swap_horiz The Magic Mountain Alternatives

1

Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West

Published in 1985, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West follows a teenage runaway known a...

20TH Century Historical Violent Western

9.55 Brilliant

2

In Search of Lost Time: Swann's Way

Published in French in 1913, Swann's Way opens Marcel Proust's seven-volume novel In Search of Lost Time. It moves betwe...

French Philosophical Modernist 20TH Century

9.51 Brilliant

3

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

4

The Waves

Virginia Woolf’s *The Waves* (1931) presents a profound exploration of consciousness through an innovative narrative str...

Classic Modernist Experimental English

8.88 Great

5

The Good Soldier

Ford Madox Ford’s *The Good Soldier* explores themes of betrayal and disillusionment through the perspective of John Dow...

Classic Modernist English Unreliable Narrator

8.72 Great

6

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

7

A Suitable Boy

"A Suitable Boy" is an epic novel written by Indian author Vikram Seth and published in 1993. Set in a newly post-indepe...

Epic 20TH Century Romance Family Saga

8.66 Great

8

The A.B.C. Murders

The A.B.C. Murders is a detective novel by Agatha Christie, first published in 1936. Hercule Poirot investigates a serie...

Mystery 20TH Century Serial Killer Whodunit

8.38 Great

9

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

10

Life and Fate

Vasily Grossman’s *Life and Fate* chronicles the devastating events surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad during World Wa...

Russian 20TH Century Historical War

8.34 Great

11

Ulysses by James Joyce

James Joyce’s *Ulysses* is a landmark novel set in Dublin. It chronicles Leopold Bloom’s wanderings across an ordinary d...

Classic Epic Philosophical Modernist

8.30 Great

12

Pedro Páramo

Juan Rulfo’s *Pedro Páramo* presents a haunting narrative set in Comala, Mexico. The novel explores themes of memory, gu...

Classic 20TH Century Magical Realism Mexican

8.29 Great

13

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse’s *Siddhartha* explores themes of self-discovery and enlightenment through the journey of a young man seek...

German Classic Philosophical Spiritual

8.22 Great

14

A House for Mr Biswas

V.S. Naipaul’s *A House for Mr Biswas* chronicles the struggles of Rampersad Biswas, an Indo-Trinidadian immigrant, as h...

Family 20TH Century Postcolonial Trinidadian

8.06 Great

15

Buddenbrooks

Thomas Mann’s *Buddenbrooks* chronicles the decline of a prosperous Lübeck merchant family over seven decades. This sign...

German Family 20TH Century Realist

8.04 Great

16

A Fine Balance

A Fine Balance is a historical novel by Indian-Canadian author Rohinton Mistry, published in 1995. Set in India during t...

Indian 20TH Century Historical Literary

7.94 Good

17

Suttree

"Suttree" is a novel written by American author Cormac McCarthy, first published in 1979. Set in the early 1950s, the na...

American 20TH Century Literary Southern

7.93 Good

18

The Castle

The Castle is an unfinished novel by Franz Kafka, written in German and published posthumously in 1926. It follows a man...

Modernist 20TH Century Kafka Czech

7.90 Good

19

Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys. The book serves as a postcolonial and feminist...

20TH Century Gothic Caribbean Postcolonial

7.80 Good

20

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