Books like The Elephant Vanishes
12 books with a reading profile close to The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami. Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
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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2
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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3
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
by Mohsin Hamid
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
In a single evening at a Lahore cafe, Changez narrates his life story to an unidentified American visitor.
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4
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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5
Recitatif
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
Toni Morrison’s only short story follows Twyla and Roberta, two girls who first meet as roommates at the St.
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6
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
Haruki Murakami's collection of twenty-four stories gathers work from over a decade.
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7
Doce cuentos peregrinos
Also open-ended and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Doce cuentos peregrinos follows Latin American migrants living throughout Europe, from the rainy streets of Geneva to the apartments of Barcelona and Rome.
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8
Tenth of December
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
George Saunders’ collection of short fiction presents characters navigating moral crises within a landscape of economic precarity and pharmaceutical intervention.
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9
Jesus’ Son
Also deep and open-ended · narrative, literary
Eleven linked stories follow a drifting narrator through the drug-addled margins of the American Midwest and Pacific Northwest in the 1970s.
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10
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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11
Asymmetry
Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
Lisa Halliday's debut novel is in two parts that seem unrelated.
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12
Everything is Illuminated
Also open-ended and thought-provoking · narrative, literary
A young American named Jonathan Safran Foer travels to post-Soviet Ukraine to locate Augustine, a woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
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