"All extraordinary men, who have accomplished great and astonishing actions, have ever been decried by the world as drunken or insane"
May 22, 2010 12:57 AM Subscribe
Books for/about disaffected, disillusioned young men?
I need recommendations for books that embody a sense of existential ennui, alienation, severe disillusionment with life and general loss of ambition.
Somehow, I cannot get into works set in contemporary times, so anything other that that would be great. Poetry/prose/novels/short stories all are highly appreciated. Bonus points for humour and seething satire.
Stuff I've already read/on my reading list:
Decline and Fall, Evelyn Waugh
High Windows, Philip Larkin
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The Sorrows of Young Werther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hunger, Knut Hamsun
Les Chants de Maldoror, Comte de Lautréamont
Candide, Voltaire
The Stranger, Albert Camus
I need recommendations for books that embody a sense of existential ennui, alienation, severe disillusionment with life and general loss of ambition.
Somehow, I cannot get into works set in contemporary times, so anything other that that would be great. Poetry/prose/novels/short stories all are highly appreciated. Bonus points for humour and seething satire.
Stuff I've already read/on my reading list:
Decline and Fall, Evelyn Waugh
High Windows, Philip Larkin
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The Sorrows of Young Werther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hunger, Knut Hamsun
Les Chants de Maldoror, Comte de Lautréamont
Candide, Voltaire
The Stranger, Albert Camus
Crime and Punishment kind of fits
Steppenwolf by Hesse as well, although that protagonist is middle-aged
Nausea by Sartre (again the protagonist is not that young)
most of Bret Easton Ellis' books about terminally apathetic twenty-somethings (Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, the Informers)
The Castle and The Trial, both by Kafka, but those are less existential angst than people being beaten down by faceless institutions, but similar
and don't forget that most hopeless and alienated of men, Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces (sort of contemporary times but you don't really notice)
If you like comics at all, look for Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth
posted by chaff at 1:12 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Steppenwolf by Hesse as well, although that protagonist is middle-aged
Nausea by Sartre (again the protagonist is not that young)
most of Bret Easton Ellis' books about terminally apathetic twenty-somethings (Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, the Informers)
The Castle and The Trial, both by Kafka, but those are less existential angst than people being beaten down by faceless institutions, but similar
and don't forget that most hopeless and alienated of men, Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces (sort of contemporary times but you don't really notice)
If you like comics at all, look for Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth
posted by chaff at 1:12 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, and to switch the genders up, how about The Virgin Suicides?
posted by chaff at 1:14 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by chaff at 1:14 AM on May 22, 2010
You would love A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley.
posted by meadowlark lime at 1:46 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by meadowlark lime at 1:46 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ask the Dust by John Fante. (Set in Depression-era Los Angeles, first published in 1939.)
posted by mondaygreens at 2:09 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mondaygreens at 2:09 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Fraction of the Whole, by Steve Toltz, fits most of your criteria. It's funny as hell, to boot. I kept getting weird looks from my seatmates on the airplane because I couldn't stop laughing.
posted by number9dream at 2:19 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by number9dream at 2:19 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis.
posted by cloudbuster at 2:28 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by cloudbuster at 2:28 AM on May 22, 2010
Dostoevsky has lots of characters like that. The Possessed and Notes From Underground are probably your best bets; Crime and Punishment and The Adolescent kind of fit, too, although their main characters "recover" somewhat.
Would you accept a young woman instead? If so, can't go wrong with The Bell Jar.
Invisible Man has more seething rage than existential ennui, but certainly features plenty of alienation and disillusionment.
posted by equalpants at 2:36 AM on May 22, 2010
Would you accept a young woman instead? If so, can't go wrong with The Bell Jar.
Invisible Man has more seething rage than existential ennui, but certainly features plenty of alienation and disillusionment.
posted by equalpants at 2:36 AM on May 22, 2010
Not exactly what you asked for, but Le Grand Meaulnes has a sense of yearning that might fit.
posted by Lleyam at 2:45 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by Lleyam at 2:45 AM on May 22, 2010
Great Expectations Charles Dickens
"We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one"
The Divine Comedy Dante
"In the midway of this our mortal life,
I found me in a gloomy woods, astray"
posted by chrisulonic at 3:22 AM on May 22, 2010
"We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one"
The Divine Comedy Dante
"In the midway of this our mortal life,
I found me in a gloomy woods, astray"
posted by chrisulonic at 3:22 AM on May 22, 2010
Seconding both Ask the Dust and Le Grand Meaulnes.
I need recommendations for books that embody a sense of existential ennui, alienation, severe disillusionment with life and general loss of ambition.
Jean Rhys. Try Good Morning Midnight. She's a she, but it makes little difference.
posted by fire&wings at 3:33 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
I need recommendations for books that embody a sense of existential ennui, alienation, severe disillusionment with life and general loss of ambition.
Jean Rhys. Try Good Morning Midnight. She's a she, but it makes little difference.
posted by fire&wings at 3:33 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
He's more contemporary, but pretty much all of Haruki Murakami's male characters fit this mold.
posted by sarahsynonymous at 3:38 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by sarahsynonymous at 3:38 AM on May 22, 2010
All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers, Larry McMurtry.
posted by The Michael The at 4:09 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by The Michael The at 4:09 AM on May 22, 2010
Another female protagonist, but the themes are spot on target: 'The Grass is Singing' by Doris Lessing. And Zola's novels are full of disaffected people...
posted by HandfulOfDust at 5:19 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by HandfulOfDust at 5:19 AM on May 22, 2010
Any novel by Thomas Bernhard. (set in '60s, '70s and early '80s...)
posted by amusem at 5:29 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by amusem at 5:29 AM on May 22, 2010
> Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse is probably his best book, but the also-very-good Demian has a younger protagonist.
posted by K.P. at 5:30 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by K.P. at 5:30 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan
Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
posted by vkxmai at 5:31 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan
Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
posted by vkxmai at 5:31 AM on May 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Journey to the End of the Night, by Celine, fits your bill very well, although the protagonist is middle aged by the time the story winds down. The protagonist starts as a young man in WWI and goes nearly everywhere from there, soaking in the worst humanity has to offer.
I don't recommend reading past the editorial review in the Amazon link since nearly all of the customer reviews ruin the plot, and half the fun is wondering where the long-suffering protagonist will end up next.
I don't remember which translation I read, but I know there are numerous one.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 7:53 AM on May 22, 2010
I don't recommend reading past the editorial review in the Amazon link since nearly all of the customer reviews ruin the plot, and half the fun is wondering where the long-suffering protagonist will end up next.
I don't remember which translation I read, but I know there are numerous one.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 7:53 AM on May 22, 2010
Kerouac, On the Road. It's like The Catcher in the Rye, plus drugs, minus authorial self-awareness.
posted by pluckemin at 8:03 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by pluckemin at 8:03 AM on May 22, 2010
Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray ticks all of your boxes, and is one of the greatest, and most tragically overlooked, works of 20th century Scottish literature. Half of it is a realist Bildungsroman about a disaffected Glaswegian artist born before World War II, the other half, I'm not sure how to describe: allegory? satire? fantasy?
The whole thing is laser-focused on alienation, ennui, and the inability to form a genuine connection with another human being.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 9:23 AM on May 22, 2010
The whole thing is laser-focused on alienation, ennui, and the inability to form a genuine connection with another human being.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 9:23 AM on May 22, 2010
If you can find it, Ardal O'Hanlon's The Talk of the Town (aka Knick Knack Paddy Whack in the USA). Well worth looking for. Be aware, however, that it is not at all like his stand-up comedy or his work on Father Ted.
posted by MelanieL at 9:27 AM on May 22, 2010
posted by MelanieL at 9:27 AM on May 22, 2010
Best answer: The Outsider by Colin Wilson is not a novel. Wilson explores the psyche of the Outsider, his effect on society, and society's effect on him. (wiki)
posted by adamvasco at 12:12 PM on May 22, 2010
posted by adamvasco at 12:12 PM on May 22, 2010
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. It is non-fiction, but it's a great read that discusses dealing with absurdity and treats suicide and its philosophical implications profoundly. It is the non-fictional essay part of his absurdist trifecta: Caligula (the theatric play), The Stranger/L'Etranger, and The Myth of Sisyphus. It's not a tough read like other philosophical works.
Kafka in general.
Madame Bovary by Flaubert is more of a character study and display of literary realism, so there won't be a lot to take with you after reading it, but Madame Bovary herself embodies female ennui and the desire for escapism. She becomes enthralled with chivalrous novels and subscribes to a plethora of magazines she loses herself in, and as a result she loses any grasp of realistic expectations and naïvety and hope takes over. She is a very annoying character and you will struggle to summon any sympathy for her. She's somewhat of a modern female version of Don Quixote.
Crime and Punishment was underwhelming. I would make sure that you make sure that there is something in it that you want to dive into. It is fairly interesting from the perspective of a pioneer of crime novels, though.
posted by blook at 2:10 PM on May 22, 2010
Kafka in general.
Madame Bovary by Flaubert is more of a character study and display of literary realism, so there won't be a lot to take with you after reading it, but Madame Bovary herself embodies female ennui and the desire for escapism. She becomes enthralled with chivalrous novels and subscribes to a plethora of magazines she loses herself in, and as a result she loses any grasp of realistic expectations and naïvety and hope takes over. She is a very annoying character and you will struggle to summon any sympathy for her. She's somewhat of a modern female version of Don Quixote.
Crime and Punishment was underwhelming. I would make sure that you make sure that there is something in it that you want to dive into. It is fairly interesting from the perspective of a pioneer of crime novels, though.
posted by blook at 2:10 PM on May 22, 2010
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. I recommend it every chance I get because it's my favorite book, but for you particularly because every damn character in the thing is struggling with existential issues. And, I would say "alienation" is probably its primary theme (just look at the title).
posted by a.steele at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2010
posted by a.steele at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2010
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. Hands down. I know you aren't looking for modern stuff, it came out in 1996, but really trust me on this one. It's precisely what you are looking for. It covers, among other things: addiction to entertainment, alienation, and how modern life brings these things on. It'll take you a good month of reading several hours a day to get through it, too. If you're looking to feel something because you currently feel nothing, this is it.
posted by fluxion at 12:21 AM on May 23, 2010
posted by fluxion at 12:21 AM on May 23, 2010
Billy Liar is excellent.
I also loved The Shoe, by Gordon Legge. And on a more comic level, any of the Adrian Mole novels.
An older man who's disaffected? I like Timoleon Vieta Please Come Home by Dan Rhodes.
posted by mippy at 9:59 AM on May 24, 2010
I also loved The Shoe, by Gordon Legge. And on a more comic level, any of the Adrian Mole novels.
An older man who's disaffected? I like Timoleon Vieta Please Come Home by Dan Rhodes.
posted by mippy at 9:59 AM on May 24, 2010
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.
Meets all your criteria hands down, and also happens to be one of the finest books ever written.
(another vote for A Fan's Notes by Exley.)
posted by Skygazer at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2010
Meets all your criteria hands down, and also happens to be one of the finest books ever written.
(another vote for A Fan's Notes by Exley.)
posted by Skygazer at 12:55 PM on June 5, 2010
« Older If my student loans are going to be forgiven ... I... | How can I make a felted boulder? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scody at 1:02 AM on May 22, 2010