Books like

Books like Steppenwolf

12 books with a reading profile close to Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. Deep, inward-looking, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

  1. 1 Notes from Underground

    Notes from Underground

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    The narrative follows a retired civil servant residing in St.

  2. 2 Demian

    Demian

    by Hermann Hesse

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Emil Sinclair grows up in a conventional, pious household, struggling to reconcile the "world of light" represented by his family with the "world of darkness" he observes in the streets.

  3. 3 Hamlet

    Hamlet

    by William Shakespeare

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Prince Hamlet returns to Elsinore, Denmark, for his father’s funeral, only to find his mother, Gertrude, married to his uncle, Claudius, who has seized the throne.

  4. 4 Franny and Zooey

    Franny and Zooey

    by J. D. Salinger

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Franny and Zooey consists of two connected narratives centered on the youngest members of the Glass family, a group of former child prodigies.

  5. 5 A Hero of Our Time

    A Hero of Our Time

    by Mikhail Lermontov

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Set against the rugged landscape of the Caucasus Mountains, the novel follows Grigory Pechorin, a young Russian officer whose life is defined by boredom and emotional detachment.

  6. 6 The Death of Ivan Ilych

    The Death of Ivan Ilych

    by Leo Tolstoy

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Ivan Ilych is a high-ranking judge in nineteenth-century Russia who builds a life around social status, material comfort, and strict professional decorum.

  7. 7 Il fu Mattia Pascal

    Il fu Mattia Pascal

    by Luigi Pirandello

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Mattia Pascal, a small-town librarian in Italy, is trapped in a miserable marriage and weighed down by his mother-in-law's temper.

  8. 8 Crime and Punishment

    Crime and Punishment

    by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Rodion Raskolnikov, a destitute former student living in a cramped St.

  9. 9 One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand

    One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand

    by Luigi Pirandello

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Vitangelo Moscarda, a man of comfortable means who has inherited a bank from his father, is told by his wife that his nose is crooked.

  10. 10 The Kreutzer Sonata

    The Kreutzer Sonata

    by Leo Tolstoy, Doris Lessing

    Also deep and inward-looking · philosophy, literary

    Pozdnyshev, a Russian landowner traveling by train, recounts the events leading to his wife’s murder.

  11. 11 Confessions of a Mask

    Confessions of a Mask

    by Yukio Mishima, Meredith Weatherby

    Also deep and inward-looking · literary, psychology

    The novel chronicles the internal struggles of its narrator, Kochan, as he navigates his adolescence and young adulthood in post-war Japan.

  12. 12 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

    by Edward Albee

    Also deep and inward-looking · literary, psychology

    Middle-aged history professor George and his wife Martha return home after a campus party and invite a younger couple, Nick and Honey, for late-night drinks.

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