Novels with characters who live alone

[WhiteTim]

I'm interested in reading novels with characters with certain traits.

Primary interest: What novels have characters that are single and live alone?

Primary interest: What novels have characters that are disaffected or alienated?

Secondary interest: What novels involve involuntary single characters?

Secondary interest: What novels are about involuntary singlehood?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'm interested in reading novels with characters with certain traits.

Primary interest: What novels have characters that are single and live alone?

Primary interest: What novels have characters that are disaffected or alienated?

Secondary interest: What novels involve involuntary single characters?

Secondary interest: What novels are about involuntary singlehood?

Have you read Silas Marner by George Eliot?

 

[WhiteTim]

Have you read Silas Marner by George Eliot?

No; I just looked it up on wikipedia. I don't want to read Silas Marner now because it was published in 1861. I am only interested in reading these types of novels with a setting sometime between the 1950s and the present. I live alone. I've always lived alone, and I want something that reminds me of my life. If a book is set in the 19th century, it's just not something that I want. That time is too remote...

Some might respond, "Oh, these issues are timeless. You might be able to relate to it, even if it's set in the Victorian era."

My response, "No, thank you."

 

[Evo]

Involuntary singlehood?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I am only interested in reading these types of novels with a setting sometime between the 1950s and the present.

My copy was published in 1974. Before I go looking for another one, are there any other primary, secondary or tertiary interests I should be aware of?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This one? Roberta Leigh is a pseudonym for Steven Hawking.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/roberta-leigh/confirmed-bachelor.htm"

 

[rootX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gesture_Life"
I remember reading this some years ago.

- He's from 1950s (WWII)
- He's Korean I think who went to Japan and had no parents IIRC
- He immigrates to America and lives alone
- He's has a troubled daughter who doesn't live with him (and looks like his dead lover who was a comfort woman)

 

[Danger]

Involuntary singlehood?

I believe that it's a euphemism for 'geekiness'.

 

[turbo]

Just abandon the aversion to old books and read Walden. It is non-fiction, and it is autobiographical. Thoreau chose to live alone with limited resources, and his diary-like chronicles are inspirational. My wife and I try to live as simply as possible - Thoreau would have understood that.

 

[turbo]

I believe that it's a euphemism for 'geekiness'.

Ah, pocket-protector as birth-control. Gotcha!

 

[WhiteTim]

My copy was published in 1974.

If the book was first published in 1861, it means that it was written no later than 1861. This means that either (1) the setting is before the 1950s or, far less likely, (2) it is a sci-fi novel set in a time many, many decades after it was written. Either way, I don't want to read it.

Before I go looking for another one, are there any other primary, secondary or tertiary interests I should be aware of?

Yes; I am interested in novels with characters who live alone in a setting in or after the 1950's that is not a sci-fi novel and not a mystery/detective novel. I know most detective novels features detectives who live alone, but that's not what I'm looking for. The type of novels that resonate with me are novels that remind me of my own life, and I'm not a detective. Another requirement of the type of novels that I'm interested in is I'm interested in novels about people who live within society, not people who live in caves or Thoreau living at Walden Pond.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Just abandon the aversion to old books and read Walden.

I forgot about that one. After I read it I went to Walden Pond to see it for myself. This book meets the 'timeless' criterion with ease. As a matter of fact so do all good books. I recommend Silas Marner again.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Yes; I am interested in novels with characters who live alone in a setting in or after the 1950's that is not a sci-fi novel and not a mystery/detective novel. I know most detective novels features detectives who live alone, but that's not what I'm looking for. The type of novels that resonate with me are novels that remind me of my own life, and I'm not a detective. Another requirement of the type of novels that I'm interested in is I'm interested in novels about people who live within society, not people who live in caves or Thoreau living at Walden Pond.

You might have to write it yourself. What do you do for a living?

 

[Evo]

The type of novels that resonate with me are novels that remind me of my own life,

So, how do you define "your own life"? It sounds like you are interested in people that are considered social outcasts. Are you looking for stories where the loner becomes a hero, or is swallowed up by their loneliness?

From your criteria

Primary interest: What novels have characters that are disaffected or alienated?

Secondary interest: What novels involve involuntary single characters?

it sounds like pretty bleak.

I live alone but I can't relate to what you are saying.

 

[turbo]

I forgot about that one. After I read it I went to Walden Pond to see it for myself. This book meets the 'timeless' criterion with ease. As a matter of fact so do all good books. I recommend Silas Marner again.

I have read that one over and over again, jimmy. Thoreau was not as idealistic and independent as some people have painted him, but like you, I found his chronicles to be inspirational. It may not be thrilling to read a list of what he paid for beans, salt pork, etc, but it brings us to a place in which we can evaluate our interactions with society, and how those leverage our interactions with nature.

 

[rootX]

The type of novels that resonate with me are novels that remind me of my own life,

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=9520"?

 

[Danger]

I forgot about that one. After I read it I went to Walden Pond to see it for myself.

I haven't read any Thoreau. Loved 'What Do You Hear From Walden Pond' by Jack Douglas, though. It gives a whole new perspective on a thinly disguised Jonathan Winters.

 

[Redbelly98]

Have any books been written about Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the "Unabomber"?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

The Stranger by Albert Camus
Its set in France. Not sure if that's a problem.

Confessions of a Crap Artist by Philip K Dick
This is not scifi, though written by a scifi writer. Its about a man who has trouble relating to society and seeks refuge in strange obsessions. This one is not so much about the main character as his observations of the people around him.

In neither of these are the charaters "forced" to be single if you mean divorced but you might say that the way they look at the world makes them withdrawl from it and avoid or have difficulty with relationships.

Other than these I can't think of anything at the moment. There really aren't many books out there where the story revolves around being a guy who lives alone, though plenty I could mention where the characters happen to be single and live alone.

 

[WhiteTim]

You might have to write it yourself. What do you do for a living?

I stock merchandise on the shelves at a grocery store, and I have a second job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant.

 

[WhiteTim]

The Stranger by Albert Camus
Its set in France. Not sure if that's a problem.

I'd rather it be set in America, but a bigger problem is that it was first published in 1942.

 

[Astronuc]

I'd rather it be set in America, but a bigger problem is that it was first published in 1942.

So one is looking for a contemporary novel about an individual living alone in a modern developed, industrial or post-industrial society? Why?

I think jimmysnyder has a point. There is probably not such a novel, so one would have to write one.


Try these. One may find that modern day hermits may be motivated by religious convictions or spiritual needs, or the desire to escape.

Sara Maitland: A very unlikely modern hermit
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sara-maitland-a-very-unlikely-modern-hermit-970896.html
Pioneering feminist author Sara Maitland has swapped the cut and thrust of sexual politics for an isolated cottage and a vow of silence

For the last eight years, though, her name has been missing from publishers' catalogues, literary festivals and BBC guest lists. Her new memoir, A Book of Silence, explains why. Since 2000 Maitland, now 58, has been making radical changes in her own life: first a move to the Northamptonshire countryside as her marriage disintegrated; then the start of her search for silence in a house on top of a County Durham moor; and, finally, another step away from the world to an isolated old shepherd's house in Galloway, the bit of Scotland where she had originally grown up among the local gentry. She now prays for three hours each day and spends 80 per cent of her time in silence. She has no TV or radio, nor "a major breakthrough for the powers of hell", as she describes them when I asked for her mobile number so we would not miss each at our meeting place.

A Book of Silence
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1847080421/?tag=pfamazon01-20


The Hermit (Paperback)
by Ray Holland (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1440456798/?tag=pfamazon01-20


Hermit in Paris: Autobiographical Writings
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-037571426x-0
https://www.amazon.com/dp/037571426X/?tag=pfamazon01-20
by Italo Calvino

Perhaps a classic like "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac


The Seven Storey Mountain (Paperback)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0156010860/?tag=pfamazon01-20
by Thomas Merton (Author)

http://ethicscenter.nd.edu/inspires/documents/Thomas_Merton1.pdf

Also - No Man Is an Island (Paperback)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0156027739/?tag=pfamazon01-20
by Thomas Merton (Author)

 

[Brilliant!]

1984

 

[Redbelly98]

The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice.

The protagonist goes through periods of living alone as well as with various companions.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I'd rather it be set in America, but a bigger problem is that it was first published in 1942.

I have just the book for you. The main character lives in Brooklyn, keeps a couple of jobs, and lives alone. He wants to find a nice girl and marry, and tries to reach out to women, but never seems to find a lasting relationship. He is so rigid in his ways that the woman invariably gets frustrated and leaves him. Then a really beautiful soul finds him and has the strength to stand up to him and make him more flexible. At the end they realize that they love each other and decide to marry, but she falls ill and dies. Unfortunately, it was published on Dec. 31, 1949.

 

[Evo]

Unfortunately, it was published on Dec. 31, 1949.

 

[turbo]

Then there's the on-line work in progress about a single woman who only has imaginary boyfriends and who is so accident-prone that the ER staff know her better than her co-workers. Actually, she is not strictly alone - she has a mentally-challenged cat and an obsessive-compulsive dog that snacks on cat blood.

 

[Evo]

Then there's the on-line work in progress about a single woman who only has imaginary boyfriends and who is so accident-prone that the ER staff know her better than her co-workers. Actually, she is not strictly alone - she has a mentally-challenged cat and an obsessive-compulsive dog that snacks on cat blood.

<snort>

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I'd rather it be set in America, but a bigger problem is that it was first published in 1942.

Lol... you seem rather picky here to have a problem over a matter of a few years. In all seriousness The Stranger would seem to come closest to what you are looking for, unless you can give us some more to go on. You may want to check it out regardless. Camus is a philosopher and the book is meant to be somewhat timeless. Another book I have not read but am told is somewhat similar is Nausea by Sarte.


There is VALIS by Philip K Dick.
This one is a rather strange sort of autobiography. It would seem to be the life story of a mad man through the eyes of the mad man. Dick was married and divorced. He had many strange experiences which he was never quite able to reconcile as madness or reality. He attempted suicide and was placed in institutions multiple times, every time being released with a clean bill of mental health.

Devine Invasion and Radio Free Albemuth are both fictionalised variations on VALIS but less likely to fulfill your criterion.
Many of Dicks books revolve around characters who are single, divorced, or who have rocky marriages. Arcter in A Scanner Darkly is single though he has roommates. The book is quite good. While the movie is actually pretty damn close to the book the book is much better.

In Last Call by Tim Powers the main character is divorced and living alone though the story line takes him out of this situation and on the road with his best friend and the father he hasn't seen in years. Its a fantasy novel revolving around poker and mysticism.

Astronuc mentions On the Road which is another great book. The character is primarily single through out, though not always, and lives alone mostly but keeps moving from place to place. I'm actually thinking of rereading it now, its been about a decade since I read it.

The main characters in Koontz novels often seem to be single and living alone (sort of) though there are almost always love interests.

 

[arildno]

"Hunger", by Knut Hamsun

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486431681/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

"Hunger", by Knut Hamsun

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486431681/?tag=pfamazon01-20

That one seems rather interesting. Why don't you share this sort of thing in the book review thread! ;-p

 

[arildno]

That one seems rather interesting. Why don't you share this sort of thing in the book review thread! ;-p

Perhaps I should have. I'll make a mini-review here then:

The unnamed narrator is a self-styled, self-absorbed intellectual who is relating the trivialities of his existence, along with describing the flights of fancy the hunger-induced light-headedness produces in him. "Weird" is very definitely how you'd characterize this guy, and the book.

It doesn't happen much in the way of external events; rather, "Hunger" is a "stream-of-consciousness" work, quite possibly the first to be accurately termed such (it was published in 1890).
For that reason. it is perhaps of historic interest to some readers, who might find the "plot" rather boring.


In the same modernist vein is his next novel, "Mysteries".

His work "Pan", in my mind an exquisite love story, is also recommended, along with his memoir, "On Overgrown Paths", written as a reaction to the psychiatrists who deemed that his mental abilities had become "permanently impaired".

To label the foremost Norwegian novelist as "old and senile" was the cop-out strategy for the Norwegian establishment in post-war Norway, which didn't want to put him on trial for high treason (i.e, collaboration with the Nazis in WWII).

He would undoubtedly, and deservedly, been found guilty as charged, but the "alternate punishment" he got with being labelled as mentally incompetent is a good example of shoddy, shameful cowardice. Besides, he didn't deserve that particular label, as "On overgrown Paths" abundantly shows.

 

[WhiteTim]

So one is looking for a contemporary novel about an individual living alone in a modern developed, industrial or post-industrial society? Why?

I've already explained why.

I think jimmysnyder has a point. There is probably not such a novel, so one would have to write one.

With the tens and tens of thousands of novels that are set in America in or after the 1950s, I'm sure there are many books that fit my criteria.

Criteria: Protagonist lives alone in a house/apartment/townhouse/condo and has a normal non-detective job in America in or after the 1950s.

That criteria is not so extraordinarily unique. Really, it's not.

 

[WhiteTim]

Lol... you seem rather picky here to have a problem over a matter of a few years. In all seriousness The Stranger would seem to come closest to what you are looking for, unless you can give us some more to go on. You may want to check it out regardless.

I really prefer the novel be set sometime after 1980 (so I'm really having a problem over about forty years, not just a few years), but I said the 1950s or later to expand the possibilities. I am interested in The Stranger, and I'm not totally dismissing it because it was written no later than 1942. You have picqued my interest, and I will be looking at The Stranger.

 

[Astronuc]

I've already explained why.

One explained: "I've always lived alone, and I want something that reminds me of my life."

Then one explained: "I stock merchandise on the shelves at a grocery store, and I have a second job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant."

I would have expected that at one point, one lived with one or both of one's parents, unless one was placed in foster care or an orphanage. Nevertheless, one had to have been living with other for some time.

With the tens and tens of thousands of novels that are set in America in or after the 1950s, I'm sure there are many books that fit my criteria.

Criteria: Protagonist lives alone in a house/apartment/townhouse/condo and has a normal non-detective job in America in or after the 1950s.

That criteria is not so extraordinarily unique. Really, it's not.

Novels about someone who stocks merchandise at a grocery store and has a second job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant is not going to make for a commercially successful novel.

I stocked the dairy case at one grocery store, while I was a high school student and living at home with my parents and siblings. Later, at university, I lived alone for between one and two years, then transferred universities. I shared a 2-bedroom apartment to keep costs down, and because afordable single apartments were unavailable. The guy I shared an apartment with was hardly around, and we didn't see much of each other, since I spent most of my time on campus or elsewhere away from the apartment.

 

[arildno]

I thought one of the main virtues of literature was that it enabled the reader to identify with OTHER life experiences than his own, rather than indulging in a self-absorbed tear-fest.

Evidently, I was mistaken.

 

[WhiteTim]

I thought one of the main virtues of literature was that it enabled the reader to identify with OTHER life experiences than his own, rather than indulging in a self-absorbed tear-fest.

Evidently, I was mistaken.

I have no emotional stake in what you thought.

 

[Evo]

Criteria: Protagonist lives alone in a house/apartment/townhouse/condo and has a normal non-detective job in America in or after the 1950s.

That criteria is not so extraordinarily unique. Really, it's not.

It's also not interesting.

 

[arildno]

I have no emotional stake in what you thought.

And I have no emotional interest in reading about your personal traumas.

 

[Brilliant!]

He asked for book recommendations, not a psychological analysis.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Here's one from a woman's point of view. I haven't read it so I can't review it.

How to be Single by Liz Tucillo.

 

[WhiteTim]

It's also not interesting.

If you think that married characters or characters who live with other people are more interesting than characters who live alone, more power to you...

But single characters who live alone are more interesting to me.

 

[WhiteTim]

He asked for book recommendations, not a psychological analysis.

Exactly.

 

[WhiteTim]

And I have no emotional interest in reading about your personal traumas.

You're in luck then, because I have never wrote a word about any of my personal traumas on this forum.

 

[WhiteTim]

One explained: "I've always lived alone, and I want something that reminds me of my life."

Yeah.

Then one explained: "I stock merchandise on the shelves at a grocery store, and I have a second job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant."

This is also true.

I would have expected that at one point, one lived with one or both of one's parents...

Yeah; I lived with one or both of my parents for over twenty years.

Nevertheless, one had to have been living with other for some time.

Yeah.

Novels about someone who stocks merchandise at a grocery store and has a second job as a cashier at a fast food restaurant is not going to make for a commercially successful novel.

Actually it could...it depends on the plot.

I stocked the dairy case at one grocery store, while I was a high school student and living at home with my parents and siblings. Later, at university, I lived alone for between one and two years, then transferred universities. I shared a 2-bedroom apartment to keep costs down, and because afordable single apartments were unavailable. The guy I shared an apartment with was hardly around, and we didn't see much of each other, since I spent most of my time on campus or elsewhere away from the apartment.

Okay.

 

[WhiteTim]

Although Claire Davis' Labors of the Heart is a short story, not a novel, it is the epitome of the type of story/setting/theme I'm looking for in a book. Labors of the Heart is about a forty year old man, Clarence Softitch, who is 5'8" and weighs 482 pounds. The man works as a janitor at an elementary school at night. The protagonist of Labors of the Heart has an ordinary job, yet the short story Labors of the Heart was selected to be included in the anthology of the Best American Short Stories of 2001.

Softitch lives alone in an apartment, and he is a virgin. He foolishly tries to start a relationship with a slim, average looking woman, and she rejects him. The main character talcums his pants legs every day because his thighs rub together, chafing his thighs. Whenever I have been at my most overweight, I have gotten chaffed thighs because my thighs are so fat that they rub together. I don't think that a 40 year old 5'8", 482 pound man could walk around and be mobile enough to be a janitor. I think that Davis should have said the man was, say, 382 pounds, but I liked the story a lot nonetheless.

Here's a link to the story:

http://www.pshares.org/issues/article.cfm?prmArticleid=4827

 

[Astronuc]

I looked at some on-line novels, and although the protagonist was single, they all involved some kind of detective/spy/criminal element or fantasy fiction well outside the norm.

Now this is not a novel, but it is a story about a woman whe became 'single again', and she started an online forum for singles, but in the UK. Perhaps there's something similar in the US.

The Origins of Single Again
http://www.singleagain.co.uk/press/origins.cfm

Commentary on Singleton Britain
http://www.davidrowan.com/2005/02/times-singleton-britain.html

One could try - Press Play by Patti Gordon
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=17-9781590524879-0


It appears single women write or communicate a lot about being single, but men seem to be rather quiet/reserved about living singly.

Then again, there are a lot of books about being single but trying to find someone so that one is not single. There are lots of religious books about being single - until one finds someone else so as not be single - or one can have imaginary friends.


Actually I've known lots of singles, but mostly women, because they just haven't found the right guy.