Literary fiction · Similar reads
Books like Notes from Underground
The best books like Notes from Underground are The Myth of Sisyphus, Being and Nothingness, and Steppenwolf. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky is about resentment and self-consciousness, free will versus determinism, modern alienation. 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 Myth of Sisyphus
01
Albert Camus · Philosophy
The Myth of Sisyphus begins with what Camus calls the only truly serious philosophical question: why not commit suicide?
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Being and Nothingness
02
Jean-Paul Sartre · Philosophy
Being and Nothingness is Sartre's major philosophical treatise and the founding text of French existentialism.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Steppenwolf
03
Hermann Hesse · Philosophy
Steppenwolf is Hermann Hesse's most psychologically intense and formally inventive novel, published in 1927 at a time of personal crisis.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Man's Search for Meaning
04
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 Trial
05
Franz Kafka · Literary fiction
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, Josef K.
Both dig into modern alienation.
Read the summary → - A Farewell to Arms
06
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
07
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
08
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
09
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 → - A Thousand Acres
10
Jane Smiley · Literary fiction
A Thousand Acres retells King Lear on a thousand-acre Iowa farm in the 1970s.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - A Visit from the Goon Squad
11
Jennifer Egan · Literary fiction
A Visit from the Goon Squad is a novel told in thirteen chapters, each from a different point of view and sometimes in a radically different form — including one chapter composed entirely as a PowerPoint presentation.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
12
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain · Literary fiction
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins where Tom Sawyer left off — Huck Finn, the outcast son of the town drunk, has been taken in and given a respectable life he doesn't want.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary →
Books like Notes from Underground: quick answers
What are the best books like Notes from Underground?
The best books like Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky are The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, The Trial by Franz Kafka, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Notes from Underground, such as resentment and self-consciousness, free will versus determinism, modern alienation.
What should I read after Notes from Underground?
A natural next read after Notes from Underground is The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. A kindred literary fiction read. Other strong choices are Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
What books are similar to Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky?
Notes from Underground centers on resentment and self-consciousness, free will versus determinism, modern alienation. Books with a similar feel include The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus, Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, The Trial by Franz Kafka, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
