject-object transfer plot" has a familiar feel to it. What makes this story different, perhaps, is that there's nothing sinister at work in bringing about the outcome; the causes or agencies remain obscure. This is what lends it the WTF quality. How and why did what happened happen?

Anyway, I'm reading the other stories in the collection (i.e., Julio Cortazar, Blow-up and Other Stories).

 

[anguabell]

So I read "Axolotl." It definitely qualifies as a WTF story. While I'm still digesting it, I think the effect of the twist would've been much stronger when I was younger.

I know, right ? I was 19 when I first read it. These days I am more likely to be shocked by what I see in the news.

 

[WHDean]

I know, right ? I was 19 when I first read it. These days I am more likely to be shocked by what I see in the news.

No doubt.

As I said, I'm reading some of the other stories. I might post more about them.

Thanks again for the recommendation.

 

[vrabinec]

Seeing the title of the thread, I was gonna suggest Waiting for Godot. That's a WTF book, if I ever read one. But it's WTF bad, and not the WTF you were looking for. A couple of Charles de Lint's books had me going WTF, but you've probably already read that stuff.

 

[WHDean]

Seeing the title of the thread, I was gonna suggest Waiting for Godot. That's a WTF book, if I ever read one. But it's WTF bad, and not the WTF you were looking for. A couple of Charles de Lint's books had me going WTF, but you've probably already read that stuff.

You got me on de Lint. The name rang only a distant bell, even though Google tells me the guy lives right here in Ottawa. Go figure. I probably don’t know him because the “urban fantasy” label would’ve kept me walking before I had a chance to look deeper.

So, if you can recommend of couple of things from him, I’m all ears.

 

[vrabinec]

You got me on de Lint. The name rang only a distant bell, even though Google tells me the guy lives right here in Ottawa. Go figure. I probably don't know him because the "urban fantasy" label would've kept me walking before I had a chance to look deeper.

So, if you can recommend of couple of things from him, I'm all ears.

Yarrow and Moonheart were my two faves.

 

[WHDean]

Yarrow and Moonheart were my two faves.

Thanks.