Books like

Books like The Bell Jar

12 books with a reading profile close to The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Deep, inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

  1. 1 The Awakening

    The Awakening

    by Kate Chopin

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Edna Pontellier lives within the rigid social structures of late nineteenth-century Louisiana, moving between the French Quarter in New Orleans and the vacation community of Grand Isle.

  2. 2 The hours

    The hours

    by Michael Cunningham

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    In 1923 England, Virginia Woolf struggles with debilitating headaches while writing the first sentences of Mrs.

  3. 3 El túnel

    El túnel

    by Ernesto Sabato

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Juan Pablo Castel, a painter, tells the reader at the start that he has killed Maria Iribarne, and then he explains why.

  4. 4 Giovanni’s Room

    Giovanni’s Room

    by James Baldwin

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    In 1950s Paris, David, a young American living on his father’s allowance, struggles with his sexual identity while his fiancée, Hella, travels in Spain.

  5. 5 The Catcher in the Rye

    The Catcher in the Rye

    by J.D. Salinger

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy recently expelled from Pencey Prep, wanders through New York City over a cold December weekend.

  6. 6 Franny and Zooey

    Franny and Zooey

    by J.D. Salinger

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Set in Manhattan during the 1950s, the narrative centers on two siblings of the brilliant Glass family as they navigate a shared spiritual crisis.

  7. 7 Hedda Gabler

    Hedda Gabler

    by Henrik Ibsen

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Hedda Gabler returns from a honeymoon to a life of stifling domesticity and debt alongside her academic husband, George Tesman.

  8. 8 No Longer Human

    No Longer Human

    by Osamu Dazai

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    The narrative follows Yozo Oba, a young man who feels physically and mentally alienated from the human race.

  9. 9 A Separate Peace

    A Separate Peace

    by John Knowles

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Set against the backdrop of World War II at the Devon School, the story follows Gene Forrester, an intellectual student, and his charismatic roommate Phineas.

  10. 10 Death of a Salesman

    Death of a Salesman

    by Arthur Miller

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Willy Loman is an aging traveling salesman in Brooklyn whose mental health is fracturing under the weight of professional failure and debt.

  11. 11 A Single Man

    A Single Man

    by Christopher Isherwood

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Set in Southern California during the early 1960s, the novel follows twenty-four hours in the life of George, a middle-aged British professor grieving the sudden death of his partner, Jim.

  12. 12 Revolutionary Road

    Revolutionary Road

    by Richard Yates

    Also deep and inward-looking · narrative, psychology

    Frank and April Wheeler live in a Connecticut suburb, maintaining a surface of intellectual superiority over their neighbors while struggling with internal stagnation.

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