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Original poster

Great literature about the human condition

118 replies

kublacant · 11/06/2025 20:10

I’m not sure how else to word it. I have had some bereavement recently close family and further afield and it has really made me contemplate life ((and death)

I am sure greater minds than mine have grappled with this!

does anyone know any great literature deals with life/human condition? I’m thinking they are probably German or Russian!

I am an avid reader, so it’s natural for me to turn to books at these sorts of times. Fiction only.

OP posts:
Tolber · 11/06/2025 22:18

@MounjaroMounjaro oh me too, that concluding line 'How do you forgive someone who doesn't know what they've done'.

MounjaroMounjaro · 11/06/2025 22:13

I'm so happy to see people mention Jane Smiley - A Thousand Acres. It had a tremendous impact on me.

Original poster
kublacant · 11/06/2025 22:04

TheSlantedOwl · 11/06/2025 20:58

Get some Dostoyevsky!

I knew I needed the Russians! Which Dostoyevsky would you recommend?

OP posts:
TheSlantedOwl · 11/06/2025 20:58

Get some Dostoyevsky!

Original poster
kublacant · 11/06/2025 20:38

@Mandarinaduck i’ve read all of those apart from MiddleMarch and War and Peace. I think I’m going to have to go classic and epic 😀

OP posts:
Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:37

I also loved the Neopolitan quartet by Elena Ferranti. A whole life journey, quite a commitment but deeply satisfying.

Original poster
kublacant · 11/06/2025 20:37

BingoBling · 11/06/2025 20:32

Agree re Elizabeth Strout.

Also Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres , epic. Based on King Lear.
Just read The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - based on the Iliad but from the women's pov.

I haven’t heard of Jane Smiley, I’ll definitely look her up thank you!

OP posts:
Original poster
kublacant · 11/06/2025 20:36

I’ve read Life after Life, also, amazingly Steppenwolf but was a teenager then so I suspect most of it went over my head.

I meight dig that out again @Echobowels

OP posts:
Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:35

Perhaps Cats Eye by Margaret Atwood, also anything by Alice Munro.

Mandarinaduck · 11/06/2025 20:35

Carol Shields - the Stone Diaries
William Boyd - Any Human Heart

These both follow a person through all the ups and downs of a life from the beginning to the end. I particularly liked the Stone Diaries which changed what I thought the trajectory of a life should look like, and what it means to be old and frail and close to death.

The following are epics of human experience, rich and deep:
Tolstoy - War and Peace
Vikram Seth - A Suitable Boy

Two more which I think have extraordinary insight into the human condition are
George Eliot - Middlemarch
Chimanada Ngochi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun

Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:34

Oh yes, yes to Life After Life. And A Thousand Acres was Life changing for me. Both are brilliant books..

BingoBling · 11/06/2025 20:32

Agree re Elizabeth Strout.

Also Jane Smiley A Thousand Acres , epic. Based on King Lear.
Just read The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - based on the Iliad but from the women's pov.

Echobowels · 11/06/2025 20:31

I loved Steppenwolf...

DisplayPurposesOnly · 11/06/2025 20:31

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:30

Actually I'd still recommend 'Tell me Everything, it only came out a few months ago and is possibly the most humane and insightful book book I've ever read. Olive and Lucy Barton are equal main characters in it.

Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:28

Ah okay, I'll get my thinking hat on...

Original poster
kublacant · 11/06/2025 20:25

I’ve read quite a lot of Elizabeth Strout and think I have already read Olive Kitteridge (years ago)

But I will take a look at it, so thank you!

OP posts:
Tolber · 11/06/2025 20:17

Have you read any books by Elizabeth Strout? I think her Olive Kitteridge books might be exactly what you're looking for. All her books are wonderful but the Olive Kitteridge ones are best, especially her most recent 'Tell Me Everything' (though you should read in order). I listened to, rather than read them and the narrator was perfect.