Books like The Sea
12 books with a reading profile close to The Sea by John Banville. Deep, inward-looking, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
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1
We Do Not Part
by Han Kang
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
The narrative follows Gyeong-ha, a novelist in Seoul struggling with the psychological aftermath of writing a book about a historical massacre.
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2
Middlesex
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
Callie Stephanides grows up in mid-century Detroit as a girl, unaware that she carries a rare genetic mutation inherited from her Greek grandparents.
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3
The People in the Trees
Also deep and open-ended · dense, narrative
Norton Perina, an ambitious young immunologist, travels to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu'ivu in 1950 to investigate a lost tribe.
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4
Song of Solomon
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
Macon "Milkman" Dead III grows up in a wealthy but emotionally stifled Black household in Michigan, isolated from the struggles of his community and the history of his ancestors.
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5
4 3 2 1
by Paul Auster
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
Archie Ferguson is born in Newark in 1947, the son of a Jewish furniture-store owner.
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6
Sula
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
In the segregated neighborhood of Medallion, Ohio, Nel Wright and Sula Peace share a girlhood bond that fractures as they enter adulthood.
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7
The God of Small Things
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
Set in Ayemenem, Kerala, during the late 1960s, the story follows fraternal twins Rahel and Estha as they navigate a rigid social hierarchy.
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8
American Pastoral
by Philip Roth
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
Seymour "Swede" Levov represents the fulfillment of the mid-century American dream as a successful Newark businessman, star athlete, and family man.
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9
NW
by Zadie Smith
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
NW focuses on four Londoners—Leah, Natalie, Felix, and Nathan—who grew up in the Caldwell council estate in the NW6 postcode.
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10
The Complete Stories
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
This 1971 collection brings together thirty-one stories set largely in the rural American South.
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11
The Corrections
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
The narrative centers on the Lambert family as they converge on their suburban Midwestern home for a final Christmas.
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12
Atonement
by Ian McEwan
Also deep and inward-looking · dense, narrative
On a sweltering English day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis observes a series of adult interactions she lacks the emotional maturity to interpret.
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