Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Anguish
Wintergirls
by Laurie Halse Anderson
A teenage girl struggles with anorexia and the lingering trauma of her best friend's death.
Lia Overbrook, an 18-year-old girl, just found out that her ex-best friend Cassie has died. Cassie had called Lia 33 times the night of her death. However, Lia never answered the phone. Cassie was ... (Wikipedia)
The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone
by Sophocles
Ancient tragedy of a family's fall from grace due to a fateful prophecy.
English versions of Sophocles’ three great tragedies based on the myth of Oedipus, translated for a modern audience by two gifted poets. Index. ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides
by Aeschylus
Tragedy of a cursed family and their struggle to find the truth and justice.
Alternate cover edition can be found, here,, here,, here,, here, In the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder ... (Goodreads)
War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
Epic tale of war, peace, and love, focusing on the lives of five aristocratic families.
The novel begins in July 1805 in Saint Petersburg , at a soirée given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer—the maid of honour and confidante to the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna . Many of the main characters ... (Wikipedia)
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
A soldier's harrowing experience of the horrors of war.
The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I . The patriotic speeches of his teacher Kantorek had led the whole class to ... (Wikipedia)
Regeneration
by Pat Barker
Story of WWI soldiers & their experiences of trauma, set amidst the backdrop of a psychiatric hospital.
The novel begins as Dr W. H. R. Rivers , an army psychiatrist at Craiglockhart War Hospital , learns of poet Siegfried Sassoon 's declaration against the continuation of the war. A government board ... (Wikipedia)
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by Erik Larson
Story of the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and one man's desperate struggle to save his city.
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange ... (Goodreads)
The Great Swindle
by Pierre Lemaitre
Two former WWI soldiers attempt to survive in the Paris of the Roaring Twenties.
Rescapés du chaos de la Grande Guerre, Albert et Edouard comprennent rapidement que le pays ne veut plus d'eux. Malheur aux vainqueurs ! La France glorifie ses morts et oublie les survivants. Albert, ... (Goodreads)
The Ghost Road
by Pat Barker
A soldier’s journey to face the horrors of World War I, and his attempt to come to terms with his past.
Prior, despite his new-found peace of mind and engagement to munitions worker Sarah, has been affected by the war and therefore does not have a lot of concern for his safety. Prior has been cured of ... (Wikipedia)
Half of a Yellow Sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Story of two sisters navigating a civil war in Nigeria, and the effects of colonialism.
The novel takes place in Nigeria prior to and during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70). The effect of the war is shown through the relationships of five people's lives including the twin daughters of ... (Wikipedia)
The Tunnel
by Ernesto Sabato
A man's descent into madness, as his past unravels and his present is slowly consumed by it.
The story begins with the main character introducing himself as "the painter who killed María Iribarne" before delving into the circumstances that led to their first encounter. Castel's obsession ... (Wikipedia)
A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
A young boy's journey of self-discovery, coming to terms with his mother's terminal illness.
Thirteen-year-old Conor O'Malley awakens from the same nightmare he has been experiencing for the past few months, "the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming". At seven minutes after ... (Wikipedia)
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Tragic tale of a man's inescapable destiny and the consequences of his actions.
Oedipus, King of Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to ask advice of the oracle at Delphi , concerning a plague ravaging Thebes. Creon returns to report that the plague is the result of ... (Wikipedia)
Howl and Other Poems
by Allen Ginsberg
A collection of poems exploring themes of individualism and modern culture.
As I Lay Dying
by William Faulkner
A family's struggle to fulfill the dying wish of their mother, amidst personal and societal challenges.
The book is narrated by 15 different characters over 59 chapters. It is the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her poor, rural family's quest and motivations—noble or selfish—to honor her wish ... (Wikipedia)
The Sympathizer
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Vietnam War refugee returns to his homeland and struggles to reconcile conflicting loyalties.
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be ... (Goodreads)
Les Fleurs du Mal
by Charles Baudelaire
Collection of poems exploring the beauty and depravity of human nature.
Charles Baudelaire's 1857 masterwork was scandalous in its day for its portrayals of sex, same-sex love, death, the corrupting and oppressive power of the modern city and lost innocence, Les Fleurs ... (Goodreads)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
A riveting exploration of the power of medical science and its implications for medical ethics.
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her enslaved ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her ... (Goodreads)
Requiem for a Dream
by Hubert Selby Jr.
A tale of four characters and their struggles with addiction, leading to a devastating climax.
This story follows the lives of Sara Goldfarb, her son Harry, his girlfriend Marion Silver, and his best friend Tyrone C. Love, who are all searching for the key to their dreams in their own ways. In ... (Wikipedia)
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)
The Waste Land
by T.S. Eliot
A modernist poem exploring the social and psychological fragmentation of modern society.
The Waste Land, first published in 1922, is often regarded as T.S. Eliot's masterpiece, as well as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. The ... (Goodreads)
The Thing Around Your Neck
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Collection of stories about the struggles and triumphs of Nigerian immigrants in America.
Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply ... (Goodreads)
The Children of Húrin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Epic tale of tragedy and tragedy, of a father's sins passed down to his children.
This tale of Middle-earth's First Age, which appeared in incomplete forms in the posthumously published, The Silmarillion, and, Unfinished Tales, , also edited by Tolkien's son, Christopher, only ... (Goodreads)
A History of Loneliness
by John Boyne
Uncovering the truth about Ireland's past, exploring the lasting effects of abuse.
Propelled into the priesthood by a family tragedy, Odran Yates is full of hope and ambition. When he arrives at Clonliffe Seminary in the 1970s, it is a time in Ireland when priests are highly ... (Goodreads)
The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver
A family's journey in the Congo, exploring the intersection of faith, colonialism, and identity.
Orleanna Price, the mother of the family, narrates the introductory chapter in five of the novel's seven sections. The narrative then alternates among the four daughters, with a slight preference for ... (Wikipedia)
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
Family torn apart is reunited across generations, revealing a powerful tale of resilience and hope.
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the ... (Goodreads)
The Tortilla Curtain
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
A story of two families, one affluent and one struggling, and their intersecting paths.
Cándido Rincón (33) and América (his pregnant common law wife , 17) are two Mexicans who enter the United States illegally, dreaming of a good life in their own little house somewhere in California. ... (Wikipedia)
Antigone; Oedipus the King; Electra
by Sophocles
Tragedy of family strife and the consequences of prideful actions.
This volume contains three masterpieces by the Greek playwright Sophocles, widely regarded since antiquity as the greatest of all the tragic poets. The vivid translations, which combine elegance and ... (Goodreads)
Ordinary Grace
by William Kent Krueger
A Midwestern family's journey of grief and healing, grappling with tragedy and the power of grace.
“That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.” New Bremen, ... (Goodreads)
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
A survivor of the Holocaust is confronted with a devastating moral dilemma.
Stingo, a novelist who is recalling the summer when he began his first novel, has been fired from his low-level reader's job at the publisher McGraw-Hill and has moved into a cheap boarding house in ... (Wikipedia)
A Fine Balance
by Rohinton Mistry
A gripping story of four unlikely lives intertwined in the tumult of India's caste system.
The book exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency called by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . Mistry was generally critical of Indira Gandhi in the book. ... (Wikipedia)
Doubt, a Parable
by John Patrick Shanley
A priest's moral dilemma as he faces accusations of inappropriate behavior.
The play is set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School, in the Bronx , during the fall of 1964. It opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, a beloved and progressive parish priest, addressing the ... (Wikipedia)
Demons
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A fictional exploration of the human condition, examining the darker sides of our nature.
The novel is in three parts. There are two epigraphs, the first from Pushkin's poem "Demons" and the second from Luke 8:32–36. After an almost illustrious but prematurely curtailed academic career ... (Wikipedia)
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?
by Roz Chast
A graphic memoir about a daughter's relationship with her aging parents.
The book's storyline, spanning an eight-year period from 2001 to 2009, concerns Roz Chast's parents living in Brooklyn . The book describes various interactions between Chast and her parents. Chast, ... (Wikipedia)
Huis clos: suivi de Les Mouches
by Jean-Paul Sartre
An exploration of the moral implications of choice, the ultimate freedom of human beings.
Three damned souls, Joseph Garcin, Inèz Serrano, and Estelle Rigault, are brought to the same room in Hell and locked inside by a mysterious valet. They had all expected torture devices to punish ... (Wikipedia)
A Perfect Spy
by John le Carré
A British spy's complex exploration of identity, loyalty and betrayal.
John le Carre's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge, and have earned him unprecedented worldwide ... (Goodreads)
We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Lionel Shriver
A mother's struggle to come to terms with the monstrous acts of her disturbed son.
In the wake of a school massacre conducted by Kevin Khatchadourian, the 15-year-old son of Franklin Plaskett and Eva Khatchadourian, Eva begins writing letters to Franklin in November 2000. She ... (Wikipedia)
Shoot the Moon
by Billie Letts
An exploration of family dynamics when a husband and wife are forced to confront their issues.
From one of America's best-loved storytellers - the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller WHERE THE HEART IS - comes a tale of a small Oklahoma town and the mystery that has haunted its ... (Goodreads)
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
A spiritual exploration of death, exploring the afterlife through the eyes of President Lincoln.
In his long-awaited first novel, American master George Saunders delivers his most original, transcendent, and moving work yet. Unfolding in a graveyard over the course of a single night, narrated by ... (Goodreads)
The Woman in the Dunes
by Kōbō Abe
A man finds himself stuck in a remote village, struggling to escape a mysterious sand pit.
In 1955, , Jumpei Niki, , a schoolteacher from Tokyo, visits a fishing village to collect insects. After missing the last bus, he is led by the villagers, in an act of apparent hospitality, to a ... (Wikipedia)
A Horse Walks into a Bar
by David Grossman
A stand-up comedian's harrowing story of trauma, told over the course of one explosive performance.
A Horse Walks into a Bar is narrated by a retired district court judge, Avishai Lazar, who is invited out of the blue by a local comedian to attend his show, a stand-up routine in a bar in the ... (Wikipedia)
Passing
by Nella Larsen
A story of a woman caught in a racial dilemma, struggling to define her own identity.
The story is written as a third person narrative from the perspective of Irene Redfield, a black woman with a European or near-European appearance, who lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York ... (Wikipedia)
Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
A murder trial in a small, coastal town reveals secrets of the past and its inhabitants.
Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954, the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American ... (Wikipedia)
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
by Mark Dunn
A story told through letters of a society that forbids certain letters of their language, unraveling their oppressive regime.
The plot is conveyed through mail or notes sent between various characters. The book is "progressively lipogrammatic"—as the story proceeds, more and more letters of the alphabet are excluded from ... (Wikipedia)
America's First Daughter
by Stephanie Dray
The life of Thomas Jefferson's beloved daughter, and her struggle between duty and freedom.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the ... (Barnes & Noble)
Citizen: An American Lyric
by Claudia Rankine
Poetic exploration of racial injustice, highlighting the everyday experiences of racism.
A provocative meditation on race, Claudia Rankine's long-awaited follow up to her groundbreaking book Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric. Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting ... (Goodreads)
The Amber Spyglass
by Philip Pullman
A powerful journey through multiple realms of existence to save the world from destruction.
Having learned of the prophecy regarding Lyra, the Magisterium decides she must be killed to prevent a new fall. Lyra's mother, Mrs Coulter , hides her in a remote cave. In her drugged sleep, Lyra ... (Wikipedia)
Four Great Tragedies: Hamlet / Othello / King Lear / Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
Exploration of human nature and the consequences of ambition, delusion, and revenge.
The greatest tragic plays of William Shakespeare–including, Hamlet,, Othello,, King Lear, and, Macbeth,. What is tragedy? The Elizabethans defined it as a "lofty" play showing "personages of great ... (Goodreads)
Ghosts
by Henrik Ibsen
A family's struggle to face the consequences of their past and present.
Helen Alving is about to dedicate an orphanage she has built in memory of her late husband. Despite his affairs, Mrs. Alving stayed with him to protect her son from the taint of scandal and for fear ... (Wikipedia)
Mother Night
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A tale of moral ambiguity, exploring the consequences of deception and the power of words.
“Vonnegut is George Orwell, Dr. Caligari and Flash Gordon compounded into one writer . . . a zany but moral mad scientist.”—,Time,, Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American ... (Barnes & Noble)
Maybe in Another Life
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A woman's journey of self-discovery, exploring the alternate paths her life could have taken.
From the acclaimed author of Forever, Interrupted and After I Do comes a breathtaking new novel about a young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame; in ... (Goodreads)
Journey to the End of the Night
by Louis-Ferdinand Céline
A darkly comic, nihilistic journey of self-discovery, following a man into the heart of an absurd world.
Céline’s masterpiece—colloquial, polemic, hyper-realistic, boiling over with black humor Céline’s masterpiece—colloquial, polemic, hyper realistic—boils over with bitter humor and revulsion at ... (Barnes & Noble)
Anil's Ghost
by Michael Ondaatje
A forensic pathologist's journey to uncover the hidden truth behind a mysterious death.
The story opens up in early March as Anil arrives in Sri Lanka after a 15-year absence abroad. Her visit comes as a result of the increasing number of deaths in Sri Lanka from all the warring sides ... (Wikipedia)
Hunger
by Knut Hamsun
The story of a man's battle against poverty and his descent into near-madness.
The novel's first-person protagonist, an unnamed vagrant with intellectual leanings, probably in his late twenties, wanders the streets of Norway's capital, Kristiania ( Oslo ), in pursuit of ... (Wikipedia)
The Insulted and Humiliated
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A story of revenge, focusing on morality and redemption.
Natasha leaves her parents' home and runs away with Alyosha (prince Alexey) – the son of Prince Valkovsky. As a result of his pain, her father, Nikolai, curses her. The only friend that remains by ... (Wikipedia)
Perfect Match
by Jodi Picoult
A young woman's struggle to reconcile her religious beliefs with her own moral convictions.
The story begins with a prologue, in which an unnamed female character enters a courtroom and inexplicably shoots and kills the defendant after shooting him four times as he approaches his defense ... (Wikipedia)
Zoo Station: The Story of Christiane F.
by Christiane Vera Felscherinow
An autobiographical account of a teenage girl's battle with addiction, amidst a chaotic and turbulent life.
13-year-old Christiane Felscherinow lives with her mother, younger sister, and her pet cat in their small apartment in an unkempt multi-storey, concrete social-housing building in a dull ... (Wikipedia)
The Tenth Circle
by Jodi Picoult
A father's struggle to protect his daughter from danger in a story of love, loss, and redemption.
When freshman Trixie Stone accuses her ex-boyfriend, Jason Underhill, of raping her at a party, students and townspeople, alike, are quick to take Jason's side when he claims that their intercourse ... (Wikipedia)
The Bonfire of the Vanities
by Tom Wolfe
An ambitious Wall Street banker's moral downfall in New York City.
The story centers on Sherman McCoy, a successful New York City bond trader . His $3 million Park Avenue co-op , combined with his aristocratic wife's extravagances and other expenses required to keep ... (Wikipedia)
Pride of Baghdad
by Brian K. Vaughan
A lion family's struggle for survival in the chaos of war-torn Baghdad.
The story revolves around the brief freedom experienced by a small pride of captive lions, who escape from Baghdad Zoo during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad by the U.S.-led coalition. As the lions roam ... (Wikipedia)
Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
A collection of stories that explore themes of race, faith, and morality in the South.
Flannery O'Connor was working on Everything That Rises Must Converge at the time of her death. This collection is an exquisite legacy from a genius of the American short story, in which she ... (Goodreads)
From Sand and Ash
by Amy Harmon
A forbidden love story set in the backdrop of WWII Italy.
Italy, 1943—Germany occupies much of the country, placing the Jewish population in grave danger during World War II., As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided ... (Barnes & Noble)
Dom Casmurro
by Machado de Assis
A man's descent into paranoia and suspicion after his wife's suspected infidelity.
Dom Casmurro é a alcunha de Bento Santiago, que, velho e só, desvela as suas memórias. Uma promessa da mãe, traça-lhe o destino como padre, mas Bento Santiago apaixonado, abandona o seminário. Estuda ... (Goodreads)
American Rust
by Philipp Meyer
The poverty stricken town of Buell and its inhabitants struggle to survive in a post-industrial America.
Isaac English : Nineteen year-old protagonist of American Rust. A recent high school graduate, who, despite his academic potential, does not attend college and has little hope for leaving his ... (Wikipedia)
Paradise
by Judith McNaught
A passionate, whirlwind romance between two star-crossed lovers against the backdrop of a turbulent world.
Corporate raider Matthew Farrell had come a long way from the poor, scruffy kid of Indiana's steel mills. A long way from the country club where, feeling like an outsider, he had dared to fall in ... (Goodreads)
Ordinary People
by Judith Guest
A family struggles to heal following a devastating tragedy.
The novel begins as life is seemingly returning to normal for the Jarretts of Lake Forest, Illinois , in September 1975. It is slightly more than a year since their elder son Buck was killed when a ... (Wikipedia)
The Illustrated Mum
by Jacqueline Wilson
A young girl's plight to navigate the difficult relationships between her mother and siblings.
Dolphin and her older sister, Star, live with their mother, Marigold, in a small London flat. Marigold, an avid lover of tattoos, suffers from bipolar disorder and also has a drinking problem. ... (Wikipedia)
House of Sand and Fog
by Andre Dubus III
A struggle between a displaced family and an ambitious sheriff, wrestling with questions of truth and justice.
The novel begins by introducing Massoud Behrani, a former Iranian air force colonel who fled from Iran after the Iranian Revolution . Because his background is military rather than professional, he ... (Wikipedia)
No Exit and Three Other Plays
by Jean-Paul Sartre
Exploration of the human condition, from the depths of despair to the heights of redemption.
In these four plays, Jean-Paul Sartre, the great existentialist novelist and philosopher, displays his mastery of drama. NO EXIT is an unforgettable portrayal of hell. THE FLIES is a modern reworking ... (Goodreads)
8 أعمال دوستويفسكي الأدبية: الجريمة والعقاب 1 ـ المجلد
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
An exploration of morality, justice, and redemption through a series of crime and punishment stories.
إنه دوستويفسكي, الروائي العظيم الفريد من نوعه الذي أثر فينا ثأثيراً كبيراً, بحيث جعل من نفسه شريكاً لنا في تصرفاتنا وأفعالنا السيئة منها قبل الحسنة. لم يكن دستويفسكي عالماً نفسياً, لكنه تمكن من الغوص ... (Goodreads)
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
by Albert Camus
Philosophical essays on the absurd human condition, questioning the value of life.
One of the most influential works of this century, this is a crucial exposition of existentialist thought. Influenced by works such as Don Juan, and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a ... (Goodreads)
Train to Pakistan
by Khushwant Singh
Peasant villagers in India during partition, forced to confront the brutality of sectarian violence.
“In the summer of 1947, when the creation of the state of Pakistan was formally announced, ten million people—Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs—were in flight. By the time the monsoon broke, almost a ... (Goodreads)
Incendiary
by Chris Cleave
A mother's quest for justice after her family is tragically taken from her.
A young mother's life is blown apart when her husband and four-year-old son are killed during a bombing at a football match. Following this, the young mother falls into a depression. While the young ... (Wikipedia)
On the Heights of Despair
by Emil M. Cioran
A philosophical exploration of the human condition, despair, and the meaninglessness of existence.
Born of a terrible insomnia—"a dizzying lucidity which would turn even paradise into hell"—this book presents the youthful Emil Cioran, a self-described "Nietzsche still complete with his ... (Goodreads)
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing
by Eimear McBride
A young woman's inner journey through trauma and emotional turmoil.
Eimear McBride's debut tells, with astonishing insight and in brutal detail, the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. Not so ... (Goodreads)
Nervous Conditions
by Tsitsi Dangarembga
A young girl's struggles to create her own identity amidst the oppressive colonial structures of her society.
Tambu is the main character of the novel. The novel opens up with the news that Tambu’s older brother, Nhamo, had just died. Tambu is not upset about this because Nhamo studied at a missionary school ... (Wikipedia)
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