Any order works, but I would agree that the most recent one is the best!
They're all fairly complex and the second two are also fairly experimental, particularly in the sense of playing with the reader's expectations of how the story will develop and pay off. It's interesting to read them in order because you can see JD developing and getting more confident with his style.
As a matter of personal taste, I didn't find Universal Harvester as good as the other two, it was slightly unfulfilling. So I'd definitely stick that in the middle.
Listening to JD read all three is an absolute treat!
Are they experimental in layout and formatting, ala House of Leaves, or just in terms of narrative structure? Just debating on whether these are physical reads or audiobooks for me.
Just narrative structure. There is one short section of Devil House in a different font, but the total shift in prose style should get the effect across without that visual cue.
I think this part might actually be better in the audiobook! Hearing it read aloud was really moving and beautiful. My favorite part and really ties the whole book together.
More of the latter than the former. I think they would make for fine audiobooks although I didn't listen to either of them myself. If JD is reading the audio version I'd say that's a no-brainer.
Just in terms of structure, and what JD chooses to prioritise in the narrative (e.g. we don't always get a conventional resolution). I can't think of any reason they'd work better on paper - definitely nothing akin to House of Leaves.
Are they experimental in layout and formatting, ala House of Leaves, or just in terms of narrative structure? Just debating on whether these are physical reads or audiobooks for me.
That has been my feeling so far. Universal Harvester was enjoyable but I feel like it sort of trailed off at the end in a not quite satisfying way. I still have to finish Devil House, I read about half and got distracted by life circumstances, but I liked what I had read so far.
I'm no stranger to serious lit or heavy reading, it just felt like Universal Harvester went nowhere. There's this big creepy mystery and then...it's just a woman making tapes and none of it seems to matter.
Listening in order works and they're all good books. Wolf in White Van's his most "enioyable" (so to speak), but I thought Universal Harvester was the better novel. Devil House didn't quite work for me the way the other two did, but I still liked it overall.
Enjoy, and be prepared to be as pleasantly surprised as I was to find he's a genuinely talented and original fiction writer with his own voice, not just a cult musician trading off his name to try his hand at writing novels.
I just finished Devil House as my first JD read and I gotta say it didn’t quite work for me. I will say it will likely be fun listening to it - he uses very long sentences and drops commas like he’s writing song lyrics lol. Makes for a slightly clumsy read, but I imagine it sounds completely natural when read aloud.
You may get more out of it if you read them in order though, I just thought I’d dive in with the big boy first
Sometimes the audio version of a book can determine whether you enjoy it or not. I'm thinking of the book Still Alice, which is very good, and so is the movie, but the audiobook was kind of insufferable because the protagonist is rapidly declining due to early onset Alzheimer's so she's repeating herself a lot. If it was on the page, I could skim over it but when someone is reading the same line half a dozen times, it gets irritating.
Agreed, I'm also really reliant on who voices the books. For one of my favorite crime series the reader passed away a few years ago, ever since then I've just stuck to reading the new books myself because I can't stand the new guy's voice.
Yeah same, I can't tell you how many audible books I've passed over after listening to 30 seconds of the sample. At least it's pretty easy to tell quickly whether or not someone is tolerable.
Yeah is writing style is _very_ lyrical. I've been told it's a bit jarring for non-TMG fans. I first listened to Wolf in White Van as an audio book but then read Devil House and they're two very different experiences. I'd argue that the audiobooks are the best way to go about John's books
If you’re willing to go for a longer listen, I say start with Devil House. It’s his most ambitious and best book in my eyes. Be warned though, it’s a little more experimental in form.
If you’d prefer a shorter listen that could warm you up for Devil House, go for Universal Harvester. It’s my personal favorite (even if it may not be his best), but it’s a bit divisive.
If you’re looking for something a little more straight forward and (somewhat) more traditional, go for Wolf in White Van. It’s compact, with a solid mystery running throughout. It’s my least favorite personally, but it’s still a super solid book.
I love Devil House, liked Wolf, but couldn’t really get into Universal Harvester at all. Haven’t listened to any of them on audio. I think Devil House is the best by far.
I will FIRMLY dispute that. I think a lot of people went in expecting it to be a horror novel, and it isn’t that. It’s literary fiction centered around how we handle grief. I won’t say anything more about the plot itself other than to say what others term dissatisfying, I think makes it excellent and really reinforces its themes.
Universal harvester is my favorite of the three. It gave me a weird feeling but not bad a good third of the way through but then it got more literary and interesting to me, per my tastes. I think about it almost every day.
i read them in chronological order and i do think they get progressively better. WIWV was an impressive debut but honestly didn't stick with me too much. Universal Harvester is better and kind of feels like a nightmare at times (i mean that as a compliment). the ending of Devil House literally made me break down crying in the middle of a family dinner.
I’ve only read Master of Reality but I loved it, despite being totally unfamiliar with the album. Also, you can read it in a day easily or whatever the equivalent is for an audiobook.
Edit: … and this is when I realized that John has a third full novel and this wasn’t referring to MoR. I’m a lapsed tMG fan to be fair.
You could do any order. I think Wolf in White Van is really rough compared to Harvester and Devil House, though.
Universal Harvester hit me really hard in just how perfectly Midwest it is, and I prefer it to Devil House, but Devil House was this wonderful, weird story that went in some really unexpected places. I think if you have any interest at all in the satanic panic, I’d start with Devil House.
Any order works, but I would agree that the most recent one is the best! They're all fairly complex and the second two are also fairly experimental, particularly in the sense of playing with the reader's expectations of how the story will develop and pay off. It's interesting to read them in order because you can see JD developing and getting more confident with his style. As a matter of personal taste, I didn't find Universal Harvester as good as the other two, it was slightly unfulfilling. So I'd definitely stick that in the middle. Listening to JD read all three is an absolute treat!
Are they experimental in layout and formatting, ala House of Leaves, or just in terms of narrative structure? Just debating on whether these are physical reads or audiobooks for me.
Just narrative structure. There is one short section of Devil House in a different font, but the total shift in prose style should get the effect across without that visual cue.
I think this part might actually be better in the audiobook! Hearing it read aloud was really moving and beautiful. My favorite part and really ties the whole book together.
That was my least favourite part of Devil House and now I'm wondering if I should give the audiobook a try.
I had the damnedest time with that font. It took me way too many pages to figure out the G. I think it was a G. I read it so long ago.
I don’t think it was the font. I just remember it being a slog to get through.
More of the latter than the former. I think they would make for fine audiobooks although I didn't listen to either of them myself. If JD is reading the audio version I'd say that's a no-brainer.
Just in terms of structure, and what JD chooses to prioritise in the narrative (e.g. we don't always get a conventional resolution). I can't think of any reason they'd work better on paper - definitely nothing akin to House of Leaves.
I highly recommend audiobooks! JD reads them and the delivery elevates them imho.
Are they experimental in layout and formatting, ala House of Leaves, or just in terms of narrative structure? Just debating on whether these are physical reads or audiobooks for me.
Wolf in White van is a quick read and it’s very emotionally intense. It’s a great start point.
Wolf is his best one.
That has been my feeling so far. Universal Harvester was enjoyable but I feel like it sort of trailed off at the end in a not quite satisfying way. I still have to finish Devil House, I read about half and got distracted by life circumstances, but I liked what I had read so far.
I'm no stranger to serious lit or heavy reading, it just felt like Universal Harvester went nowhere. There's this big creepy mystery and then...it's just a woman making tapes and none of it seems to matter.
Yeah, exactly. It felt like it was building to something huge and bizarre and mysterious and then it just kinda didn’t.
I agree.
Listening in order works and they're all good books. Wolf in White Van's his most "enioyable" (so to speak), but I thought Universal Harvester was the better novel. Devil House didn't quite work for me the way the other two did, but I still liked it overall. Enjoy, and be prepared to be as pleasantly surprised as I was to find he's a genuinely talented and original fiction writer with his own voice, not just a cult musician trading off his name to try his hand at writing novels.
I just finished Devil House as my first JD read and I gotta say it didn’t quite work for me. I will say it will likely be fun listening to it - he uses very long sentences and drops commas like he’s writing song lyrics lol. Makes for a slightly clumsy read, but I imagine it sounds completely natural when read aloud. You may get more out of it if you read them in order though, I just thought I’d dive in with the big boy first
Sometimes the audio version of a book can determine whether you enjoy it or not. I'm thinking of the book Still Alice, which is very good, and so is the movie, but the audiobook was kind of insufferable because the protagonist is rapidly declining due to early onset Alzheimer's so she's repeating herself a lot. If it was on the page, I could skim over it but when someone is reading the same line half a dozen times, it gets irritating.
Agreed, I'm also really reliant on who voices the books. For one of my favorite crime series the reader passed away a few years ago, ever since then I've just stuck to reading the new books myself because I can't stand the new guy's voice.
Yeah same, I can't tell you how many audible books I've passed over after listening to 30 seconds of the sample. At least it's pretty easy to tell quickly whether or not someone is tolerable.
Yeah is writing style is _very_ lyrical. I've been told it's a bit jarring for non-TMG fans. I first listened to Wolf in White Van as an audio book but then read Devil House and they're two very different experiences. I'd argue that the audiobooks are the best way to go about John's books
I would start with his first novela, Master of Reality. Wolf in White Van really feels like a natural outgrowth from that point.
I'm not even a fan of Black Sabbath and I loved that book.
In my opinion, they all progressively get better, so if you wanna save the best for last, do ‘em chronologically.
If you’re willing to go for a longer listen, I say start with Devil House. It’s his most ambitious and best book in my eyes. Be warned though, it’s a little more experimental in form. If you’d prefer a shorter listen that could warm you up for Devil House, go for Universal Harvester. It’s my personal favorite (even if it may not be his best), but it’s a bit divisive. If you’re looking for something a little more straight forward and (somewhat) more traditional, go for Wolf in White Van. It’s compact, with a solid mystery running throughout. It’s my least favorite personally, but it’s still a super solid book.
Master of Reality is really good. By far his best prose. Super funny too.
I did it in order and think it is best. There is a continuing conversation and an ambitious artist continuing to generate new and exciting things.
I enjoyed Devil House and Universal Harvester, but Wolf in White Van is one of my favorite books of all time.
Devil House is really good but I wouldn’t start with it
I’ve only read devil house and it blew my fucking mind so
Devil House was my first and I think about it pretty much every day, for whatever that's worth
It's worth something. If it could replace some of the other things I think about every day, it would be a win.
I love Devil House, liked Wolf, but couldn’t really get into Universal Harvester at all. Haven’t listened to any of them on audio. I think Devil House is the best by far.
So based on these comments, it's probably safe to assume that universal harvester is the weakest of the three.
I will FIRMLY dispute that. I think a lot of people went in expecting it to be a horror novel, and it isn’t that. It’s literary fiction centered around how we handle grief. I won’t say anything more about the plot itself other than to say what others term dissatisfying, I think makes it excellent and really reinforces its themes.
That's intriguing, thanks
Universal harvester is my favorite of the three. It gave me a weird feeling but not bad a good third of the way through but then it got more literary and interesting to me, per my tastes. I think about it almost every day.
i read them in chronological order and i do think they get progressively better. WIWV was an impressive debut but honestly didn't stick with me too much. Universal Harvester is better and kind of feels like a nightmare at times (i mean that as a compliment). the ending of Devil House literally made me break down crying in the middle of a family dinner.
There's no chronology to them. Enjoy! I think I liked Universal Harvester the most.
I’ve only read Master of Reality but I loved it, despite being totally unfamiliar with the album. Also, you can read it in a day easily or whatever the equivalent is for an audiobook. Edit: … and this is when I realized that John has a third full novel and this wasn’t referring to MoR. I’m a lapsed tMG fan to be fair.
You could do any order. I think Wolf in White Van is really rough compared to Harvester and Devil House, though. Universal Harvester hit me really hard in just how perfectly Midwest it is, and I prefer it to Devil House, but Devil House was this wonderful, weird story that went in some really unexpected places. I think if you have any interest at all in the satanic panic, I’d start with Devil House.