Books with limited locations, characters, or dialogue?

[Yinzadi]

This is my first request here, so I hope I'm doing it right.

I’m interested in books where ANY of these things is the case:

Virtually the entire book takes place in a single, relatively confined location.

There are very few characters (as in, five or fewer) with speaking roles.

One of the main characters is mute or practically so, or the dialogue is limited in some other way.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Pretty obvious, but have you read Room?

[peg]

"Room" was my first thought.

Some others that might be worth considering:
"My Dinner With Andre"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Oleanna"
"Misery"
"The Diary of Anne Frank"

[[deleted user]]

Sartre's No Exit.

[peg]

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist"
"Waiting for Godot"

[Yinzadi]

Thank you for all the good suggestions so far!

[peg]

I hope they are what you are looking for.

[Mir]

The Yellow Wall-Paper.
Kiss of the Spider Woman.
A lot of Beckett.

[Janet]

Not sure if these are exactly what you're looking for but thought I'd suggest them. Life of Pi may fit the confined location criteria. Depends on whether you think a boat in the middle of the ocean is confined enough. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter has a main character who is mute.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Miriam wrote: "The Yellow Wall-Paper."

That's a good one.

[Yinzadi]

Thank you all for the suggestions!

[karen, future RA queen]

i mean, most plays would qualify. are you looking for a novel?? or does it matter?

[Peter]

i gather you just need a minimum of one of the criteria, not all three in one book (although for all three i agree with janet with the life of pi, even though i didn't enjoy it). my suggestions are "one day in the life of ivan denisovich" by solzhenitsyn, or "the road" by cormac mccarthy.

[Mir]

This book has parallel narratives, only one of which meets your criteria: The Tower at Stony Wood. One of the narratives is based on "The Lady of Shalott" and is a woman alone in a room for much of the story.

[Paige]

If you like YA, you might be interested in How I Live Now. Even if you don't, it is a very odd little book. I think it might meet some of the criterion that you listed. One of the characters is mute, it takes place in a few very limited locations, and quotation marks are not used for dialogue, so the narrator relays most of it by he said she said, which gives a closed and almost tunnel vision-like feel to the writing.

[Dree]

For something new, try The Lifeboat. One of my favorite reads this year.

[Yinzadi]

Thank you for all the excellent suggestions! All these look very interesting.

Plays are good too, and YA of course. Children's books too - anything really.

[Peter]

Just had another thought for this query
The Metamorphosis
I've just started reading it, and so far it fills all three requirements.

[Peter]

just another thought! and it's a fillum, not a book.
samson and delilah (australian movie)
cheers big ears

[Algernon (Darth Anyan)]

how about : The Silent Land
It has only 2 characters isolated by an avalanche in a ski resort

[Larissa]

The Pets by Bragi Olafsson is narrated by one character who spends almost the entire book hiding under his own bed, while an acquaintance of his breaks into his house and starts messing with his things. Except for the very beginning, the book also all takes place within the narrator's home.

Yinzadi wrote: "This is my first request here, so I hope I'm doing it right.

I’m interested in books where ANY of these things is the case:

Virtually the entire book takes place in a single, relatively confined ..."

[Jasmine]

The Pets

the book takes place under his bed. there are mainly two characters but a couple others pop in here and there

[Yinzadi]

Thank you for the additional recommendations! Those also all look like what I'm looking for.