I purchased the collected Grove Press translations because I heard the Earthbound guy read these books and then went and made Mother 3, and that they touch on themes of metafiction and the lines between fact and fiction, which I've just been all about ever since I first watched Scream.
The books have an unsettling simplistic style that draws forth stark, haunting imagery of innocence lost and a sad, lonely world.
Being that the books weren't originally written in English, which is the language I'm reading them in, I don't know if I'm just being suckered in by stilted translations around disturbing premises, but, regardless, it's damned effective.
But holy fucking shit do they slap you in the face.
I just finished The Proof, which is why I made this thread.
MOTHERFUCKER.
I thought The Notebook had a crazy kicker. The Proof was just like "abuhhhh????"
Anybody else read these?
They're pretty fucked up, but that's part of the appeal, I suppose. I'd recommend them so far as I've read, and I can't wait to start on The Third Lie. (If you've read the Third Lie don't tell me about it.)
Oh, hey, update: The Third Lie is the best one holy shit. Definitely in the running for my all-time favorite concluding chapter of a trilogy. Godthefuckdamn. Solid.