Litfilter: Obsession
July 23, 2009 4:46 AM Subscribe
Litfilter: Obsession
I am looking for books/novellas/shorts (even poems) that either have a main character who is obsessive or where the plot is driven by some obsession (Moby Dick). Preferably not love obsession, but I am looking for a broad spectrum. The creative and the obscure would be awesome.
Also, it would be great if it were public domain.
I am looking for books/novellas/shorts (even poems) that either have a main character who is obsessive or where the plot is driven by some obsession (Moby Dick). Preferably not love obsession, but I am looking for a broad spectrum. The creative and the obscure would be awesome.
Also, it would be great if it were public domain.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:57 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 4:57 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
No Country for Old Men
posted by quentiniii at 4:57 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by quentiniii at 4:57 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Gogol's short stories -- I'm thinking "The Nose" and "The Overcoat"
J. Fowles, The Collector
On collecting: S. Sontag, The Volcano Lover
Literary obsession/romance: AS Byatt, Possession
On the consequences of an obsession: Stanislaw Lem, Solaris
Protagonist with disease that makes him engage in obsessive behavior: J. Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
Romantic obsession: Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 5:08 AM on July 23, 2009
J. Fowles, The Collector
On collecting: S. Sontag, The Volcano Lover
Literary obsession/romance: AS Byatt, Possession
On the consequences of an obsession: Stanislaw Lem, Solaris
Protagonist with disease that makes him engage in obsessive behavior: J. Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
Romantic obsession: Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 5:08 AM on July 23, 2009
Perfume by Patrick Suskind.
posted by fire&wings at 5:10 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by fire&wings at 5:10 AM on July 23, 2009
A whole bunch of Edgar Allen Poe? I can think of about a half dozen short stories just off the top of my head...
posted by Scattercat at 5:18 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by Scattercat at 5:18 AM on July 23, 2009
Best answer: The Maltese Falcon is a classic that fits your description. Most of the characters that drive the story are obsessed with a myth. For something a little more off the beaten path, let me recommend Skin Lane, by Neal Bartlett. It's about a middle aged furrier who becomes obsessed with his new apprentice. It's creepy, but also kind of touching.
posted by dortmunder at 5:20 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by dortmunder at 5:20 AM on July 23, 2009
Fingersmith by Sara Waters.
posted by kiwi-epitome at 5:38 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by kiwi-epitome at 5:38 AM on July 23, 2009
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace has several dozen characters who are all obsessed in different ways. Obsessed wheelchair-bound Québécois militiamen, obsessed junior tennis players, obsessed addicts in recovery, and on and on.
posted by letourneau at 5:39 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by letourneau at 5:39 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
Requiem For A Dream
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:46 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:46 AM on July 23, 2009
The Great Gatsby might work for you...it's not exactly "love," is it? More like obsession with the past.
posted by miratime at 5:52 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by miratime at 5:52 AM on July 23, 2009
The Orchid Thief is terrific -- nonfiction, but it reads like fiction.
posted by cider at 5:56 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by cider at 5:56 AM on July 23, 2009
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta...
posted by zoomorphic at 6:33 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by zoomorphic at 6:33 AM on July 23, 2009
Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the main character/narrator can be pretty obsessive - at one point he becomes obsessed with holding his ground and not moving aside for a cop walking down the street, so he buys expensive new clothes (to appear higher class in the unlikely event of public scandal) and starts stalking the guy to figure out his route, then finally bumps his shoulder into him as though it were an accident. The cop doesn't notice the significance of the event, but the narrator is ecstatic.
posted by illenion at 6:36 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by illenion at 6:36 AM on July 23, 2009
Best answer: Whelp, there goes my reading comprehension test for the day.
The Book of Salt is about a chef who relates literally everything in his life through cooking
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Birdy by William Wharton
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
posted by zoomorphic at 6:41 AM on July 23, 2009
The Book of Salt is about a chef who relates literally everything in his life through cooking
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Birdy by William Wharton
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
posted by zoomorphic at 6:41 AM on July 23, 2009
The Case of Curiosities by A. Kurzweil. Mechanical obsession. Picked it up by accident, charming book. quick read.
posted by cobaltnine at 7:07 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by cobaltnine at 7:07 AM on July 23, 2009
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Perfume by Patrick Suskind (seconding)
Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
posted by backwards guitar at 7:10 AM on July 23, 2009
Perfume by Patrick Suskind (seconding)
Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
posted by backwards guitar at 7:10 AM on July 23, 2009
Lolita. And anyone who tells you HH's obsession with Lolita is driven by love needs to reread it. It's more like being driven by disease.
posted by everythings_interrelated at 7:25 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by everythings_interrelated at 7:25 AM on July 23, 2009
Response by poster: Some great stuff so far, thanks bunch, you all have me thinking.
posted by sundri at 8:03 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by sundri at 8:03 AM on July 23, 2009
Best answer: Lots of people have said Lolita, but Pale Fire is the book about literary obsession. On a completely different note, Andre Dubus's short stories "The Fat Girl" and "Killings" both deal with obsession (weight/sex and a son's death, respectively).
posted by flawsekno at 8:34 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by flawsekno at 8:34 AM on July 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. On several levels.
posted by bfranklin at 8:47 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by bfranklin at 8:47 AM on July 23, 2009
Disobedience by Jane Hamilton profiles an obsessive family (different obsessions for each, although they really share an obsessive need for revisiting and reviewing).
The acknowledgments indicate that Hamilton used my favorite book, Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz, as research material. Few folks are as obsessive as the ones in that book, although it's nonfiction and I suspect you're not looking for that.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:20 AM on July 23, 2009
The acknowledgments indicate that Hamilton used my favorite book, Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz, as research material. Few folks are as obsessive as the ones in that book, although it's nonfiction and I suspect you're not looking for that.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:20 AM on July 23, 2009
Coetzee's The Master of Petersburg has a strong theme of the protagonist's obsession with his son. There's also a sense in which Kafka's novels can be obsessive -- Josef K's psychological disintegration comes in the form of an obsession with the trial, etc.
And now for something completely different: one of the stories in Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Calliope, in Dream Country.
posted by paultopia at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2009
And now for something completely different: one of the stories in Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Calliope, in Dream Country.
posted by paultopia at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2009
Ooh, there's also a great obsessive character in Foucault's Pendulum, by Eco.
posted by paultopia at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2009
posted by paultopia at 10:17 AM on July 23, 2009
Assuming plays are included, Shakespeare is fertile ground for obsessive characters: Iago (envy) and Othello (jealousy), Richard III (his disfigurement), Hamlet (death and revenge), Macbeth (power), Coriolanus (honor), Antony (Cleopatra), Shylock (justice), &c.
posted by nicwolff at 8:53 PM on July 23, 2009
posted by nicwolff at 8:53 PM on July 23, 2009
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posted by fightorflight at 4:47 AM on July 23, 2009