Books on Solitude

[Timtron]

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd share some of my favorite books dealing with the subject of loneliness and solitude.
I would love to hear your favorites and suggestions!

Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse - Steppewolf
Fjodor Dostoevsky - The Underground Man
Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
Fernando Pessoa - The Book of Disquiet
J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye
Albert Camus - The Stranger
Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast (for fans of gothic fantasy)
Tahar Ben Jelloun - The Blinding Absence of Light
Tolstoi - The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
.....

Please share more if you know any good ones

 

[SofiasMami]

That's quite a list of great classics you have there

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz is a modern fiction book. The writer's words about Oscar are like a knife to the heart. His writing is so on point. On a side note, I follow Diaz on Facebook - he's a cool guy. It's a great book, I highly recommend it to everyone here. The ending gives me chills!


“It was like being at the bottom of an ocean, she said. There was no light and a whole ocean crushing down on you. But most people had gotten so used to it they thought it normal, they forgot even that there was a world above.”
― Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

-Teresa

 

[kamya]

That's quite a list of great classics you have there

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz is a modern fiction book. The writer's words about Oscar are like a knife to the heart. His writing is so on point. On a side note, I follow Diaz on Facebook - he's a cool guy. It's a great book, I highly recommend it to everyone here. The ending gives me chills!


“It was like being at the bottom of an ocean, she said. There was no light and a whole ocean crushing down on you. But most people had gotten so used to it they thought it normal, they forgot even that there was a world above.”
― Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

-Teresa

Dude holy honeysuckle. You are the first person I've met that knows that book. fresia. It's one of my all time favorites. I randomly picked it up from a bookstore when it first came out. Just blind luck really. I've given out copies to a few of my friends. Highly recommend. But if you aren't into depressing honeysuckle then you might want to pass.

I've been wanting to read "This is How You Lose Her" too. Have you read any of the other books of his? I know they are all related in a way. Would you say its worth reading?

Also seconding Siddhartha

As long as we are talking classics.

"The Old Man and the Sea"
"Walden"

There are a lot of good movies too.

 

[SofiasMami]

Oh yeah, kamya, I've read "This is How You Lose Her" and I recommend that one too. I've also read "Drown", another good book by the same writer. That's funny you called it depressing honeysuckle. That's one way to describe it.
I like it when writers rip open the human condition for all of us to see. Junot Diaz does exactly that.

“And that's when I know it's over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it's the end.”
― Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her

-Teresa

 

[Timtron]

Thanks for the suggestions
Definitely going to try them

 

[lifestream]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick is a good story on the topic of loneliness and isolation. The author was a paranoid schizophrenic so there are times when that leaks into the narrative, which creates an interesting undercurrent of madness to it all.

I find books like that are hard to read. Sometimes it's like death by a thousand cuts.

 

[Tiina63]

I have just bought The Catcher In The Rye secondhand after seeing it on the op's list. Agree about the Dostoevky novels and the Tolstoy novel. I will see if I can find the rest. Thanks for the list.

 

[Hopetracer]

Thank you for the list, OP. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Camus are my favorites too.

No mention of Kafka??

"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz is a modern fiction book. The writer's words about Oscar are like a knife to the heart. His writing is so on point. On a side note, I follow Diaz on Facebook - he's a cool guy. It's a great book, I highly recommend it to everyone here. The ending gives me chills!

I know I have this book, among hundreds of unread books. Thank you for mentioning it. Now it goes higher in my "to read" list, entering the top curiosity level.