Intellect Genre (Literary fiction) review

Invisible Cities
 by Italo Calvino

Summary:
 Marco Polo tells Kublai Khan of the cities he has seen throughout Khan's vast empire.  The majority of the text is a description of the different cities and what they hold.  Each is very fantastical and different than any other.

What makes this book literary fiction:
- Style is important, Calvino is very unique and this book is no exception
- Structure of the novel is experimental
- Not much to be said for characters in this novel, unless you consider the cities to be characters, each of them is unique and metaphorical
- Storyline is thought-provoking, unique, and philosophical
- Pacing is... well depends on how much time you want to spend dissecting each city
- Tone is thoughtful and hard to pin down, some cities are more morose and others are more happy

Read-a-likes:
- Caspian Rain by Gina Nahai
- The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch
- Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
- The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda

Sci-fi Genre Read

2001: A Space Odyssey
by Arthur C. Clarke

Synopsis:
When a black slab is discovered on the dark side of the moon (insert Pink Floyd reference here), Mankind is lead on a journey out to Saturn. With a supercomputer along for the ride, the astronauts leading the mission are unaware of what they are really looking for.

How does this fit into Sci-fi:
- Advanced space travel and technology, but also maintains a sense of realism
- Ethics reexamined in light of new technology
- Science creates an important frame of the story
- Focus of story drives the pacing, set in space so seems somewhat slow at times
- Clarke is considered a key author in science fiction and 2001 a classic.

Read-a-likes:
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
- Mars by Ben Bova
- Starfarers by Poul Anderson
- White Light by William Barton

Horror Genre Read

For my horror genre book, I read House of Leaves.

I gave a potent intro to the book in my kirkus style review, so here is the additional info you may need:

Characteristics that fit into horror:
- Dark mood/tone
- Monster (maybe) and a supernatural element
- Many unresolved aspects
- Protagonist haunted
- Unexpected often happens
- Evokes emotional response, though with the typical style of horror, as this book has a large philosophical aspect
- Storyline does not follow a logical order

Some read-a-likes:
- The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
- The House by Bentley Little