I'm looking to get back into reading more and I've always been drawn to stories (books, tv, movies, comics, narrative games) that leave me in a bittersweet emotional state or even feeling a little bit of a hollow wreck when it's over. I don't want a happy ending but I also don't want sorrow for the sake of sadness. A smile with a sacrifice of some kind.
Some examples of themes
– The protagonist wins but at a high cost
– A love interest can't be with the character for reasons even though they should be together
– Missed connections that don't resolve
– A goal is chased but isn't worth it in the end
– the protagonist gives up something meaningful for the good of others.
Preferences:
I've only been reading fantasy works for the past few years and kind of stopped reading novels around 2010.
I have a soft spot for American slice of life in the mid to late 00s but anything set in a non descript modernish time period works.
Definitely open to romantic themes but don't want to read a "romance" novel
Also open to some fantasy themes but not really wanting a fantasy book. (One of my favorite narrative experiences right now is the game Dispatch)
Some of the stuff I was reading before:
- I read most of the books by Chuck Palahniuk
- Shopgirl – Steve Martin
- King Dork – Frank Portman
- A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
- The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
- Rice – Su Tong
- High Fidelity – Nick Hornby
- Oil! – Upton Sinclair
Help me find something to read!
by look_poor
5 Comments
The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers.
Take a look into *Stoner* by John Williams
From Wikipedia: One of the central themes in the novel is the manifestation of passion. Stoner’s passions manifest themselves into failures, as proven by the bleak end of his life. Stoner has two primary passions: knowledge and love. According to Morris Dickstein, “he fails at both.”
I suggest *The Romantic* and *Blue Afternoon,* both by William Boyd. He is very adept at building the sort of bittersweet swing-and-a-miss narratives you describe.
Rainbow in the Dark by Sean McGinty. It’s bittersweet but also so much more.
UK – but I think you’d probably enjoy *Mayflies* by Andrew O’Hagan.