5 Novel Recommendations for a Better Understanding of the Magical Realism Movement

We have compiled five novels that can be considered within the scope of the magical realism movement and will help us understand this movement better.

In this novel, the author describes the alienation of the individual through the events experienced by the main character Gregor Samsa when he turns into an insect.

Although Kafka’s The Metamorphosis was written long before the emergence of the magical realism movement, it can be considered within this movement in terms of making a surreal element a part of the realistic narrative and presenting evaluations about real life as a whole.

This work, written by the author in twelve years and published twenty-six years after his death, tells the story of a trip of the devil to the Soviet Union. In this work, which is an original narrative, social problems and state policies are dealt with in a satirical language.

Mikhail Bulgakov’s most famous novel, Master i Margarita, is one of the works that can be considered within the magical realism movement, as it is a book that mainly deals with social contradictions despite the many surreal elements it contains.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote this work in 1967. Describing several generations of a family in a magical language, the author takes the reader on a journey through a universe that is difficult to define. In this work, which is the masterpiece of the magical realism movement, which we can call a blend of real elements with elements that may be considered strange, there are fairy tale elements, goblins, fairies, dreams, and many other fascinating elements. You should definitely experience this magical atmosphere where Latin American reality is intertwined with surreal images.

This novel by José Saramago begins with the knowledge that one day no one in the world will die. This situation is a harbinger of eternal old age and causes chaos over time. During this chaos, a new situation emerges. Those who are disturbed by the absence of death now begin to cope with the new death, which unexpectedly returns with a different identity and emotions. The book analyses death and immortality from social, literary and moral perspectives.

The novel takes its place among the important works of magical realism.

The novel was published in 1957. This work is one of the “pioneers” of magical realism outside Latin American literature. The main extraordinary element in the book is the presence of a boy who climbs trees and refuses to come down. Twelve-year-old Casimo refuses to come down from the trees, saying that he will never set foot on the earth again. However, he is still able to participate in what other people do, trying to recognise and understand.