Recommended Novels who Deals with loneliness?

[Cleft]

Hi,
Recently (that is, an hour ago, maybe two) I've came to the conclusion, that even though I've read lots of novels, only few of them were actually about solitude or loneliness, which is rather weird, because the dominant emotion in my life, for that last two or three year is loneliness. It might not seem like a lot of time, but when you are seventeen, two or three years are A LOT.

Anyway, after I realized that, I began searching on the internet for novels whose main theme is solitude. It wasn't successful, so I came here, hopefully for more than one thread. Besides that, I guess it is important to note that I usually don't like american literature, and that French literature is my favourite. Although, I'm open to suggestions of any kind, and would especially (but again, not exclusively) - would like to read a contemporary novels (I'm a bit sick of reading Proust and friends).

P.S. Sorry for the bad English and the grammar mistakes. As you have probably noticed, I'm not a native speaker.

[TheFifthElement]

Haruki Murakami's novels tend to deal with loneliness or isolation. I'd recommend Kafka on the Shore as a good place to start. Also In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut is a truly excellent contemporary novel around the subject of isolation.

[FenwickS]

I'd Recommed John Krakauer's Into the Wild, as for its being written in a sort of essay-ish manner I find it refreshingly unmelodramatic, and onr can interpret the solitude aspect of it in a more personal way.

[manuscript]

your english is great and i would never have recognised that it was not native if you had not mentioned it.
i think your question is very interesting and it surprises me that i feel like i have not read much fiction about loneliness!
i have not really read a lot of french literature, but i think Camus deals with loneliness and isolation to some extent, in the sense that he feels we are all alone in the universe, and that sort of comes through in his relationships between individuals. the loneliness of his hero Rieux in The Plague is not explicit (from what i remember), but he seems so alone. and the protagonist in L'Etranger is very alone in the sense that he is very honest about having shallow feelings and seems surrounded by others whose displays of emotion seem dictated by cultural norms - but i think a lot of people who read that novel might judge it as being simply a study of a sociopath.
i think some of the classic coming-of-age novels deal with feelings of loneliness arising through difficulties in articulating an authentic self within society, or maybe just being different in some way, like The Bell Jar, Catcher in the Rye, or Perfume by Patrick Suskind.
the best example i can think that i have read of is Villette by Charlotte Bronte. i think that the main character is very defined by her loneliness and isolation. she has no friends in the world and no one to confide in.
i am not sure about how accurate this is, but i once read that norway is the loneliest country in the world, so maybe you could check out the literature of that country, like maybe the drama of Ibsen? but i have not read a lot of Ibsen, and i dont think i have read any other norweigen literature, so im not sure.
good luck!

[Cleft]

TheFifthElement - I must admit that I don't like Murakami. Anyway, I've read kafka on the shore, and will check the other book you've suggested. Thanks!

FenwickS - I've read "Into the Wild", it was OK. Perhaps you have some other recommendations? Thanks anyway!

AMmanuscript - first of all, thanks for the warm response, including the compliment (O:). I'm "afraid" that I've read everything Camus had actually written Same goes for Miss Plath, and the other English novels you've mentioned. As far as I know (and read), Ibsen doesn't really deal with loneliness, though, the suggestion itself, that is - reading Norwegian literature seems like a good one. Thanks a lot!

[Calidore]

Since you like French literature, how about The Count of Monte Cristo? You've got two kinds of isolation there; first involuntary at the beginning when he's imprisoned, then voluntary afterwards when he uses his resources to pursue revenge instead of building a life for himself.

Though I have to say, I don't think it's wise or healthy to be fueling a sense of isolation at seventeen by 1) isolating yourself at home 2) reading about isolation. Do stuff. People won't come by the house just to meet you.

[cafolini]

One hundred year of solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[Irishcrusader95]

Since you like French literature, how about The Count of Monte Cristo? You've got two kinds of isolation there; first involuntary at the beginning when he's imprisoned, then voluntary afterwards when he uses his resources to pursue revenge instead of building a life for himself.

Though I have to say, I don't think it's wise or healthy to be fueling a sense of isolation at seventeen by 1) isolating yourself at home 2) reading about isolation. Do stuff. People won't come by the house just to meet you.

oh i will second that its an amazing novel. the part on his imprisonment i found the best yet for however it deals with loneliness and isolation it ultimately has a heart warming ending that completes the novel.

[Jackson Richardson]

I would never have guessed you were not a native English speaker. I was very, very lonely in my late teens, but I think I read a lot just because I wanted stimulation. I'm not sure I'd have wanted to read about the subject.

Pessoa's Book of Disquiet is all about one man's loneliness and terror of death: I was not very sympathetic towards him towards the end of the book.

Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is about a man coping with isolation, but Defoe had a very complacent view of life. Crusoe doesn't feel the existential terror of loneliness at all and just gets on creating a cosy bourgeois one-man world on his desert island.

[Cleft]

Calidore - I'm afraid I have read the Count of Monte Cristo as well. as for the rest of your replay - one might feel lonely, even though he has friends and isn't isolating himself. Unfortunately, this is true for me. Thanks (:

cafolini - I've read this one too :P

PMIrishcrusader95 - I tend to agree. Although, this warming ending has it's own disadvantages.

[3D-Potato]

If I remember rightly, then the following novels had loneliness as a pretty strong theme:
1. 'Notes From Underground' - Fyodor Dostoevsky
2. 'The Road' - Cormac McCarthy
3. 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' - Thomas Hardy
4. 'The Last Day of a Condmened Man' - Victor Hugo
Oh, and you could also try 'Les Misérables' - also a Hugo novel. It's a very long book, but one of the things that I took (technically what I am taking from it - currently reading 'n' all~) from it is that Jean Valjean, no matter where he is, is always trapped somehow, and even with the addition of someone (don't want to spoil it, though it's a pretty obvious plot development) to his company, he still seems highly secluded from all of those around him.
Forgive me for the pretty standard list, mind - I've just come out of that phase of teenagerhood (totes a word, don't complain) when I barely read a thing. Ah well, seventeen and latching onto any classic literature is all good for me~

[Cleft]

ruggerlad - Oops, I missed your post. I will look into the first book you have suggested. Robinson Crusoe I've read. Thanks <:

3D-Potato - This is a wonderful stage, probably the best I've ever had in my short life. I envy you. Thanks for the book, but I've read them all O:

[kev67]

The narrator of Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller suffers from loneliness. Partly because she is a middle aged lesbian, partly because she isn't very nice.

[InnovaTonic]

This already has been mentioned as I see but I shall recommend it myself as well.

One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - AMAZING book. Very abstract, a bit difficult to understand at first but trust me you will love it. It all comes together when you finish the book

[Stosyl]

I'd recommend anything by Hermann Hesse. When I was your age Hesse got me through a LOT of loneliness. Especially Demian and Gertrud. Steppenwolf is great too, but only if you can deal with strange psychedelic books.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith has themes of loneliness tied in with and caused by the narrator's unrequited feelings for her sister's fiancé. But the narrator is 17 in the 30s, so she's naive and lighthearted, so it's also a very funny book.

The best one has to be The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. If you have ever enjoyed a work of classical literature, I can guarantee you'll love that book. The loneliness expressed in that book is unbeatable.

[Aylinn]

There is a lot of books where loneliness is a theme. You just have to type "theme of loneliness in literature" or something like that into google to find a great amount of books that deal with it.

I had to make a speech about loneliness in literature for my final oral exam in high school. Here is a list of books which I chose.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Wuthering Heights
The Trial by Franz Kafka
and two other books which I don't remember right now.
Loneliness is not always the most important theme of these book, but it's there and besides, choosing them for my exam was a good excuse to read them.

[Jackson Richardson]

It's a very, very long time since I read One Hundred Years of Solitude but I seem to remember it was not about individual loneliness so much as a community establishing itself in the middle of a jungle. (It is certainly not a work of realism. Magic realism, maybe?)

At school I studied Georges Duhamel's Confessions de minuit, the first of a series of short novels about a man called Salavin, of whom I was reminded when reading Pessoa's Book of Disquiet, although Salavin is not as precious. I'm not sure if the books are in print, but you might have a look, particularly if you're a French speaker.

[Cleft]

kev67 -

Stosyl - I must admit I have found Hesse's book to be simplistic and formulaic. Steppenwolf was the only expiation, though it wasn't that good. aside from that - I respect Goethe but cant really relate to the works of his which I have read, that is The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Faust. Thanks.

Aylinn - Tried that, didn't found anything interesting which I haven't read. Same goes for the book you listed, thanks anyway.

AMruggerlad - hmm, I tend to agree with you about one hundred years of solitude. I do speak French, but I don't live in a French speaking country, so I kind of doubt that the public library collection contains a rare French book, but I'm going to check anyway. Thank you too.

[Jackson Richardson]

Duhamel was very well known, and president of the Acadamie Francaise, so I'd have thought his works would be available. Here he is on Kindle via Amazon in French

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confession-minuit-French-ebook/dp/B005R623CU/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352561953&sr=1-3

[Emil Miller]

Duhamel was very well known, and president of the Acadamie Francaise, so I'd have thought his works would be available. Here he is on Kindle via Amazon in French

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confession-minuit-French-ebook/dp/B005R623CU/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352561953&sr=1-3

Duhamel is well worth reading. I have read Le Notaire du Havre and Le Combat Contre les Ombres that I picked up from a bookstall in Toulon a few years back. I don't know if he has been published in English but he was certainly a major French writer.

[Jackson Richardson]

I bought a second hand translation of the complete set of Salavin novels when I was doing him for A level. Although the French was sufficiently easy even I could understand it.

[Emil Miller]

I bought a second hand translation of the complete set of Salavin novels when I was doing him for A level. Although the French was sufficiently easy even I could understand it.

Yes, his style is quite straightforward and the books have interesting plot lines that keep one reading. I think I will try to get hold of some more of his writing from the French section in Foyles.

[Stosyl]

"Formulaic"? "Expiation"? Oooooooh, Cleft, I get it now. You're a pretentious elitist. So that's why you're lonely. Well, good luck finding a book to help you deal with that. Maybe you'd like more modernist literature like Hemingway, he was a self-righteous brat too.

You can't relate to Goethe because Goethe wrote about the loneliness of love, not the loneliness of thinking you're better than everyone. I'm sure The Perks of Being A Wallflower is more your style. Shadow of the Wind? The Kite Runner? Those books are all about the loneliness of cowardice, I'm sure you'll relate to them.

Actually, I do have one more recommendation by Xavier Crement. It's called, "A**hole No More: A Self-Help Guide for Recovering A**holes—and their Victims."

Or maybe you could take off your prep school uniform and buy a smaller horse.

[Cleft]

"Formulaic"? "Expiation"? Oooooooh, Cleft, I get it now. You're a pretentious elitist. So that's why you're lonely. Well, good luck finding a book to help you deal with that. Maybe you'd like more modernist literature like Hemingway, he was a self-righteous brat too.

You can't relate to Goethe because Goethe wrote about the loneliness of love, not the loneliness of thinking you're better than everyone. I'm sure The Perks of Being A Wallflower is more your style. Shadow of the Wind? The Kite Runner? Those books are all about the loneliness of cowardice, I'm sure you'll relate to them.

Actually, I do have one more recommendation by Xavier Crement. It's called, "A**hole No More: A Self-Help Guide for Recovering A**holes—and their Victims."

Or maybe you could take off your prep school uniform and buy a smaller horse.
I think someone overacted. I didn't mean to insult you, and I certainly wasn't attacking you as directly as you are attacking me. in fact, I don't think I've attacked you at all. Above all that - I've never said I'm better (or thought) than everyone else, I just said I don't like Hesse and explained why.

I don't like Hemingway, the kite runner or the shadow of the wind. It is true, that the authors I like (Jean Genet, Proust, Sartre, Woolf, Kierkegaard, etc) are usually considered to be "pretentious elitist", but I, myself - do not like them for such reasons.

[Gregory Samsa]

Haruki Murakami's novels tend to deal with loneliness or isolation. I'd recommend Kafka on the Shore as a good place to start. Also In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut is a truly excellent contemporary novel around the subject of isolation.

It's strange though, that his lonesome characters always have sex.

I recommend "Life & Times of Michael K" by J.M. Coetzee.

[Jackson Richardson]

"Formulaic"? "Expiation"? Oooooooh, Cleft, I get it now. You're a pretentious elitist. So that's why you're lonely. Well, good luck finding a book to help you deal with that. Maybe you'd like more modernist literature like Hemingway, he was a self-righteous brat too.

You can't relate to Goethe because Goethe wrote about the loneliness of love, not the loneliness of thinking you're better than everyone. I'm sure The Perks of Being A Wallflower is more your style. Shadow of the Wind? The Kite Runner? Those books are all about the loneliness of cowardice, I'm sure you'll relate to them.

Actually, I do have one more recommendation by Xavier Crement. It's called, "A**hole No More: A Self-Help Guide for Recovering A**holes—and their Victims."

Or maybe you could take off your prep school uniform and buy a smaller horse.

That is an offensive, rude and unnecessary post.

You know almost nothing of cleft’s personal character and circumstances. He could be near suicidal, he could be an existential genius, he could be a pretentious loner, but we have no way of knowing.

Just because his literary tastes do not match yours, your hurtful comments are quite uncalled for.

My recollection of Hesse was that he was a pretentious charlatan.

It may well be cleft will be put off from posting here by your post, in which case he will lose the opportunity of decreasing his loneliness by interacting with people of similar interests.

[ennison]

The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner is worth a mention here. Sillitoe is not talked about much these days but he was a very good writer. The loneliness in that title is more a type of alienation. Can't help feel but that there was a bitter streak in the writer when he wrote that book. It is full of profanity and would put some readers off

[mal4mac]

I recommend "Life & Times of Michael K" by J.M. Coetzee.

Or his autobiographical novel "Youth", he had a lonely time when he came to the UK...

[tonywalt]

Haruki Murakami's novels tend to deal with loneliness or isolation. I'd recommend Kafka on the Shore as a good place to start. Also In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut is a truly excellent contemporary novel around the subject of isolation.

I agree and I remember you recommending him last year (thanks) a year ago. Brilliantly surreal writer and I'm glad you turned me on to his writing. I can never understand why he doesn't sell more!- eh, I'm not really surprised!