Denial in fiction

December 31, 2024 10:20 PM

My favorite book that I read in 2024 was Liz Moore's "The God of the Woods." I loved it for many different reasons, and one in particular was the fact that it was possibly the best portrayal of denial -- as in the psychological state -- I have ever read in a work of fiction. I am now curious about other novels that you have read and that you think depict denial well. More specific details below.

There are three specific conditions on what I am particularly interested in:

1. I am interested specifically (and narrowly) in portrayals of denial, which is not the same as repression.

2. I am interested in novels where not only is denial instrumental to the plot or character development, but there is also a real art to how that murky emotional state is successfully depicted through choices around form and craft elements.

3. I am only interested in hearing about books you yourself have read, and I would love to hear a bit about what you think makes a given book so successful in its portrayal of denial.

posted by virve to Writing & Language (14 answers total)

A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster, particularly in the climactic scene between Lucy and Mr. Emerson. But the whole book, really, is about the layers of awareness and denial of self-knowledge in the characters, in the face of social expectations.

I could share some excerpts but they’d be major spoilers so I’ll just encourage you to read it.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 10:56 PM on December 31

The wife of Martin Guerre might fit?
posted by freethefeet at 11:25 PM on December 31

I loved "Rachel's Holiday" by Marian Keyes, a somewhat humorous novel about a woman in rehab. I think it differs from all the other books of this genre by the way it shows denial being slowly stripped away.
posted by Omnomnom at 12:38 AM on January 1 [3 favorites]

I recently read The Lookback Window by Kyle Dillon Hertz and thought it was an amazing example of both an unreliable narrator and of a character in deep denial. I didn't enjoy it, exactly—there's a lot of dysfunction and some graphic depictions of extreme sexual abuse of a teenager—but I was so impressed by the way the author handled the first-person point of view, the skillful way the reader is able to know things about the narrator that the narrator himself refuses to be, or is unable to be, aware of.
posted by Well I never at 2:31 AM on January 1

This is Not my Hat
posted by heyforfour at 4:13 AM on January 1 [2 favorites]

I think there’s a lot of denial in Lolita - he convinces himself he’s not a pedophile who’s ruining her life, but it kind of peeks through anyway.
posted by wheatlets at 5:08 AM on January 1 [5 favorites]

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow? I owe it a reread but it has stuck with me as a story about a guy in denial of why his life is based on nonsense.
posted by johngoren at 5:23 AM on January 1

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The movie does not capture this as well in my opinion (it may simply be harder to do on film).
posted by eirias at 6:19 AM on January 1 [4 favorites]

Never Let Me Go, also by Kazuo Ishiguro.
posted by janell at 8:22 AM on January 1 [3 favorites]

Very different tone, and may be straddling between denial and repression, but Hawk Mountain by Conner Habib blew me away this year. Worth looking at the blurb to see if you might be interested. Bonus points for being a modern noir.
posted by Kemma80 at 10:01 AM on January 1

Another Ishiguro: An Artist of the Floating World (narrator is totally not a fascist, did not betray his comrades and his art).

James's The Ambassadors is probably his work most deeply engaged with denial.
posted by praemunire at 1:11 PM on January 1

The Best Kind of People, by Zoe Whittall. It’s about a teacher in a small town who is accused of sexual assault. The bulk of the novel examines how other people react to the accusations, especially his wife and teenaged children.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:06 PM on January 1

Liars by Sarah Manguso.
posted by Violet Hour at 10:18 PM on January 1

This year’s Hugo Award winner, Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh, may be relevant,
posted by matildaben at 9:50 AM on January 2