Breaking up with someone you love is difficult and painful. You’re used to being with that person and, even if things weren’t particularly great, you probably thought the relationship would last. The void we feel can be sneaky since we’ll try to fill it with whatever we think can be a quick solution: another person, crazy hobbies, or even substances that end up affecting us even more.
Literature is one of the greatest reflections of humanity. The characters experience many life episodes we can relate to. Many of them went through nasty breakups, and they didn’t take the situation that well. One of the best examples is lovely Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, who never moved on from being left at the altar. She spends all her life wearing her wedding gown and never took down the preparations for the party from her house. Being stuck in that painful vortex of deception, depression, and obsession can turn anyone into a modern version of this Dickensian lady. Okay, maybe not that serious.
Here are 9 books that show us that recovering from a breakup isn’t as easy as it sounds and that it’s very easy to get trapped in a relationship, even if there’s no relationship at all. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens (1861)
Talking about the Dicken’s classic, it turns out that Miss Havisham isn’t the only who goes through a tormenting breakup. Pip, our protagonist, ends up in her mansion, where he meets Estella, the one that would become the love of his life. Being trained by Miss Havisham to break the hearts of men out of revenge, Estella beguiles Pip for years. Of course, he falls madly in love with her from the minute he sees her, but she always breaks his noble heart. He lives his life always emotionally attached to Estella. The Great Gatsby – Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
We all love the classy and rebellious twenties setting: the parties, incredible fashion, and attitudes of the new century. However, all those crazy gatherings have a sad story behind. The novel revolves around the mysterious life of Jay Gatsby, a secretive young man with an extravagant life. All these excesses are his way to catch the attention of Daisy Buchanan, the woman he loves. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë (1847)
Heathcliff and Catherine were the best of friends during their childhood. They literally spent all their time together and, when they were apart, anxiously waited to see the other. However, as it always happens, this changes when they grow up. She becomes a lady and marries Edgar Linton, even though she’s in love with Heathcliff. One day, Catherine decides to confess her love for Heathcliff to the housekeeper, explaining how she didn’t marry him because he wasn’t good for her. Heathcliff, who was listening to it all the time, is hurt all over again. He plots vengeance against all those who saw him as an inferior being, but his love for Catherine never fades away. Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami (1999)
This is a novel of unrequited love, mystery, and deception. K, a teacher, is madly in love with his all time friend Sumire, a shy young writer who never sees the love K feels for her. One day, this solitary writer meets a Korean woman, Miu, at a wedding and immediately falls for her. They start working together and begin some sort of spiritual connection that makes Sumire change her behavior and many of her principles. One day, K receives a call from Miu, who’s in Greece, telling him that Sumire is missing. He flights to Europe only to find two floppy discs with Sumire’s last notes about her life. Miu and K do their best to find her, but no one really knows what happened.
“A Rose for Emily” – William Faulkner (1930)
This is not precisely a book, but a short story that gathers everything we love about Faulkner. With his characteristic Southern Gothic narrative, he presents the story of Emily, a woman everybody knows in her town. After her father dies, she leaves her secluded life and decides to go out and enjoy life. She falls for a man from the North, Homer Barron, who he tells her that he’s not a man of commitment. Of course, she feels devastated and fooled. From that moment on, she goes back to her sheltered life and no one knows hears of the man again. When she dies, the curious people of the town decide to go inside her house. You’ll have to read it to find out what they find there.
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Yes, a breakup can suck off all our energy. It’s easy just to stay where we are, but as these characters show, these attitudes can lead to worse. Don’t follow their path. There’s always something better out there.
