# Novels about social anxiety



## zolagerminal (Feb 23, 2007)

Hi everyone.
Has anyone read any novels told from the viewpoint of an SA sufferer or featuring a character with same? Such novels are hard to find. The only novel I can think of is _Prep_ by Curtis Sittenfield. Although the author doesn't explicitly mention SA or social phobia there are scenes in this book that are, in my opinion, dead-on accurate in its depiction of what it feels like to be socially awkward to an extreme degree (ie, scenes involving the protaganist unable, for some internal reason, to speak up in class and teachers and pupils getting irritated as a consequence, and so on). Reading this book gave me shivers of recognition at scenes that reflected in virtually word-for-word detail what's happened in my life or at school.
Anyway, as I said at the beginning, is there anyone out there who knows of any piece of fiction (movie or novel or even article) that sheds light on what it feels like, _from the inside,_ to be socially anxious 24 hours a day? I feel that a novelist who can grasp this experience will do more to help understand myself than any psychologist, simply by describing and explaining the underlying emotions and thoughts that motivate my every action (which Sittenfield achieves great success at).
Thanks.


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## Before_the_Law (Mar 6, 2007)

Dostoevsky - Notes from Underground

"I am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased."

This novel was the inspiration for Taxi Driver, and Paul Schrader even stole from Dostoevsky the line, "I'm god's lonely man".


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## zolagerminal (Feb 23, 2007)

Thanks for your response. Never knew Dostoyevsky had insight into this psychological condition.


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## Before_the_Law (Mar 6, 2007)

*Re: re: Novels about social anxiety*



zolagerminal said:


> Thanks for your response. Never knew Dostoyevsky had insight into this psychological condition.


Oh, that's essentially ALL he writes about

Crime and Punishment - Guilt
Brothers Karamazov - Misanthropy
Notes from Underground - Loneliness/Insecurity

All of them have philosophical underpinnings, of course. Notes from Underground, for instance, is also a criticism of pure rationality. But you could, if you wanted to, tie all of these philosophical ideas back to the psychological theme.

I'll try to think up a few more novels. One that comes to mind right away is Salinger - Catcher in the Rye. Really, though, that tends to appeal to teenagers going through the teen angst/E. Munch phase.


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## Kelly (Dec 12, 2003)

L. M. Montgomery's _The Blue Castle_ changed my life. She's more known for her _Anne of Green Gables_ series.

It's definitely a chick book though. A former SAS member recommended it on the board and I loved Montgomery's book as a child, so I read it.

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

In _House Of Leaves_, the main character, Johnny Truant, isn't SA per se, just very very obsessive and crazy (a little or a lot depending on how you read the book). But I'd still recommend it. He basically becomes obsessed with this book, it's a critical review of a movie that may or may not exist. He tries to make sense of it, and his story is put into the footnotes of the book. It's a complicated thing, just read it. :yes


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## barnabas (Apr 24, 2007)

Try Finding Forrester. It's based on a movie of the same title.


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## Scattered (Feb 5, 2006)

Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse

Concrete by Thomas Bernhard (But, this book is horribly depressing)

American Purgatorio by John Haskell (Not SA but alienation, dissociation)

The Stranger by Albert Camus (Again, alienation)

Nausea by Jean-paul Sartre (Alienation, depersonalization)

Jimmy Corrigan : The Smartest Kid on Earth (Graphic novel completely about SA, loneliness, etc)


Alot of Haruki Murakami novels have characters that odd/eccentric/outsiders.

Stories by Raymond Carver are somewhat relevant as well.


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## Before_the_Law (Mar 6, 2007)

*Re: re: Novels about social anxiety*



Scattered said:


> Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
> 
> The Stranger by Albert Camus (Again, alienation)
> 
> ...


Great reads. I must admit I have not read the others you mentioned


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## Zipmos (May 12, 2007)

Teen Spirit by Virginie Despentes tells about a guy who is too scared to leave the house. And then, of course, he does leave the house and the story begins.

It´s been criticized about beeing too shallow and forced, but I don´t know, I really liked it. It´s entertaining and easy to read. The characters are easy to identify with and a couple of teadrops were squeezed along the way too. =) In any case, it´s definately worth reading.


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## Lyric Suite (Mar 16, 2006)

Kafka's The Metamorphosis. No other story has ever captured how i felt growing up with SA. Too bad he never managed to give the novel a proper ending, but perhaps it's best that way it is. The hollowness of the epilogue seems to accentuate the irony and self loathing more then anything, as if he detested himself so much he couldn't even let his story end on a tragic and sympathetic note.


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## zolagerminal (Feb 23, 2007)

Thanks for the response guys. I'll be checking out those books.


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## Tymsmom (Aug 24, 2007)

*Re: re: Novels about social anxiety*



Scattered said:


> Alot of Haruki Murakami novels have characters that odd/eccentric/outsiders.


I discovered Murakami by accident when I came across a copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle while casually browsing about Barnes and Noble. You're right; his characters are quite eccentric. I found them, and the story as a whole, oddly fascinating. Definitely off-beat. Glad to see another Murakami fan here .


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## brimontz (Nov 10, 2003)

*Re: re: Novels about social anxiety*



Lyric Suite said:


> Kafka's The Metamorphosis. No other story has ever captured how i felt growing up with SA. Too bad he never managed to give the novel a proper ending, but perhaps it's best that way it is. The hollowness of the epilogue seems to accentuate the irony and self loathing more then anything, as if he detested himself so much he couldn't even let his story end on a tragic and sympathetic note.


I never cared for Kafka, despite how many times my English profs forced me to read him. 

Brian


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## orpheus (Nov 16, 2003)

*Re: re: Novels about social anxiety*



brimontz said:


> Lyric Suite said:
> 
> 
> > Kafka's The Metamorphosis. No other story has ever captured how i felt growing up with SA. Too bad he never managed to give the novel a proper ending, but perhaps it's best that way it is. The hollowness of the epilogue seems to accentuate the irony and self loathing more then anything, as if he detested himself so much he couldn't even let his story end on a tragic and sympathetic note.
> ...


He didn't care for his writing either. Shortly before his death at 40 (starvation as a consequence of tuberculosis of the larynx), he asked his friend Max Brod to burn all of his writings (which, as your English professors will attest to, Brod never did).

I wouldn't say Kafka's fiction is about social anxiety. His novels deal with the nightmarish impersonality of the world and the enigma of life.

According to wikipedia, he did suffer from social anxiety.


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