Books like Great Gatsby
12 books with a reading profile close to Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Deep, contemplative and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
Harry, a writer dying of gangrene while on an African safari, lies at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro and catalogues his professional failures.
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2
El coronel no tiene quien le escriba
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
A retired colonel in a small Colombian town has waited fifteen years for the pension he was promised after serving in a civil war.
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3
Let the Great World Spin
by Colum McCann
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Set in New York City during August 1974, the narrative centers on Philippe Petit’s unauthorized tightrope walk between the Twin Towers.
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4
White Teeth
by Zadie Smith
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
In post-war North London, two former soldiers, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, navigate a cityscape shaped by the aftermath of the British Empire.
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5
The Great Gatsby
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
During the summer of 1922 in Long Island, Nick Carraway observes the extravagant life of Jay Gatsby, a man who hosts massive parties to lure back his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.
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6
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
This comprehensive collection gathers the full breadth of Hemingway’s short fiction, including the iconic Nick Adams adventures, vignettes from In Our Time, and posthumously published fragments.
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7
Half of a Yellow Sun
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
Set in the 1960s, the narrative centers on the Biafran War through the intersecting lives of five characters.
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8
Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder
by Evelyn Waugh
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
During the mobilization of World War II, Captain Charles Ryder finds himself stationed at Brideshead Castle, the ancestral seat of the Marchmain family.
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9
Sister Carrie
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Eighteen-year-old Caroline Meeber leaves her rural Wisconsin home for Chicago with nothing but a small satchel and a desire for material comfort.
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10
A Sportsman's Sketches Vol. I
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
In this 2025 edition from Double 9 Books, an aristocratic narrator travels through the Russian countryside on hunting expeditions, documenting his encounters with various social strata.
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11
An American Tragedy
Also deep and contemplative · narrative, literary
Clyde Griffiths grows up in a poor, religious household but develops a fixation on the lifestyles of the American upper class.
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12
The Cider House Rules
by John Irving
Also contemplative and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Set in early twentieth-century Maine, the narrative follows Homer Wells, a perpetual orphan raised at St.
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