I really love stories that deal with characters, settings, and stories that exist on the edge of civil society and the criminal underworld. Bonus points if it follows an anti-hero, or someone from the civil world that slowly grows worse throughout the novel.
I like themes that explore topics such as financial pressures & poverty, victims of circumstance, free will, pride, ignorance, violence, addiction, being shunned by society,
I am particularly looking for examples of books one might call more “literary”. I only point this out because I am sure there are thousands of pulpy genre books that follow CIA agents and Hitmen etc. etc., but I am looking for something I might more character-driven I guess and deeper. Or at least offers a more nuanced perspective. For example how The Wire differentiates itself from something like a more standard police procedural.
Books similar to what I am looking for:
* No Country For Old Men
* Blood Meridian
* Requiem For A Dream
* Trainspotting
* Metamorphosis
TV Shows & Movies similar to what I am looking for:
* The Wire
* Breaking Bad
* Better Call Saul
* The Sopranos
* Barry
* Nightcrawler
* Good Time
* The place beyond the pines
* Uncut Gems
* Drive
Thanks in advance!
by shockwavelol
5 Comments
Burke series by Andrew Vachss. 1980s/1990s neo-noir about Burke, an outlaw PI taking up cases for people who don’t want to involve the authorities at at all.
“Ghostman” and “Vanishing Games” by Roger Hobbs are about a cleaning up after elaborate heists go wrong. They’re full of details, I jokingly call them a how-to for crime.
You might like No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.
Editing to add The Fuck-Up by Arthur Nersesian
“Inherent Vice” Thomas Pynchon
John le Carre mostly wrote books about espionage but they certainly meet a lot of your criteria.