swap_horiz The Diviners Alternatives

1

Stoner

John Williams’ *Stoner* chronicles the life of Edwin “Stoner” Grant, a Midwestern student at Midwestern State Teachers C...

1960S Literary Fiction Tragic Professorial

9.4 Excellent

2

Kokoro

Kokoro is a significant literary work by Natsume Soseki set in Japan’s Meiji Era. The novel centers on the evolving rela...

Literary Fiction 1910S Meiji Era Japanese University

9.1 Excellent

3

Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus is Thomas Mann’s sprawling 1947 novel exploring themes of ambition and morality through the story of Adri...

Intellectual Literary Fiction 1940S German Music School

8.9 Great

4

Possession: A Romance

Possession explores a complex romantic mystery set within the academic world of 1990s Britain. The novel centers on lite...

Romance 1990S Literary Fiction UK University

8.8 Great

5

Fifth Business

Fifth Business explores themes of memory and consequence through the recollections of Rearrangement Phillips, a retired...

1970S Literary Fiction Professorial Robertson Davies

8.8 Great

6

A Prayer for Owen Meany

John Irving’s *A Prayer for Owen Meany* explores faith, friendship, and destiny through the story of John Wheelwright an...

Coming Of Age 1980S Literary Fiction Boarding School

8.7 Great

7

No Longer Human

No Longer Human is an influential 1948 novel by Osamu Dazai. It portrays the isolation and psychological struggles of a...

Coming Of Age Literary Fiction 1940S Japanese University

8.7 Great

8

Villette

Charlotte Brontë's 1853 novel drawing on her years as a teacher in Brussels, following an Englishwoman who forges an ind...

Coming Of Age Victorian Literary Fiction Bronte

8.6 Great

9

The History Man

1975 novel by Malcolm Bradbury following radical sociologist Howard Kirk at fictional University of Watermouth, later ad...

1970S Literary Fiction Academic Satire UK University

8.3 Great

10

World of Wonders

Robertson Davies's 1975 novel concludes the Deptford trilogy through the life story of Magnus Eisengrim, a celebrated Ca...

Theatrical 1970S Literary Fiction Robertson Davies

8.1 Great

11

What's Bred in the Bone

Robertson Davies's 1985 Cornish trilogy novel traces the secret life of art collector Francis Cornish and was shortliste...

Historical 1980S Literary Fiction Robertson Davies

8.0 Great

12

The Manticore

Robertson Davies's 1972 Deptford trilogy novel, structured as a Jungian analysis, won the Governor General's Award for E...

Canadian 1970S Literary Fiction Robertson Davies

8.0 Great

13

Leaven of Malice

Robertson Davies's 1954 novel, second in the Salterton trilogy, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and turns on a...

Comedy 1950S Literary Fiction Robertson Davies

7.8 Good

14

Tempest-Tost

Robertson Davies's 1951 debut novel, first in the Salterton trilogy, is set in a small Ontario city and revolves around...

Comedy 1950S Literary Fiction Robertson Davies

7.7 Good

15

End Zone

1972 novel by Don DeLillo set at fictional Logos College in West Texas, using American football as a lens for exploring...

1970S Football Literary Fiction Us College

7.5 Good

16

The Professor of Desire

Philip Roth's 1977 novel tracing English professor David Kepesh's erotic and intellectual development from college throu...

1970S Literary Fiction Philip Roth Professorial

7.5 Good

17

A Word Child

Iris Murdoch's 1975 novel follows an Oxford-educated man, expelled from academia after a fatal scandal, now working as a...

Intellectual 1970S Literary Fiction Oxford Graduate

7.5 Good

18

The Women's Room

Marilyn French's 1977 novel follows a woman from suburban marriage through Harvard graduate school and became a landmark...

Feminism 1970S Literary Fiction Harvard Grad School

7.4 Good

19

A Good School

Richard Yates's 1978 novel set at a fictional New England boarding school during World War II draws on his own wartime a...

Coming Of Age 1970S Literary Fiction Boarding School

7.1 Good

20

The Pregnant Widow

Martin Amis's 2010 novel set among students summering in an Italian villa in 1970, examining the sexual revolution's psy...

Coming Of Age 1970S Literary Fiction Student Life

6.8 Fair