Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Use this Topic to discuss books you are reading or that fit the 4th Scavenger Hunt task.

Task 4: Read a book dealing with mental illness.

This one seems fairly easy, but if anyone is looking for something, I'm going with the Bell Jar.

I Know This Much is True is good book for this category if you haven't read it. Loved this book

I suggest Faces in the Water by Janet Frame.

Having read "The trick is to keep breathing" and "The Bell Jar", I was pretty clueless what to choose, thanks for the tips.

I am trying to decide if The Kreutzer Sonata fits. Pozdnyshev's jealousy seems like mental illness to me.

JenniferAustin wrote: "I am trying to decide if The Kreutzer Sonata fits. Pozdnyshev's jealousy seems like mental illness to me."

I think it's just plain misogyny.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey would work.

Karen wrote: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey would work."

I'll probably go with this but I'd rather read a book by a woman...but having already read the most famous books by women who deal explicitly with the subject, I'll have to do some serious digging to find one.

JenniferAustin wrote: "I am trying to decide if The Kreutzer Sonata fits. Pozdnyshev's jealousy seems like mental illness to me."

It had been a few years since I'd read it, so I had to remind myself quickly of the plot, but I think that would be a legitimate interpretation.

If you decide you're unconvinced, Memoirs of My Nervous Illness by Daniel Schreber is irrefutably about a psychiatric illness.

JenniferAustin wrote: "I am trying to decide if The Kreutzer Sonata fits. Pozdnyshev's jealousy seems like mental illness to me."

I agree that this is misogyny rather than mental illness.

I was thinking about using The Violent Bear It Away
for this prompt - while not explicitly about mental illness I think that the majority of characters suffer from a variety of mental illnesses.

I’ll be reading The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - this is one written by a woman too

Does 'Woman in White' count?

Irem wrote: "Does 'Woman in White' count?"

Yes. It most definitely does.

Nocturnalux wrote: "JenniferAustin wrote: "I am trying to decide if The Kreutzer Sonata fits. Pozdnyshev's jealousy seems like mental illness to me."

I think it's just plain misogyny."

Ha! That's exactly how I felt about this book too.

I'm going with Parade's End which explores PTSD related to WWI.

Some others I know of on the list that would explicitly count that haven't been mentioned yet would be:

-Memoirs of My Nervous Illness (psychosis)
- House Mother Normal (Alzheimer's and Dementia)
-Mrs. Dalloway (Major Depressive Disorder)
-The Hours (Major Depressive Disorder)
-The Marriage Plot (Bipolar disorder)
- Slaughterhouse-Five (PTSD)
-A Question of Power (Schizophrenia)
-Cost (substance use disorder)
-A Tale of Love and Darkness ((Major Depressive Disorder)

Nocturnalux wrote: "Karen wrote: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey would work."

I'll probably go with this but I'd rather read a book by a woman...but having already read the most famous books by women wh..."
I’m going with The Black Prince for this one as I’ve read many of the female authored books that are obviously about mental illness

SaraSian wrote: "I’m going with The Black Prince for this one as I’ve read many of the female authored books that are obviously about mental illness."

Thanks for the rec, I'll be going with A Question of Power for this one.

"The Trick is to Keep Breathing" by Janice Galloway, another female writer.

Joyce wrote: "I Know This Much is True is good book for this category if you haven't read it. Loved this book"

It's not in the Boxall 1001 list though.

I think one I plan to read soon qualifies in this (extreme OCD at the least)- Correction by Thomas Bernhard: "Roithamer...has committed suicide having been driven to madness by his own frightening powers of pure thought. We witness the gradual breakdown of a genius ceaselessly compelled to correct and refine his perceptions until the only logical conclusion is the negation of his own soul." Sounds like a fun read, no?
I think Crime and Punishment would probably qualify also.

Joyce wrote: "I Know This Much is True is good book for this category if you haven't read it. Loved this book"
I just finished this, and then didn't find it on the list. I'm don't feel too bad since I really enjoyed the book. It is almost 900 pages however.
"The curious incident of the dog at night time" fits this category.

Judy wrote: ... "The curious incident of the dog at night time" fits this category."

Bet you didn't know that "The curious incident of the dog in the night time" title is from a line in a Sherlock Holmes story. What Sherlock found curious is that the dog didn't bark at an apparent intruder.

Christian Buddenbrooks, a character in the novel Buddenbrooks suffers from severe hypochondriasis and probably ADHD, and is institutionalized in late middle age.

Maybe The Trial by Franz Kafka. There's a lot of craziness in it. But maybe that's just Kafka.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe. I picked this because the protagonist self-identified as having a mental illness.
I love this challenge because, as so many people have mentioned, "how do you define mental illness".
Really what is "neurotypical". I also reread "The Yellow Wallpaper". I found the behaviour of the husband to be far more disturbing than that of the wife. That seems true often in stories about people have non-unique experiences, the neurotypical characters are far mure disturbing.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides one of the main characters suffers from manic depression.

New Grub Street by George Gissing; a main character, Edwin Reardon, is discussed by others as suffering from mental illness/depression.

I chose Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. One if the characters develops an eating disorder and other issues, is taken to a psychiatrist, and eventually a 'rest home.' She's confronted with colonialism and cultural expectations of women, and struggles.

As Judy noted, the question "how do you define mental illness" is a confronting one.

Anyway, this is a great read, and I recommend it!

After reading it, I think Amok by Stefan Zweig clearly fits this category although I'm not sure what the specific mental illness is.

I read Correction by Thomas Bernhard: A tale of obsession and depression.

My token of appreciation for the oriental contribution to the topic: Diary Of A Murderer: And Other Stories by Kim Young-ha (Alzheimer's)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Depression)

George P. wrote: "I think one I plan to read soon qualifies in this (extreme OCD at the least)- Correction by Thomas Bernhard: "Roithamer...has committed suicide having been driven to madness by his own..."

I am curious, why you mentioned Crime and Punishment?

Regina wrote: "My token of appreciation for the oriental contribution to the topic: Diary Of A Murderer: And Other Stories by Kim Young-ha (Alzheimer's)
[book:The Vegetarian|254..."

These are not list titles, though. The Vegetarian is wonderful.

Regina, in Crime and Punishment the main characters is so full of guilt that it drives him mad. It has been a long time since I read it but that is my memory of it.

For this task I read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins