Recently, I stumbled upon the 'Subversive Literature Iceberg', which was likely inspired by many similar 'icebergs' covering various topics such as the 'Conspiracy Theory Iceberg', 'Exploitation Cinema Iceberg', and so on.

The gist of making an 'iceberg' is to start from the most obvious or trivial part of 'something' and then gradually descend down the rabbit hole to the very dark bottom, where the obscure and least-known information lies.

You can find original 'Subversive Literature Iceberg' image on Imgur: https://imgur.com/a/p1q1pbd

I am mostly interested in your opinions because I feel that this iceberg is just not right. There is more to it, but I will quickly recapitulate the image, noting only the lesser-known entries and leaving out the big names. (Once again, for the complete iceberg, check out the Imgur image.)

SURFACE, TOP OF THE ICEBERG - Invisible Cities (Calvino), Sapiens (Harari), ...... etc.

STILL ABOVE THE WATER - Catch 22 (Heller), Lord of the Flies (Golding), ...... etc.

FIRST LEVEL BELOW THE WATER - Blod Meridian (McCarthy), Slaughterhouse 5 (Vonnegut), Animal Farm (Orwel), ...... etc.

GOING DOWN BELOW, IT'S GETTING DARKER - American Psycho (Ellis), The Stranger (Camus), 120 Days of Sodom (DeSade), ....... etc.

WAY DOWN TO THE BOTTOM - We (Zamjatin), Cows (Stokoe), Escape from Freedom (Fromm), ...... etc.

THE DARK BOTTOM OF THE ICEBERG, THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE HERE - Snuff (Palahniuk), Piaget's Last Fear (Jankovic), Requiem for a Dream (Selby Jr.), ...... etc.

What do you think?? I am most interested in the bottom of the iceberg. What is your bottom?

Comments

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RickyDontLoseThat t1_jaekosw wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:38 PM

#2,127,134

No J. G. Ballard?

identityno6 t1_jaekprg wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:38 PM

#2,127,152

I just don’t see 1984 by George Orwell as being all that obscure, much less at the very bottom.

CloudAndSea OP t1_jaelkno wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:44 PM

#2,127,474

Replying to identityno6 (#2,127,152)

But you must admit his ideas presented in 1984 was subversive as f*** back in the days when he wrote the book?

CloudAndSea OP t1_jaeltm9 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:45 PM

#2,127,580

Replying to RickyDontLoseThat (#2,127,134)

Don't kill the messenger :)

But Ballard would be a great addition to this iceberg.

CloudAndSea OP t1_jaem654 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:48 PM

#2,127,734

Replying to RickyDontLoseThat (#2,127,134)

First heard of Ballard ages ago when I got caught up with Joy Division. They had "Atrocity Exhibition" on Closer, I think.

RickyDontLoseThat t1_jaepjik wrote on February 28, 2023 at 10:10 PM

#2,129,130

Replying to CloudAndSea (#2,127,734)

Ian Curtis was a big Burrough's fan although the author snubbed him when they met.

I think I just have an aversion to "what is the best book" type of questions. I feel like the iceberg metaphors are basically the same thing. I just don't see that books need to be ranked. Does everything need to be a competition? Isn't literature more of a collaborative effort?

But please don't get me wrong. This isn't really directed towards your post.

ughcult t1_jaf3ytc wrote on February 28, 2023 at 11:52 PM

#2,135,982

Definitely interesting to see which books were included in this iceberg. Maybe I am getting "subversive" mixed up with "disturbing" though, and I've read more from the bottom tiers than the tops. Of all Palahniuk's books, Snuff is most disturbing but I'd think Survivor and Fight Club are more subversive. Totally not meaning to rank books against each other, I'm just in a Readers' Advisory course and learning how to describe and suggest books for others.