Literary fiction · Similar reads
Books like As I Lay Dying
The best books like As I Lay Dying are The Sound and the Fury, The Grapes of Wrath, and Man's Search for Meaning. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is about death and grief, family obligation, selfishness and sacrifice. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Sound and the Fury
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William Faulkner · Literary fiction
The Sound and the Fury is widely considered Faulkner's greatest novel, and it is genuinely one of the most formally radical works in American fiction.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - The Grapes of Wrath
02
John Steinbeck · Literary fiction
The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's 1939 novel about the Joad family, Oklahoma sharecroppers forced off their land by the Dust Bowl and bank foreclosure, who load everything they own onto a truck and drive Route 66 to California in search of work and a decent life.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Man's Search for Meaning
03
Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology
Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jean-Dominique Bauby · Memoir
Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle when he suffered a massive stroke in December 1995 that left him with complete paralysis of his body except for his left eyelid.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Between the World and Me
05
Ta-Nehisi Coates · Memoir
Between the World and Me is a letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son, Samori, about what it means to live in a Black body in the United States.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - My Struggle: Book 1
06
Karl Ove Knausgaard · Literary fiction
My Struggle: Book 1 opens with a long meditation on death — the image of a dead face on television, the cultural rituals that hide corpses from view — before settling into what the book is actually about: Knausgaard's childhood in Norway in the 1970s and early 80s, and his adult journey to clean out the house where his alcoholic father died.
Both dig into death and grief.
Read the summary → - Sophie's World
07
Jostein Gaarder · Philosophy
Sophie's World is Jostein Gaarder's novel about a fourteen-year-old Norwegian girl who begins receiving anonymous philosophy lessons — first as mysterious letters, then from a philosopher named Alberto Knox — that take her through the entire history of Western philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the present day.
Both dig into identity and consciousness.
Read the summary → - The Book Thief
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Markus Zusak · Historical fiction
The Book Thief is set in a small German town during World War II and narrated by Death.
Both dig into death and grief.
Read the summary → - A Farewell to Arms
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Ernest Hemingway · Literary fiction
A Farewell to Arms is set during the First World War in northern Italy and follows Frederic Henry, an American serving as a lieutenant in the Italian ambulance corps, who falls in love with Catherine Barkley, a British nurse.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Fine Balance
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Rohinton Mistry · Literary fiction
A Fine Balance is set in an unnamed Indian city during Indira Gandhi's Emergency of 1975–1977, a period of suspended democracy, forced sterilization, and slum clearances that is barely taught in the West and barely taught in India.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Little Life
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Hanya Yanagihara · Literary fiction
A Little Life follows four men from college into middle age and beyond — Willem, an actor; JB, a painter; Malcolm, an architect; and Jude, a lawyer with a past that is revealed in increasingly devastating detail as the novel progresses.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
James Joyce · Literary fiction
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man traces the intellectual and spiritual development of Stephen Dedalus from early childhood to the edge of adulthood, when he leaves Ireland to pursue life as an artist.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary →
Books like As I Lay Dying: quick answers
What are the best books like As I Lay Dying?
The best books like As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner are The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with As I Lay Dying, such as death and grief, family obligation, selfishness and sacrifice.
What should I read after As I Lay Dying?
A natural next read after As I Lay Dying is The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. A kindred literary fiction read. Other strong choices are The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby.
What books are similar to As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner?
As I Lay Dying centers on death and grief, family obligation, selfishness and sacrifice. Books with a similar feel include The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, My Struggle: Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
