# Books in which protagonist is alone for much of the book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147 "2018-07-18T13:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/21 "2018-07-19T13:09:52Z")
Another Stephen King one: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. And that is one of his books that I think everyone should read. It is _excellent_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/22 "2018-07-19T13:18:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Another Stephen King one: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. And that is one of his books that I think everyone should read. It is _excellent_ :smack: Oh my gosh, how did I forget that? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/23 "2018-07-19T16:18:56Z")
“By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét. ---
**Author:** ![Sandwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Sandwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandwood)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/24 "2018-07-21T13:52:44Z")
[The Wall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_(novel)) (Die Wand) by Marlen Haushofer. It’s a good book, but seriously depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/25 "2018-07-21T16:38:13Z")
2001 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/26 "2018-07-21T16:51:24Z")
Tess of the D’Urbervilles is emotionally isolated for pretty much the whole book. I know it doesn’t quite fit your definition, but it’s the first book that came to my mind. And she is actually physically alone for quite a lot of the book-- more than is normal, considering she is living in the middle of Victorian England. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/27 "2018-07-27T16:42:57Z")
I vaguely remember the protagonist in _Z for Zechariah_ was alone in a post-apocalyptic world. There was another character for a while, but he didn’t live very long. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/28 "2018-07-27T16:48:53Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Fight Club. Dude did you even read the book man? Wherever the Protagonist is, his friend Tyler Durden is always around. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/29 "2018-07-27T18:55:33Z")
Does Heinlein’s “All You Zombies” count? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/30 "2018-07-27T19:09:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > All of the books in the Steven Gould’s _Jumper_ series: _Jumper_, _Reflex_, _Impulse_ and _Exo_. That’s not quite right is it? In Jumper, Davy’s alone a fair amount, but in Reflex he’s captured and tortured by people who are right there with him and the main character of Impulse and Exo spends most of her time with her parents, at high school, or in college. Singularity by William Sleator qualifies, though. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/31 "2018-07-27T19:19:51Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Dude did you even read the book man? Wherever the Protagonist is, his friend Tyler Durden is always around. 😉 Isn’t Marla Singer also around him/them in the book? ---
**Author:** ![CurrlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CurrlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurrlyD)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/32 "2018-07-27T23:52:10Z")
**"To the White Sea"** by James Dickey, the poet and novelist who also wrote “Deliverance.” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/33 "2018-07-28T02:16:45Z")
If I remember correctly, the protagonist of “The Man Who Folded Himself” by David Gerrold spends a significant amount by himself or with other temporal duplicates of himself. (Yes, it’s that kind of time travel novel.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/34 "2018-07-28T03:07:20Z")
IIRC he has his son with him, but other than that, the protagonist in The Road just bumps into people along the way. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The OP mentioned most of the books that sprang first to my mind. Maybe, in true SDMB style, I’ll wait until this thread gets to page 2 and then say “I can’t believe nobody has mentioned” one of them. True SDMB style would be being the 3rd or 4th poster and providing a link to a nearly all inclusive list of books (or usually movies/TV) about what the OP asked about, this killing what could be an interesting thread. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/35 "2018-07-28T13:35:35Z")
One of my favorite books, The Toilers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo. He spends the vast majority of the book trying to single-handedly retrieve the steam engine of a ship off the bottom of the sea in hopes of winning the heart of the owner’s daughter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/36 "2018-07-28T13:58:34Z")
aaaannd never mind, I should have read the OP closer… ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/37 "2018-07-28T15:17:15Z")
If you like non-fiction, I’ve read some really great books in this genre: [A Voyage for Madmen](https://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Madmen-Peter-Nichols-ebook/dp/B000QTEA4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532790432&sr=8-1&keywords=A+voyage+for+mad+men) - about the 1968 solo sailing race around the world [Alone on the Ice](https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Ice-Greatest-Survival-Exploration-ebook/dp/B007Q6XJL8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1532790547&sr=1-1&keywords=Alone+on+the+ice) - about Australian explorer Douglas Mawson, whose companions died on an Antarctic expedition [Touching the Void](https://www.amazon.com/Touching-Void-Joe-Simpson-ebook/dp/B00AR0DN3Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1532790727&sr=1-1&keywords=into+the+void) - Joe Simpson’s story of how he survived after his climbing partner left him for dead in the Andes ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/38 "2018-07-28T16:06:27Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I vaguely remember the protagonist in _Z for Zechariah_ was alone in a post-apocalyptic world. There was another character for a while, but he didn’t live very long. Not really, the entire book is a conflict between two survivors. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/39 "2018-07-29T14:50:42Z")
_Suzanne and the Pacific,_ by Jean Giraudoux is my favorite book with this theme. I found it exquisite. Good luck finding a copy, though. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147/40 "2018-07-30T03:57:58Z")
I haven’t read it myself, but a friend is a big fan of _Into the Wild_ by Jon Krakauer. I assume that the protagonist, Chris McCandless, must be alone for most of the book? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-in-which-protagonist-is-alone-for-much-of-the-book/818147.md?page=3)