Stories about losing spacial perception?

Borg1990

I was wondering if anyone knew of any short stories or novels about losing sense of place. I can only think of two; The Enormous Space and Manhole 69 by J.G. Ballard. These two short stories are about the rooms that people are in seemingly multiplying in size (in The Enormous Space) or shrinking (like in Manhole 69). I'm also interested in stories where individuals start becoming paranoid or delusional about domestic interiors as in the Limmy sketch Dee Dee in the Kitchen but i'm finding it hard to find literary examples. If anybody can think of any examples that would be great.

pickarooney

Would The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat fit the bill?

Borg1990

That looks great but i'm more interested in fictional portrayals of losing your sense of place than non-fiction works.

BlueValkyrie

Maybe Blindness by Jose Saramago - the subject matter is interesting, and sounds relevant for you - an epidemic of blindness sweeps the population - causing not only disorientation, but also a very cruel and bleak new system emerges. It's not the easiest read - the author deliberately makes it difficult to differentiate who is speaking, and who is present, disorientating the reader as well as the characters.

Borg1990

Blindness is nearly there but not quite. The title of the thread isn't very well written, when i wrote 'Stories about losing spacial perception' what i meant was stories about characters losing their normal spacial perception, it being altered or warped and their relationships with their surroundings becoming something new. So the change that happens is more subtle than just characters becoming blind.

JohnFalstaff

Bllly Pilgrim's peregrinations in Slaughterhouse 5 might fit the bill and much of William S. Burroughs' work, including novels such as Junky and Naked Lunch, features characters whose spacial perception alters depending on their mental state. Philip K. dick would also be worth exploring.

Borg1990

Cheers i'll give Slaughterhouse 5 and Naked Lunch a read. I was hoping there were more works that dealt with altering relationship with space very directly, like in the two Ballard short stories i mentioned above.

Arlecchina

I was just about to recommend Slaughterhouse 5.

Danielewski's House of Leaves would definitely be worth looking at. It deals very directly with spacial anomalies — both in terms of the plot and the physical design of the book itself.

Borg1990

Cheers House of Leaves sounds great.

mcgovern

The Inverted World, by Christopher Priest? Though it may be more temporal than spatial.