I hope I don't get chastised for asking this question. I feel as though I can connect better emotionally with creative work produced by people similar to myself in personality.

thank you ellissa and geo for your feedback. i will look into the Camus novel. Im somewhat familiar with but havent yet read 1984 and Metamorphosis. I'm sure they're worth reading but at the moment I'm interested in novels that explore the themes I mentioned, but also in a certain way that's difficu...

I'm kinda interested in novels that are dirty and gritty and more focused on the main character's thoughts/feelings, etc. Less focus on plot elements, and the author doesn't shy away from being graphic about the characters. Hopefully that makes sense.

The only older novels like this I already know of is Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky and also Catcher in the Rye. The only one I can think of that would be recent is Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. I would think that existentialist literature would be filled with this kind of material. But for...