Here, you will get acquainted with the 10 best magical realism books that will give you a different taste of the magic world.
Magic is a skill that has attracted almost all people from ancient to modern culture. It is magic to simply pretend to do something incredible and then convince people of its reality.
Magic has been an important part of human culture for most of recorded history. It filled humans with wonder as well as joy.
Styles like magical realism evolved when our great writers noticed its popularity. This style soon found different fame among the people. The authors also started incorporating fantasy, mystery, thriller into magical reality to make their stories more practical. As a result, it expanded and it became a special place among the readers.
Let’s start our list of the best magical realism books of all time.
Top 10 Magical Realism Books
- One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Midnight’s Children
- The Cake Therapist
- Kafka on the Shore
- Love in the Time of Cholera
- What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- Vampires in the Lemon Grove
- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
- Inland
1.One Hundred Years of Solitude
| Author | Gabriel García Márquez |
| Publication | 1967 |
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Magic Fiction
About-
This book is a beautiful example of Latin American literature. It is a story of seven generations of the Buendía Family in the town of Macondo. The story portrays how a barren place became a famous city Macondo and attracts the world towards itself. The author made it easy to read. This book has been translated into 46 languages which is the core of its popularity.
2.Midnight’s Children
| Author | Salman Rushdie |
| Publication | 1981 |
| Rating | 4.2 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Historical Metafiction
About-
This story has been made keeping in mind the ancient and modern facts and the magical style has also been given a place in it. The story is based on India’s independence from British colonialism. The author Salman, who is the hero of this story, was born on the midnight of 15 August 1949. This was the time when India was welcoming her freedom while saying goodbye to her slavery. Since India had become independent, but the mindsets of the people were still the same, people still believed in ghosts. Magic powers were dominated. The author has demonstrated faith in the magical powers of society through this story.
3. The Cake Therapist
| Author | Judith M. Fertig |
| Publication | June 2, 2015 |
| Rating | 4.0 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Fiction
About-
The Cake Therapist is a beautiful story centered around a small-town bakery. It is a wonderful love story and sometimes it seems that has mystery. Therefore, we can say it is one of the best magical realism romance books. Through this story, the author has easily attracted people with his creations. All the characters are very entertaining and sometimes give rise to the suspense. Its language is very insightful and also it has many illustrations.
4. Kafka on the Shore
| Author | Haruki Murakami |
| Publication | September 12, 2002 |
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Novel
- Fantasy Fiction
About-
It was first published in the Japanese language and later translated into English in 2005. The books were voted one of the “10 Best Books of 2005” and also won the 2006 World Fantasy Award. It has two distinct stories. The first is about a teenage boy who runs away from his home in searching for his lost mother and sister and the second is about an old man Nakata. He is a master of talking with nature, animals, and also birds. The story is full of enjoyment, surprise, sometimes suspense. Since its story is much interesting so it comes to the list of popular magical realism books of all time.
5. Love in the Time of Cholera
| Author | Gabriel García Márquez |
| Publication | 1985 |
| Rating | 4.4 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Romance Novel
- Fiction
About-
This book is first published in Spanish with the title El Amor en Los Tiempos del cólera. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza are the protagonists of this story. They fall in love with each other since their youth. When Daza’s father comes to know about their relationship, he tries to break out of their relationship. But she doesn’t agree with her father. Her father decides to move to another place to get rid of this problem. She goes with her father but she doesn’t stop their conversation with Florentino. When she returns, she realizes that her relationship with Florentino was nothing but a dream. This made Fermina very shocked.
6. What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
| Author | Helen Oyeyemi |
| Publication | 2015 |
| Rating | 4 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Fairy Tale
- Fiction
About-
As is evident from its style, it is a playful, ambitious, and highly imaginative story based on a fairytale. Filled with imagination, this story forces everyone to dive into it. If we talk about its style then it is written in easy-to-understand language and all the characters are drawn with a special quality. Oeyeyemi’s stories contain many more times and scenarios as they intersect the boundaries between coexisting realities. It is probably the best modern book on magical realism having an engrossing story.
7. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
| Author | Haruki Murakami |
| Publication | 1994 |
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Novel
- Science Fiction
- Psychological Fiction
- Political Fiction
- Fantastique
About-
It was first written in Japanese in 1994 and later translated into English. Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was given to him by one of his harshest former critics. In this story, the narrator is an unemployed lawyer’s assistant. He takes the responsibility of searching for his wife’s missing cat. She suggests him looking in the alley, a closed-off strip of land behind their house. When he was searching for the missing cat, he heard about magic by two man’s conversations. And he decided that he would take help from magic in searching for her cat.
8. Vampires in the Lemon Grove
| Author | Karen Russell |
| Publication | February 2013 |
| Rating | 4 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Humorous Fiction
About-
It is a very imaginative and magical book. Vampires in the Lemon Grove features an undead married couple who have spent centuries trying to slake their thirst with something other than blood. They find some relief at a lemonade stand in Italy. Even vampires are very dangerous but here the author draws their characters from a human perspective. He shows their story very insightfully. If you are a truly magical realism lover, you can’t stop yourself from diving into it.
9. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
| Author | Aimee Bender |
| Publication | June 1, 2010 |
| Rating | 3.6 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Novel
- Bildungsroman
About-
Truly it is a story you never imagined ever. The story is about a young and very beautiful girl named Rose Edelstein. She has the ability to taste the emotions of the foods she eats. After sometimes it becomes one of her major problems. When she tells about her unique quality to her mother and her siblings, they think that Rose is making a joke. No one believes in her. In this tale, the author portrays the problems of her which she has to face due to her strange quality. Since the language of it is fit for children so it can be said as children’s books on magical realism.
10. Inland
| Author | Téa Obreht |
| Publication | August 13, 2019 |
| Rating | 3.9 out of 5 |
Other Genres-
- Historical Fiction
- Western Fiction
About-
Since the author belongs to Serbia-America, so this book has a mixture of two cultures. Nora Lark a 37-year-old frontierswoman lives in the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory. Her husband left her due to some personal reasons. She lives with her youngest son, her mother-in-law, and her husband’s cousin who believes in ghosts. Lurie Mattie is another character in this story. He is able to see lost souls and also talk to them. Truly he is one of the most important characters in this story who attracts the readers for his acting.
Conclusion
Now you have known the best magical realism books of all time. These books are best in themselves. Every book is well written and very easy to understand. So, you won’t have any problem with their language. You must read these books for a tasting of the genre of magical realism.
One last thing, if you find out this article is helpful, share it with your friends and also mention in the comment section which book has attracted you the most.
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