Books like Poor Things
12 books with a reading profile close to Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
Julia
Also deep · narrative, science fiction
Julia is a feminist retelling of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, shifting the perspective from Winston Smith to his lover, Julia Worthing.
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2
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3
Killing Commendatore
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
A portrait painter in Tokyo is left by his wife and drives around Japan before settling into the mountain house of the famous painter Tomohiko Amada, now in a care home.
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4
The Candy House
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
Bix Bouton, a tech entrepreneur who appeared in A Visit from the Goon Squad, develops a technology called Own Your Unconscious.
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5
Trust Exercise
by Susan Choi
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
Set in a highly competitive arts high school during the 1980s, the narrative begins with Sarah and David, two drama students entangled in a pressurized romance under the watchful eye of their charismatic teacher, Mr.
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6
The Employees
by Olga Ravn
Also deep and open-ended · science fiction, literary
Set aboard the Six-Thousand Ship orbiting the planet New Discovery, the narrative unfolds through a series of witness statements delivered to an anonymous committee.
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7
The Elephant Vanishes
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
This collection of seventeen short stories shows Murakami's early imagination.
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8
The Topeka School
by Ben Lerner
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Adam Gordon, a poet who first appeared in Ben Lerner's Leaving the Atocha Station, is now married to a psychologist, Jane, and the father of two daughters.
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9
Asymmetry
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Lisa Halliday's debut novel is in two parts that seem unrelated.
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10
No One Is Talking About This
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
The first half of the narrative follows a woman who has achieved minor celebrity status within a digital landscape called the portal.
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11
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
The narrative centers on Bennie Salazar, a middle-aged record executive, and his assistant Sasha, tracing their lives across several decades.
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12
The Nix
by Nathan Hill
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Samuel Andresen-Anderson, a disappointed English professor who is addicted to an online video game, sees his mother Faye on the news after decades of absence: she has been arrested for throwing gravel at a right-wing pr…
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