Books like

Books like Goodbye, Columbus

12 books with a reading profile close to Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth. Deep, inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

The Moon and Sixpence

by W. Somerset Maugham

Also deep and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Charles Strickland is an ordinary London stockbroker with a wife and two children until he abandons them without explanation and moves to Paris to paint.
2

The Beautiful and Damned

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Set in the shifting social landscape of 1910s New York, the narrative follows Anthony Patch, the presumptive heir to a massive tycoon fortune, and his marriage to the socialite Gloria Gilbert.
3

Washington Square

by Henry James

Also deep and inward-looking · classic literature, literary

In the affluent backdrop of mid-nineteenth-century New York, Catherine Sloper lives under the scrutiny of her father, Austin, a prominent physician who views his daughter as dull and unremarkable.
4

Schoolgirl

by Osamu Dazai

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

The novella that first propelled Dazai into the literary elite of post-war Japan, Schoolgirl was essentially the start of his career and gained notoriety for its ironic and inventive use of language.
5

The Story of an Hour

by Kate Chopin

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Set in 1894, the narrative follows Louise Mallard as she receives news of her husband Brently’s death in a railroad disaster.
6

Portnoy’s Complaint

by Philip Roth

Also deep and inward-looking · classic literature, literary

Alexander Portnoy lies on a psychoanalyst’s couch and delivers a frantic, obscene monologue regarding his sexual frustrations and childhood hangfires.
7

Tartuffe

by Molière

Also deep and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

In seventeenth-century Paris, a wealthy patriarch named Orgon falls under the spell of Tartuffe, a man posing as a pious ascetic.
8

The Complete Fairy Tales

by Oscar Wilde

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

This collection brings together stories including The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and The Nightingale and the Rose.
9

First Love

by Ivan Turgenev

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Sixteen-year-old Vladimir Petrovich becomes infatuated with Zinaida Alexandrovna, a twenty-one-year-old princess living in a neighboring summer villa.
10

A Handful of Dust

by Evelyn Waugh

Also deep and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Tony Last is a gentle English country gentleman who lives at Hetton Abbey, a Gothic mansion he loves, with his wife Brenda and young son John Andrew.
11

The Portable Oscar Wilde

by Richard Aldington, Oscar Wilde

classic literature, literary

This 1946 compilation preserves the breadth of Oscar Wilde’s literary output, moving beyond his reputation as a mere wit.
12

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

by Ambrose Bierce

Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · classic literature, literary

Farquhar, a Southern planter, is being hanged for attempting to sabotage an Owl Creek bridge during the Civil War.

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