More like Beatlebone
anchored on:literary & generalbritish islescontemporaryidentitylonelinessmusic+2 more
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- Concrete Island
J. G. Ballardstandalone novel1974
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitylonelinessbritish isles
Architect Robert Maitland crashes his car onto a stretch of wasteland trapped between three converging motorways -- visible from thousands of cars, reachable by none of them. Injured and unable to climb back to the road, Maitland adapts to life on what he starts calling the Island, scavenging food thrown from car windows, and discovers he isn't alone: a runaway sex worker hiding in a bunker, and a brain-damaged former circus acrobat, both long past expecting rescue. What begins as a survival story turns into a question of whether Maitland even wants to leave. A J. G. Ballard novel of urban isolation, grouped with Crash and High-Rise.
- Our Tragic Universe
Scarlett Thomasstandalone novel2010
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitylonelinessbritish isles
'I was reading about the end of the universe when I got a text message from my friend Libby . . .' If Kelsey Newman's theory about the end of time is true, we are all going to live forever. But for Meg – locked in a dead-end relationship and with a deadline long-gone for a book that she can't write – this thought fills her with dread. Meg is lost in a labyrinth of her own devising. But could there be an important connection between a wild beast living on Dartmoor, a ship in a bottle, the science of time, a knitting pattern for the shape of the universe and the Cottingley Fairies? Or is her life just one long chain of coincidences? Smart, entrancing and buzzing with big ideas, Our Tragic Universe is a book about how relationships are created and destroyed, and how a story might just save your life.
- The Unconsoled
Kazuo Ishigurostandalone novel1995
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitylonelinessmusicsurrealism
The Unconsoled is a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, first published in 1995 by Faber and Faber, and winner of the Cheltenham Prize that year.
- The Gum Thief
Douglas Couplandstandalone novel2007
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentityloneliness
The Gum Thief is Canadian author Douglas Coupland's twelfth novel. It was published on September 25, 2007 , by Random House Canada in Canada and Bloomsbury Publishing in the United States.
- Lost
Gregory Maguirestandalone novel2001
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
Lost is a 2001 novel by American author Gregory Maguire. Unlike many of Maguire's other adult novels, Lost is set in the real world. The novel's concept is that the protagonist is a distant relative of the man who inspired Charles Dickens' character of Ebenezer Scrooge.
- The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz
Russell Hobanstandalone novel1973
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz is a novel by American writer Russell Hoban published in 1973, and was his first book for adult readers. The novel is set in an unspecified location in the Middle East, and was written when Hoban lived in London, and was initially published by British publisher Jonathan Cape. Initially appearing to be written as a kind of fable, Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz are a father and son, both map-makers; the narrative then places both father and son in contemporary London.
- Observatory Mansions
Edward Careystandalone novel2000
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitylonelinessbritish isles
"Easily the most brilliant fiction I've seen this year -- it proves the potential brilliance of the novel form."-- John Fowles, author of The MagusObservatory Mansions, once the Orme family's magnificent ancestral home set on beautiful grounds, is now a crumbling apartment block stranded on a traffic island, peopled with eccentrics.Thirty-seven-year-old Francis Orme lives in Observatory Mansions with his peculiar parents and a collection of misfits. By day he is a street performer, earning money as "a statue of whiteness" in the park, wearing white gloves to ensure that his skin never touches anything. He steals items for his museum of significant objects (996 in all), not for their monetary value but because they have been loved, often bringing grief to their erstwhile owners. His bedridden mother, Alice, who has created for herself an alternative time frame called "fiction," and his father, Francis, are among the occupants set apart from the rest of the busy city by their histories, their memories, and their relationships with the other seven inhabitants of the flats.Each of the house dwellers has his or her own story, as seen through Francis's eyes, and the careful routine and harmony of the house are shaken when along comes a new resident, the half-blind, vulnerable Anna Tap. She is sympathetic and resourceful, and slowly the desperately lonely residents begin to open up their long-closed hearts. As the delicate balance of Observatory Mansions begins to shift, Francis finds himself having to protect the secrets of his past and the sanctity of his collection, while growing emotionally closer to Anna.Hailed as no less than a tour de force, Observatory Mansions is a debut novel of immense originality--a strangely haunting landscape occupied by compelling and unforgettable characters.From the Hardcover edition.
- Turtle Diary
Russell Hobanstandalone novel1975
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporarylonelinessbritish isles
Two lonely Londoners plan to release the captive turtles from the London Zoo.
- Life of Pi
Yann Martelstandalone novel2001
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentity
Life of Pi is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a shipwreck, he survives 227 days while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, raising questions about the nature of reality and how it is perceived and told.
- Heaven Eyes
David Almondstandalone novel2000
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
Heaven Eyes is a young adult novel by author David Almond. It was published in Great Britain by Hodder Children's Books in 2000 and by Delacorte Press in the United States in 2001. A paperback version was released in 2002 by Dell Laurel Leaf.
- Sacrament
Clive Barkerstandalone novel1995
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
Sacrament is a 1996 novel by British author Clive Barker. It follows a wildlife photographer who is obsessed with documenting species of animals that are faced with extinction. It is set in Yorkshire, England, San Francisco and Hudson Bay, Canada and explores how his obsession is connected to his upbringing in Yorkshire. The Author described it as "a story about how we become who we are and how we must deal with what we are by facing up to including the things that happened to us in childhood, good and bad. It's also about what's happening to our planet."
- Great Jones Street
Don DeLillostandalone novel1973
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitylonelinessmusic
Great Jones Street is Don DeLillo's third novel, and was published in 1973. It centers on rock star Bucky Wunderlick, who also narrates the novel. Running Dog magazine, a parody of Rolling Stone introduced in Great Jones Street, would later play a central role in DeLillo's 1978 novel of the same name.
- The Crow of Connemara
Stephen Leighstandalone novel2015
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitymusicbritish isles
Colin Doyle, a young Irish-American musician is drawn to the homeland from which his grandfather emigrated long ago...In the town of Ballemor, he first encounters the woman of his dreams, Maeve Gallagher.
- Speak
Louisa Hallstandalone novel2015
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentityloneliness
Speak is a 2015 novel by Louisa Hall. It is her second novel, after The Carriage House. The novel was well received. The novel was inspired by a story in the New York Times.
- Wolf in White Van
John Darniellestandalone novel2014
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentityloneliness
Wolf in White Van is the first novel by the American author and singer-songwriter John Darnielle. Wolf in White Van tells the story of Sean Phillips, a reclusive game designer whose face has been severely disfigured. One reviewer characterizes Sean as someone "steeped in video games, bad sci-fi movies, and Conan the Barbarian comic books". The plot, which is told non-chronologically, alternates among Sean's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood to describe the circumstances surrounding the incident that disfigured him. A fictional play-by-mail role-playing game called Trace Italian figures prominently in the novel.
- Ghostwritten
David Mitchellstandalone novel1999
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporary+3 more
Various individuals around the globe cross paths, while the complexities of modern societies lead to human civilization's inevitable end.
- Freddie Montgomery
series1 book1989
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
- Briefing for a Descent Into Hell
Doris Lessingstandalone novel1971
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentity+1 more
Briefing for a Descent into Hell is a 1971 psychological novel by British novelist Doris Lessing. It was shortlisted for that the 1971 Booker Prize.
- The Opposite House
Helen Oyeyemistandalone novel2007
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
The Opposite House is a novel by British author Helen Oyeyemi first published by Bloomsbury Press in 2007.
- The Robber Bride
Margaret Atwoodstandalone novel1993
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentity
The Robber Bride is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1993.
- Wittgenstein's Mistress
David Marksonstandalone novel1988
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentityloneliness
Wittgenstein's Mistress is a 1988 experimental novel written by David Markson. A highly stylized work in the tradition of Samuel Beckett, the novel is mainly a series of statements made in the first person. The protagonist is a woman named Kate who believes herself to be the last human on earth; though her statements shift quickly from topic to topic, the topics often recur, and often refer to Western cultural icons, ranging from Zeno to Beethoven to Willem de Kooning. Readers familiar with Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus will recognize stylistic similarities to that work.
- The Post-Birthday World
Lionel Shriverstandalone novel2007
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
The Post-Birthday World is a novel by Lionel Shriver published in 2007, four years after her previous novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin.
- The Magicians
J. B. Priestleystandalone novel1954
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
The Magicians is a short novel by J. B. Priestley, first published in 1954. An example of Priestley's perennial concern with the true nature of time, the story uses fantasy elements to discuss the midlife crisis of a successful industrialist, briefly touching on social problems and mass psychology.
- London Calling
Edward Bloorstandalone novel2006
similar byreflectiveliterary & generalcontemporaryidentitybritish isles
London Calling (2006) is a young adult novel by Edward Bloor.
