Hello everyone, i've been trying to find books about fictional disfigured characters for my thesis (the interpersonal stakes of characters with mutilated/disfigured faces). The recs i've seen so far were mostly about comic characters, or stories where the character doesn't get affected by their appearance in any way. I added The Face of Another by Kobo Abe, A Song of Ice and Fire by Georges R.R Martin and Hunchback from Notre-Dame to my list for now, bit i' would love to hear about other recommendations. My work only concerns fictional characters, because i want to write about why the author deliberately chose to make their character this way. Sorry if this is too vague, this is my first time writing a post, any literature book or essays / articles are welcome. Thank you 🙂 !
by ForeverBroad6949
9 Comments
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Mishima.
Is *The Phantom of the Opera* on your list yet? If it isn’t, it should be!
Another character that comes to mind is Man in Viet Thanh Nguyen’s *The Sympathizer* and *The Committed*.
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh follows a disabled/disfigured boy as a lead character in a medieval setting.
I found the author’s portrayal of how disfigured people are treated in a medieval society to be an interesting one, because rather than going down the standard route of “dumb medieval peasants think disabled people are cursed” she instead went for “dumb medieval peasants think suffering is holy, so disabled people are lucky because they get to suffer more”
I will say, the book is a bit dark/disturbing so it may be a good idea to look up trigger warnings in advance.
the first law trilogy. glokta is the character
Miles from Vorkosigan Saga is more noticeable for the odd shape of his body than his face, but living in a society that hates and fears any sign of mutation is a recurring theme in the series.
Is a children’s book ok? I remember Wonder being really good
Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo
The protagonist of Phillip Reeve’s *Mortal Engines* YA series has a disfigured face. Hester, her name is.
Are you specifically looking for facial disfiguration, or are you open to other types of injuries or disfigurements?