Pale Fire
By Vladimir Nabokov · Published in 1962
Rating: ???
Pale Fire is a modern classic in the ergodic, or experimental, literature genre. The book is presented as a 999-line poem completed by famed (fictional) poet John Shade right before his murder, with annotations and a foreword from his colleague, Dr. Charles Kinbote, whose annotations are... Odd? Disjointed from Shade's work? He's like Johnny Truant from House of Leaves, but arguably much better written. If you want to get into Nabokov's work and see why it's good, but are scared to be seen reading Lolita in public, this is a great starting point, it's a really good book!
Spoilers
Charles Kinbote is a horrible person and I want to punt him against the wall. I also want to study his brain, in the same way that the mice wanted to study Arthur's brain in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; he's horrible, but that's what makes him so fascinating to just watch.
I know that's the point of unreliable narrators, and I love it!!! It really showcases in an accessible way how good Nabokov is at it. He reels you in, with Charles beginning the book by claiming how wrong the people around him are to call him insane... And then slowly peels back his layers of obsession and delusion to show you this haunting reality of a man stalking a famous poet, and being frighteningly misogynistic toward John's wife and DEAD DAUGHTER, WHO WAS A TEENAGER WHEN SHE DIED???