The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

This book aggravated me to no end!

Somerset Maugham - what a great idea.
He is a wonderful writer but somehow - maybe because I dont see any of his books around and I dont have any myself - he occupies an undeserved place of absence in my reading.
Thanks for reminding me.

Maugham's Of Human Bondage fascinated me when I was young and didn't know anything - I could barely grasp the concept. I should reread it now that I have a year or three or three dozen under my belt.

I went through an R3 period and read just about everything I could get my hands on. Why can't my book club read interesting things like this? (That's what I have RP for, luckily.)

Might I suggest Madame Bovary ? Both characters, influenced by their reading, try to escape their provincial existence through obsessive daydreams that eventually destroy them. I believe Flaubert even admitted at one time that MB was heavily influenced by, if not actually based on, DQ. It's not "contemperorary" though - did you want something more modern? Oh - I just thought of another in the same vein - Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Bren

On the subject of R3, I've been wholeheartedly convinced of Richard III's innocence ever since reading Josephine Tey's marvelous The Daughter of Time . Tey presents a very compelling argument - and it is just so much fun to read, too! Wonderful book, great author - I just wish she had written so many more than she did before her death.

For contemporary fiction from an author with an obsession, how about the short stories/novels of J G Ballard? Many consider his themes of assassinations, crashes, injuries to have surreal or even apocalyptic over/under-tones. Others just reckon him to have been slightly mad. His autobiographical works are are less dark.
Another obsessive, though from an earlier period would, for me, be D H Lawrence. All that early 20 century angst about 'class', 'modern women' and far too much sex. I'm sure if the Lady C trial had never happened he would have sunk into obscurity thereby sparing many UK school pupils from wading through Sons and Lovers.

I'd second bwilliams and Daughter of Time. I imagine far more historical research has been done since her book came out and I don't know which side the pundits are supporting this week, but Tey's book is most enjoyable.

Many thanks for suggestions - Madame Bovary we read 2 years ago - and so much enjoyed it - supplemented by 'Madame Bovary's Ovaries' - that was within our 'Corruption' theme.
Love Josephine' Tey's book on Richard 3 which is referred to in many weighty Shakespearean resources - so clever. Want to read The Franchise Affair again now - and 'In Human Bondage' also on my read again list,
Siobhan - the lit. group is an extension of my college teaching (in my dreams I weep that I am not really teaching lit. anymore) - anyway I do get paid a nominal sum £2/person/class (have to keep to to under 14 in number so everyone gets a change to discuss) but am very conscious of having to be very well prepared with a lot of research and handouts for most of our classes - (which I love) - and that's why we can range around over so much lit.
In the summer I do run a more conservative book club - and Lord Jim is the choice for this year - although I'm thinking I might change now for 'Of Human Bondage'.
Wonderful RP -
Thanks again x Jan

Four which came to my mind:

The Scarlet Letter - Hawthorne
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Possession - A. Byatt
Victoria - Knut Hamsun

contemporary obsession fiction-The French Lieutenant's Woman

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch.... too many obsessions to count.

Beautiful writing, this book took me a while to read, but it also took my breath away. It won the Booker in 1978. And just as important an achievement (in my mind anyway), it went straight onto my list of "Best Reads Ever".

PAM

Obsessions? In fiction? I think there's an elephant (or maybe a whale) in the room that no one seems to be looking at.

Of course, I'm talking about the one, the only ....Moby Dick. If there ever was an idee fixe, it would be in that book.

How about the Sherlock Holmes adventure The Adventure of the Six Napoleons? Yes, obsession was a red herring but it did make an appearance.

Ahhhh........ and talking about obsessions ....Shadow of the Wind. I'm thinking that wanting to burn ALL of the existing copies of an extremely rare book would be considered obsessive?

How about ...... Club Dumas by Perez-Reverte? Obsessing about books is a worthwhile obsession, is it not? (Actually, I think most of his books deal with obsessions in one form or another. There was one about an obsession with fencing, one about an obsession with maps ....)

And what about Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco? Belbo was obsessed about that plan of theirs, was he not?

And how can I forget? Patrick Suskind's Perfume? Obsessed about scents .... and how to capture them. Truly one of the more bizarre books I've read.

And, ummm... can someone clarify if what is being sought are books that include obsessions or books written by authors who have obsessions?!

Even more tbr and rereads here.
We read Moby Dick about 3 years ago - serendipity meant that there was a Whaling Ship Exhibition at Docklands here in London = wonderful read AND of course Auden's great poem on Melville - "Evil is unspectacular and always human" -
Loved Perfume - extraordinary writing - to convey scents through the written word.
I think a great mix for another time would be The Scarlet Letter and Of Human Bondage (something to think about).
For the Fowles and all the suggestions I thank you all.
And any kind of 'obsession' really - within the text or attached to the writer. Thinking about it Lord Jim is pretty 'obsessive' textually.
I'm going to enjoy this.

Jankin, another quintessential example of obsession from Fowles would be "The Collector."

Also "The Wanderer" by Alain Fournier.

I can't remember the character's name, but there is a newly-retired woman who slowly starves herself to death all the while stockpiling canned food in Barbara Pym's A Quartet in Autumn. I am not a hardcore Pym fan, but I did enjoy this particular novel very much.