Books matching: unfulfilled desires
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- #1
Save:Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton tells the tragic tale of Ethan Frome, a farmer living in Starkfield, Massachusetts, who struggles with his unproductive farm and his difficult wife, Zeena. When Zeena's cousin, Mattie, comes to live with them, Ethan becomes obsessed with her, leading to a heartbreaking story of unconsummated love and the struggle between passion and duty.
The novella is set in a bleak New England environment, with evocative descriptions of the winter landscapes adding to the melancholy tone of the story. Through Wharton's powerful characterizations and descriptive prowess, the narrative explores themes of poverty, unfulfilled desires, and the consequences of forbidden love, culminating in a tragic and haunting denouement.
THE VILLAGE lay under two feet of snow, with drifts at the windy corners. In a sky of iron the points of the Dipper hung like icicles and Orion flashed his cold fires. The moon had set, but the night ... - #2
Save:'The Folding Star' by Alan Hollinghurst is a novel that follows the story of Edward Manners, a 33-year-old Englishman working as a tutor in a Flemish city. The book delves into Edward's infatuation with his 17-year-old student, Luc, as well as his interactions with other characters like Marcel and Cherif. The writing style is described as powerful, with rich descriptions and a focus on themes of beauty, mystery, and the complexities of desire and reality. The narrative weaves together past and present, exploring themes of unfulfilled desire and longing for love in a beautifully atmospheric setting reminiscent of Bruges.
A man was waiting already on the narrow island of the tram-stop, and I asked him falteringly about the routes. He explained politely, in detail, as if it were quite an interest of his; but I didn’t ta... - #3
Save:'Bee Season' by Myla Goldberg is a poignant story that delves into the complexities of family dynamics and individual struggles. The narrative follows young Eliza Naumann as she discovers her talent for spelling, leading her on a journey through the competitive world of spelling bees. Set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional family, the book explores themes of ambition, religion, mental illness, and the quest for self-identity. The writing style weaves together intricate character relationships and explores the depths of human emotions, creating a compelling and thought-provoking read.
The story captures the challenges faced by each family member as they navigate their own personal quests for meaning and fulfillment. From Eliza's unexpected rise to spelling success to her father's immersion in Jewish mysticism, and her brother's exploration of religion, the characters grapple with their desires and insecurities. As the plot unfolds, the family's struggles and conflicts intertwine, leading to a climactic revelation that tests their bonds and forces them to confront their innermost selves.
Three years before Eliza's first brush with competitive spelling, she is a second-grader in Ms. Lodowski's class, a room that is baby animal poster-free. Eliza's school universe is still an unvariegat... - #4
Save:In 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' by Tennessee Williams, a Southern family gathers to celebrate patriarch Big Daddy's birthday, unveiling a web of secrets, deception, and tension among its members. The play delves into themes of broken relationships, loneliness, infidelity, greed, and family drama, with a focus on the complex dynamics between characters. The writing style is described as raw, compelling, and dark, capturing the emotional turmoil and conflicts within the family over the course of a single day.
It is sad and embarrassing and unattractive that those emotions that stir him deeply enough to demand expression, and to charge their expression with some measure of light and power, are nearly all ro... - #5
Save:Etsuko, a widowed and cheated on middle aged woman, has had her desire frustrated by circumstances throughout her life. Mishima charts her attempts to negotiate an actual unfulfilling love and an imagined seemingly unobtainable one. She is tortured by her own desires and jealousies for an estate worker, Saburo. The book delves into the various shades of victimization, victimhood, masochism, and manipulation, portraying a novel of obsession and suffering, insight and opposition. Mishima dissects the insatiability of desire through his characters' experiences of exploitation, abandonment, sublimation, avoidance, humiliation, infidelity, and Etsuko's dark response.
She had come all the way into Osaka and completed her shopping at the Hankyu store at the last station, and now all she was going to do was turn around, board her train, and go home. She wasn’t going ... - #6
Save:'Lightning Bug' by Donald Harington is a book that takes readers on a journey to Stay More, a small town in the Ozarks. Through the eyes of a child, the story delves into the complexity of adult life, exposing unhappiness, unfulfilled desires, and the good and bad aspects of human relationships. The writing style of Harington is described as prose-like and deep, reminiscent of authors like Hermann Hesse and Kurt Vonnegut. The book intertwines fantasy with reality, with characters that are eccentric and peculiar, set against a rural Southern backdrop.
- #7
Save:The House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera is a collection of stories that vividly depict the state of soul hunger, gut rot, and alienation experienced by the characters in colonial Rhodesia. Marechera's writing style is characterized by powerful fragments of emotions, dream visions, and melancholy, creating a world that is both haunting and thought-provoking. The novelette within the book portrays the author's involuntary shamanic initiation, fueled by his hatred of reality and his reckless watering of the seed of hatred within his mind.
The book delves into themes of cultural and mental dislocation, the struggle for identity, and the impact of racial injustice on individuals and society. Marechera's writing style is described as restless, sensitive, mocking, and tortured, expanding the boundaries of postcolonial African literature. Through vivid imagery and rapidly shifting prose, Marechera creates a narrative that is both tragic and honest, offering readers a glimpse into the tormented genius of the author.
The House of Hunger first appeared in the Heinemann African Writers Series in December 1978, with an edition soon published by Pantheon in New York. A translation of the whole sequence into German fol... - #8
Save:Gloriana by Michael Moorcock is a tale set in an alternative history version of Elizabethan England, where Christianity and Islam do not exist, and pagan feasts are celebrated at court. The story unfolds in a huge palace filled with interlinked buildings, hidden rooms, and secret passages, creating a perfect backdrop for courtly intrigue, spying, and seduction. The book is a sprawling, dense jungle of a narrative that wears its affection for Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast on its sleeve, delving into themes of sex, sycophancy, tunnels, intrigue, secrets, debauchery, and honor.
In Which Is Presented the Palace of Queen Gloriana Together with a Description of Some of Its Denizens and a Brief Account of Certain Activities Taking Place in the City of London on New Year’s Eve En... - #9
Save:While I Was Gone by Sue Miller is a novel that follows the life of Jo Becker, a successful veterinarian with a good marriage and lovely children. However, her past comes back to haunt her when someone from her previous life threatens to resurrect ghosts she had tried to escape. The story weaves between the present and the past, exploring Jo's time in a communal house during the late 60s, where a tragic murder occurred, and how it impacts her present life. Miller skillfully delves into themes of truth, lies, acceptance, and the impact of past events on one's present self, all while painting a vivid picture of New England and the characters' relationships.
It’s odd, I suppose, that when I think back over all that happened in that terrible time, one of my sharpest memories should be of some few moments the day before everything began. Seemingly unconnect... - #10
Save:'Butterfly Burning' by Yvonne Vera is a poetic and lyrical novel set in a Rhodesian township in the late 1940s. The story follows the protagonist, Phephelaphi, a young woman filled with a burning desire for more in life. As she navigates the challenges of being a black citizen in a society reviled by whites, she encounters love, longing, and the struggle for fulfillment. Vera's writing style is described as dense and poetic, focusing more on language and imagery than on a traditional plot structure.
