* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: At Sophie's philosophical garden party, one of her friends Joanna ends up intensely making out with one of the boys and ends up in the bushes, he undoing her shirt and her undoing his belt with the intent on having sex, the adults doing nothing but praising her for her "initiative". After Alberto explains that their world is completely fictional, Joanna confesses to her mother that she's pregnant, only for her parents to give a total non-reaction. Albert seems to have a very weird sense of humor.
--> '''Joanna''': [[NonSequitur Mom, I'm going to have a baby.]]\\
'''Joanna's Mom''': All right, but you'll have to wait until you get home.\\
'''Joanna's Dad''': She'll simply have to contain herself. And if there is to be a christening tonight, she'll have to arrange it herself.
** This is the way Major Knag likes to taunt the protagonists, with completely irrational happenings like a dog talking, making Sophie and Alberto sing happy birthday, or a sea serpent appearing out of nowhere.
* FridgeBrilliance: The book is essentially a philosophy textbook surrounded with a story so people don't lose interest.
* QuirkyWork: An atypical example, since it relies more on philosophical debates on the nature of reality than out and out absurdism, but if you haven't had at least one existential crisis by the end of it you're probably reading it wrong.
* ScienceMarchesOn: The chapter on Freud has a rather uncritical examination of Freud's theories of [[FreudianTrio id, ego, and superego]], repression, and adolescent sexuality, many of which have since been disproven in the field of psychology.
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