swap_horiz Passing Alternatives

1

Mrs. Dalloway

A single day in post-First World War London frames Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, published in 1925. Clarissa Dalloway...

Classic Drama Modernist 20TH Century

9.35 Excellent

2

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner’s *Absalom, Absalom!* explores the ambitious, ultimately tragic story of Thomas Sutpen’s attempt to bui...

Classic American 20TH Century Southern

8.68 Great

3

The Recognitions

William Gaddis’s *The Recognitions* explores themes of art, faith, and deception through a highly experimental narrative...

Classic American Postmodern Art

8.44 Great

4

Light in August

William Faulkner’s *Light in August* explores complex themes within rural Mississippi during the 1930s. The novel examin...

Classic American 20TH Century Southern

8.34 Great

5

Cry, the Beloved Country

Alan Paton’s *Cry, the Beloved Country* explores profound themes of race and justice in rural South Africa during the pr...

Classic Social South African Race

8.32 Great

6

The Ambassadors

Henry James’ *The Ambassadors* explores the complexities of cultural adjustment and disillusionment through the experien...

Classic American Realist Society

8.28 Great

7

Babbitt

Sinclair Lewis’s *Babbitt* portrays George F. Babbitt, a suburban realtor in Zenith City, Illinois. The novel is notable...

Business Classic American Satire

8.28 Great

8

Wise Blood

Flannery O’Connor’s *Wise Blood* explores themes of disillusionment and spiritual searching through the character of Haz...

Classic American Southern Gothic Religious

8.18 Great

9

Rabbit, Run

John Updike’s *Rabbit, Run* explores the disillusionment of Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a working-class man navigating subu...

Classic American Suburban Realist

8.14 Great

10

The Awakening

Kate Chopin’s *The Awakening* explores the restrictive nature of marriage and societal expectations for women in late ni...

Classic American Feminist Marriage

8.12 Great

11

Main Street

Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street examines the stifling effects of conformity within a struggling Midwestern community. The n...

Classic American Satire Small Town

8.08 Great

12

Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome is a 1911 novella by American writer Edith Wharton, set in the fictional rural town of Starkfield, Massachus...

Classic American Rural Tragic

7.88 Good

13

The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth is a 1905 novel by American author Edith Wharton. The narrative follows Lily Bart, a beautiful but im...

Classic American Wharton 20TH Century

7.80 Good

14

Giovanni's Room

Giovanni's Room is a 1956 novel by James Baldwin, published by Dial Press and set largely in Paris. It follows David, a...

Classic American 20TH Century Lgbtq+

7.76 Good

15

Go Tell It on the Mountain

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is a semi-autobiographical novel by American writer James Baldwin, originally published in...

Classic American 20TH Century Race

7.70 Good

16

Sula

"Sula" is a 1973 novel by Toni Morrison that explores the complex friendship between two Black women, Sula Peace and Nel...

American 20TH Century Friendship Race

7.66 Good

17

Tender Is the Night

Tender Is the Night is a modernist novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in 1934. Set primarily in Europe on the...

Classic American Modernist 20TH Century

7.65 Good

18

Sister Carrie

Sister Carrie is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, first published in 1900, and an important work of American literary natura...

Classic American Naturalist 20TH Century

7.53 Good

19

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Cancer is a modernist novel by American author Henry Miller, first published in Paris by Obelisk Press in 1934...

Classic American Controversial Modernist

7.42 Good

20

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe, first published in book form in 185...

Classic American 19TH Century Slavery

6.83 Fair