Books about confusion, emotional inertia, and the like

I just finished reading The Sound and the Fury and Quentin's section was something that touched me very personally. I felt like it really captured that feeling of despair and confusion so perfectly on paper and I'm wondering if you folks can recommend any books with a similar feel. Also, if the character is spending his/her day in a journey to shake their feelings (like Quentin) that's a plus. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

And yes, this is my first post, so i hope asking for recommendations is OK on this board. :D

Quentin Compson is also one of my favorite characters, and fits the archetype of the melancholy youth.

I would look at Hamlet, Ivan Karamazov, and Holden Caulfield of Hamlet, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Catcher in the Rye, respectively.

Also check out Ulysses, specifically the musings of Stephen Dedalus as he wanders the beach in the Proteus episode.

And, of course, the other works of Faulkner, especially Absalom, Absalom!, in which Quentin is a central character, and As I Lay Dying, which features Darl Bundred, who shares many of Quentin's characteristics.

thanks for the recommendations, mayneverhave. i didn't know Quentin was in Absalom, Absalom!, i'll definitely read that. I think Quentin's character resonates so much with me because we are exactly the same age and a lot of the feelings he expresses are so similar to my own.

I actually own The Brothers Karamazov and was planning on starting it soon. As for Ulysses, I tried reading that about a year ago and didn't get very far. so i might wait until after a few more years of college for that one...

I've not read that book, but going by the key words ' Books about confusion, emotional inertia, and the like' I could recommend a book called The Trick is to Keep Breathing. Very much about emotional intertia.

It's about a woman (Joy Stone) who was having an affair with a man who died. Basically it's about her life after that, how she deals with it etc. Very good writing, very moving.

Try the Short stories of Sherwood Anderson. Anderson was a very big influence on Faulkners early writing (The Sound and the Fury, being book four, is quite early in his career). Most of Andersons short stories are in the first person. The "I" is present in short stories like "Im a Fool" and "I want to know why". Andersons influence on Faulkner shows up most in passages like Quentins. Anderson was all about inner strife and confusion. I picked up a book of his short stories from the library not long ago. I had wanted to read Winesburg Ohio next, but I don't like to read too much of him at one time. He is good but his stories are so nightmare-like and many of his characters are so miserable that it makes me acutely aware of all of the problems in life. Its kind of depressing.

Hamlet, . . . obviously.

Anything by Dostoyevsky, Notes from the Underground would be a good start.

Kafka as well, most of his stories involve the individual pitted agaisnt absurdity.

Long Day's Journey Into Night. Drug-addicted mother, alcoholic son, consumptive son, alcoholic father...what more do you need?

The Glass Menagerie is also very good. Tom is torn between leaving his family (which his father did years ago) or staying and being trapped.

I would definitely recommend Philip Carey in Of Human Bondage by Maugham - hundreds of pages of confusion and emotional inertia, and a perfection of story-telling literature. :nod:

The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. A book about drug addiction. It has an interesting narrative approach. I can't say I liked the book, though perhaps I would view it differently now. It is an uncomfortable read.

Thanks, I'm getting some really interesting stuff.

I've already read a little Kafka (The Metamorphosis and The Castle) and yes those are very much about the feeling of "the world closing in on you" and i'm definitely not done with him. I've never heard of S. Anderson until now, so thanks for that one, sounds good. Of Human Bondage is definitely gonna be added to my list, as is The Trick is to Keep Breathing. Kelby_Lake's two are plays (never read a play) so not to sure about those, but maybe.

Kangaroo Notebook by Kobo Abe. The story's pretty much like Kafka's Metamorphosis in that the narrator finds himself facing the absurd and the grotesque.

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Originally Posted by MODonnell

Thanks, I'm getting some really interesting stuff.
Kelby_Lake's two are plays (never read a play) so not to sure about those, but maybe.

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Long Day's Journey Into Night basically reads like a novel. Very evocative and the stage directions are incredibly detailed- plus it is novel-length. It being set out over the space of just one day makes it incredibly powerful.

Maybe 'The Stranger'? I found it a bit boring but you might like it...

crytalmoonshin: I've already read Kangaroo Notebook, I love Kobo Abe and that's my 2nd favorite of his books (after The Box Man). cool one to see recommended, didn't think anyone else read that! and that is one strange book so i'm thinking about giving it another go now that you reminded me of it

kelby_lake: i might give Long Day's Journey Into Night a shot. i read the Stranger in high school and it's one of my favorites.

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Originally Posted by MODonnell

Thanks, I'm getting some really interesting stuff.

I've already read a little Kafka (The Metamorphosis and The Castle) and yes those are very much about the feeling of "the world closing in on you" and i'm definitely not done with him. I've never heard of S. Anderson until now, so thanks for that one, sounds good. Of Human Bondage is definitely gonna be added to my list, as is The Trick is to Keep Breathing. Kelby_Lake's two are plays (never read a play) so not to sure about those, but maybe.

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As is Hamlet. As drama is a major literary genre - one that only till recently had precedence over the novel - you need to get on that.

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Originally Posted by mayneverhave

As is Hamlet. As drama is a major literary genre - one that only till recently had precedence over the novel - you need to get on that.

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i have had a bizarre aversion to all things Shakespeare since a traumatic 9th grade drama class. :bawling: