Troublesome bodies

1

The Glass Menagerie

by Tennessee Williams

7,467 members

76 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: spiphany, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

2

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

by Victor Hugo

16,430 members

208 reviews

3.9

3 Members: spiphany, alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

3

Of Human Bondage

by W. Somerset Maugham

9,406 members

165 reviews

4.1

3 Members: alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

4

The Fifth Child

by Doris Lessing

2,672 members

92 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

5

The Clan of the Cave Bear

by Jean M. Auel

13,895 members

300 reviews

3.9

2 Members: spiphany, ahef1963
Explanations: spiphany: The shaman who raises Ayla is partly crippled; Ayla herself has difficulty being accepted by the Neanderthal clan due to her physical difference from them.

6

Stones from the River

by Ursula Hegi

4,934 members

69 reviews

4

2 Members: dara85, spiphany

7

Ethan Frome

by Edith Wharton

10,676 members

243 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: alex68, ahef1963

8

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje

12,589 members

189 reviews

3.9

2 Members: alex68, ahef1963

9

The Tin Drum

by Günter Grass

8,413 members

104 reviews

4

2 Members: spiphany, alex68

10

Gertrude

by Hermann Hesse

1,140 members

13 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: alex68, bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Lame composer, pitied but not loved by the one who matters most.

11

The Mill on the Floss

by George Eliot

9,769 members

131 reviews

3.8

2 Members: alex68, ahef1963

12

Royal Highness

by Thomas Mann

676 members

7 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: spiphany, alex68
Explanations: spiphany: The prince's left arm is crippled from birth, complicating royal appearances in public.

13

A Prayer for Owen Meany

by John Irving

19,386 members

348 reviews

4.2

2 Members: spiphany, alex68

14

The Dwarf

by Pär Lagerkvist

1,209 members

29 reviews

4

2 Members: spiphany, alex68

15

A Personal Matter

by Kenzaburō Ōe

2,118 members

38 reviews

3.8

Member: alex68

16

Stuck in Neutral

by Terry Trueman

1,246 members

88 reviews

3.9

Member: dara85

17

A Living Soul

by P. C. Jersild

112 members

3 reviews

4

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Extreme disability, very extreme, as scientific experiment.

18

Remainder

by Tom McCarthy

1,433 members

48 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Protagonist is to others a both generous and bizrre rich person because he is dealing, secretly, with severe amnesia that makes him seem so.

19

The Girls

by Lori Lansens

2,456 members

141 reviews

3.9

Member: dara85

20

The Secret of My Face

by Karen Ardiff

8 members

2

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Woman with hare lip given the not unopposed choice of corrective surgery.

21

Karen

by Marie Killilea

481 members

12 reviews

4.1

Member: dara85

22

De Sade's Valet

by Nikolaj Frobenius

120 members

1 review

3.2

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Non-functional pain receptors, in this case a helpful disability.

23

Truth and Consequences

by Alison Lurie

253 members

7 reviews

3.2

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Sometimes debilitating back pain that colours and perhaps leads to relationships with other people.

24

Angle of Repose

by Wallace Stegner

5,986 members

198 reviews

4.2

Member: ahef1963

25

The Eyes of Max Carrados

by Ernest Bramah

52 members

1 review

½ 3.6

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Blind detective forever surprising others with his perception in surprisingly enjoyable stories.

26

Born Twice

by Giuseppe Pontiggia

274 members

10 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: alex68

27

Passion

by Igino Ugo Tarchetti

168 members

6 reviews

3.8

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Love object suffers from same ailment as the one in Beware of Pity, also on list. Both novels written before 'attention-seeking' came into use.

28

Johnny Got His Gun

by Dalton Trumbo

4,155 members

79 reviews

4.2

Member: alex68

29

The Gargoyle

by Andrew Davidson

4,365 members

295 reviews

4

Member: spiphany

30

Slow Man

by J. M. Coetzee

2,208 members

54 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany

31

Company of Liars

by Karen Maitland

1,832 members

120 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Features one character with a facial scar and missing eye, one with a deformed arm, and an albino.

32

The Obscene Bird of Night

by José Donoso

1,027 members

15 reviews

4

Member: spiphany

33

The Sand Child

by Tahar Ben Jelloun

696 members

10 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Female child raised as a man because of the father's desire for a male heir; the disparity between physical body and social gender are a source of conflict for the protagonist.

34

The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred

by Carl-Johan Vallgren

597 members

19 reviews

3.8

Member: spiphany

35

Flight to Afar

by Alfred Andersch

544 members

3 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: One of the main characters suffers from a poorly healed amputation from the war.

36

Warrior Scarlet

by Rosemary Sutcliff

488 members

7 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany

37

The Centaur in the Garden

by Moacyr Scliar

253 members

4 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Narrator is a centaur; this is treated realistically (i.e., as a birth defect/mutation) rather than as a fantasy element.

38

A Dream in Polar Fog

by Yuri Rytkheu

230 members

11 reviews

4.1

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Canadian trader loses most of his fingers to frostbite and is taken in by the Chukchi people of the far north.

39

Tides

by Eduard von Keyserling

228 members

5 reviews

4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: One of the characters, Knospelius, is described as being hunchbacked.

40

The Witch's Brat

by Rosemary Sutcliff

204 members

8 reviews

3.8

Member: spiphany

41

The Gaze

by Elif Shafak

199 members

3 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany

42

The Phoenix

by Henning Boëtius

129 members

3 reviews

2.9

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Protagonist was badly burned/disfigured during the Hindenburg disaster.

43

Swan's Wing

by Ursula Synge

77 members

1 review

3.9

Member: spiphany

44

A Gorda (Portuguese Edition)

by Isabela Figueiredo

64 members

1 review

4.1

Member: spiphany

45

Vom Wasser: Roman

by John von Düffel

61 members

1 review

4.1

Member: spiphany

46

Caesars Druide

by Claude Cueni

56 members

4 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Historical novel set in Roman-era Germania. Protagonist has a muscular disorder that makes it difficult to walk.

47

Der Halbbart

by Charles Lewinsky

35 members

2 reviews

4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: One of the central characters is a newcomer to the village who has a badly scarred face.

48

Die Zunge.

by Lea Singer

13 members

4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Protagonist was born with malformed hands in revolutionary-era France; becomes a famous gourmet and critic of the arts.

49

Manger l'autre

by Ananda Devi

11 members

1 review

5

Member: spiphany

50

Der Buckel

by Hugo Loetscher

11 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Story collection featuring multiple characters with physical differences, including a hunchbacked dwarf.

51