3 Fictional Books on Loneliness and Isolation That Will Make You Feel Seen
Loneliness is everywhere. You may have heard it being described as an epidemic. Feelings of loneliness can be crushing and agonising. I have struggled with loneliness for several years and I find that reading about characters, albeit fictional characters, that are facing similar struggles for whatever reason can be comforting.
You might feel like your pain is unprecedented in the history of the world; however, I find that reading books with relatable characters makes me feel less alone and at the very least, seen.
The three books in this list follow characters struggling with feelings of loneliness that stem from a variety of reasons including abuse, societal expectations and mental health challenges. Although their stories are painful to read about, I love them for making feel connected to the characters. It definitely made me feel seen.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant is a 29-year-old woman that lives a very regimented and lonely life. She wears the same clothes, she eats the same meal deal for lunch and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink alone every weekend. You do feel sorry for Eleanor, but you may also feel a slight resentment towards her because she’s quite difficult and comes across as a snob.
At the surface, it appears as though all is well with Eleanor. She wants you to believe that she is completely fine being alone and that she doesn’t need anyone. However, the reader gets hints that there was some childhood trauma that she hasn’t dealt with at all and that’s why she is the way she is.
In a nutshell, the book is an Eleanor inner monologue and follows the unravelling of her mental state.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The character building was incredible and well thought out. The writing was vivid and captivating. It was very easy to imagine Eleanor’s life. The book has a perfect balance of sad and funny moments. Eleanor is one of those characters that will stay with you.
“There have been times when I felt that I might die of loneliness. People sometimes say they might die of boredom, that they’re dying for a cup of tea, but for me dying of loneliness is not hyperbole.”
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar is often described as a semi-autobiographical novel due to its parallels with Plath’s own life experiences. Set in 1953, the novel tells the story of Esther Greenwood’s descent into depression.
The novel begins as Esther starts a month-long placement at a fashion magazine in New York. She is supposed to be having the time of her life, but she finds that she isn’t excited by the big city and the glamorous lifestyle that girls her age are supposed to idolise.
After the internship, her mental health continues to deteriorate as she struggles to decide on what to do with her life after school. She feels crippled by the constraints society places on women and the feeling that she does not fit the culturally accepted mould of womanhood.
Esther details her suicide attempts and her time in several psychiatric hospitals. She describes her depression as being trapped in a bell jar, unable to breathe and unable to get out of her own head. The book ended hopefully; however, Plath didn’t seem to find that hope in real life as she committed suicide a month after the novel was first published in 1963. Known more for her poetry, The Bell Jar was Plath’s only novel.
Although The Bell Jar focuses on some pretty difficult subjects with painful descriptions of mental illness it was not a terrifically “sad” book. The book shows immense pain, but it is also a story of recovery and hope.
In fact, there was quite a bit of witty humour throughout the story that I really enjoyed. The story was told using a series of flashbacks to help the reader learn about Esther’s early years, but it was still well structured, easy to follow, and captivating.
“I tried to imagine what it would be like if Constantin were my husband. It would mean getting up at seven and cooking eggs and bacon and toast and coffee and dawdling about in my nightgown and curlers after he’d left for work to wash up the dirty plates and make the bed, and then when he came home after a lively, fascinating day he’d expect a big dinner, and I’d spend the evening washing up even more dirty plates till I fell into bed utterly exhausted. This seems a dreary and wasted life for a girl with fifteen years of street A’s”.
No Longer Human (Confessions of a Faulty Man) by Osama Dazai (Translated by Donald Keene)
No Longer Human is the content of three notebooks left behind by a young man called Oba Yozo. It chronicles the life of Oba Yozo from his early childhood to his late twenties.
In these books, Oba Yozo describes in-depth his fear of human beings and complete inability to understand humans especially women. In his attempt to fit in and cloud the gloominess that is his true nature, he takes on the persona of being the funny one and the clown from an early age. But the intense alienation and otherness coupled with alcoholism eventually led to a suicide attempt as an adult. In the book, you read his thought processes, observations of the oddities of humans and fleeting moments of human connection.
Filled with angst, tragedy, despair and self-loathing, No Longer Human provides a deep exploration of alienation.
“How often as I laid there, I used to think what uninspired decoration sheets and pillowcases make. It wasn’t until I was about 20 that I realised they actually serve a practical purpose and this revelation of human dullness stirred dark depression in me.”
Although reading is a solitary activity, it can relieve feelings of loneliness. Even if it’s only for a short moment, I’m very grateful for those moments.
