Lonely, melancholic, and introspective books.

looking for a book that feels lonely and melancholic in a soft, quiet, gentle way. introspective, not really looking for a plot, but light plot is welcome too. But mostly looking for…. just living life….

I'd like something with themes of loneliness, isolation, living a simple and objectively fulfilling life, but something's missing maybe.

Themes of grief and/or failure are welcome too.

Open to Adult coming of age ? But in a gentle, soft, sad way even ?

I don't particularly enjoy romance. deep yearning is welcome but I don't want romance to be the plot, if that makes sense.

Not looking for anything fantasy/magical realism either. I'd like it to be as realistic/mundane woes of life as possible.

The books that I've read that somewhat kinda maybe fit this vibe are:
– Schoolgirl (Dazai)
– By grand central station (Elizabeth Smart)
– Panenka (Ronan Hession)
– Heaven (Meiko Kawakami)
– Stoner (John Williams)
– No longer human (Dazai)
– All the lovers in the night (Meiko Kawakami)
– Bluets (Maggie Nelson)
– Agua Viva (Clarice Lispector)
– The hour of the star (Clarice Lispector)
– Anything by Clarice Lispector
– Last words from Montmartre (Qiu Miaojin)
– Giovanni's room (James Baldwin)
– Tennis lessons (Susannah Dickey)
– Book of Disquiet (Fernando Pessoa)
– Never let me go (Kazuo Ishiguro)
– White nights (Dostoevsky) (or any other book by him)
– Twenty fragments of ravenous youth (Xiaolu Guo)
– Nausea (Jean-Paul Satre) (or anything by him)
– Anything by Camus
– Approaching eye level (Vivian Gornick)
– The waves (Virginia Woolf)
– A little life (Hanya Yanagihara)
– Good Morning midnight (Jean Rhys)
– Territory of light (Yukio Tsushima)
– Mild Vertigo (Mieko Kanai)

Okay this is kinda long but I'm hoping this kinda shows what I gravitate towards ?

The books that hit the closest to what I am after & that I also really enjoyed are
– Stoner
– All the lovers in the night
– Last words from montmartre
– Tennis lessons
– Book of disquiet
– White nights
– The waves
– A little life

Not sure if people will recommend Sally rooney's works but they are already on my TBR ! the romance in Normal people is putting me off atm cuz I just don't feel like that rn. Intermezzo is compelling too. Beautiful world where are you sounds good (but the romance also is not my vibe rn). Basically I like the "realistic people living realistic lives" idea of her works but without the romance aspects.

I'm not looking for a book thats just SAD, but something a lot more muted, if that makes sense.

Okay I'm sorry that this was a lot longer than I was intending and I apologise for being SO picky but I feel like I'm burning through my options for "sad slow melancholic books" and still havent really found THE perfect one.

If you read this far & have a suggestion I haven't already read, I'm begging you to let me know !

Thanks everyone <3