I love books like this. It’s a bit hard to explain but I think Crank is a great example. Most people would think they would never do meth but this book shows you how it’s possible. Yellowface was another one where the character does some awful and unjustifiable but you follow along this unraveling that explains the thinking. It’s almost like a peek into someone’s mind and reasoning when they’re doing something you couldn’t imagine doing or thinking. My Year of Rest and Relaxation was a bit like this but a little milder in terms of what the character does. Still gave a glimpse into the thinking of someone doing something unusual like trying to sleep for a year. I didn’t care for a Death of a Book Seller (the writing anyway) but did love how getting to read the thinking of this person who goes off the rails.
Thank you!
by Altruistic-Ocelot-61
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Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey might fit this. It is about an estranged youngest son of an Oregon logging family who grew up with his mother on the east coast returning to his hometown after college. Much of the conflict is misunderstandings between all of the characters, but the omniscient narrator delves into the motivations for each character’s actions and feelings. Which I found incredible and brilliantly written, as you see the main character reacting to his eldest brother’s behavior as if it is deliberately hostile, and then later you learn from the eldest brother’s thoughts that he genuinely wanted to bond with and teach his younger brother and thought he was being nice to him. The whole book is built on these kinds of misinterpretations and misunderstandings of various actions, but the omniscient narration lets you see all the sides of the misunderstandings. It’s also just generally so well written, and the descriptions of the landscape of the Pacific Northwest are incredibly accurate.
Sorry, that was a long ramble, but it’s a book I truly love, and when I first read it, it shot straight into my top 5 favorite novels and has remained there ever since.
Eileen, by Ottessa Moshfegh