Herman Melville
Moby-Dick: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Joseph ConradHeart of DarknessMarlow, an experienced sailor, travels up an African river in search of Kurtz, a mysterious agent of a trading company. As the journey progresses, he discovers a world marked by violence, exploitation, and moral ambiguity. The figure of Kurtz, both fascinating and disturbing,…Same genre
Jonathan SwiftGulliver's TravelsGulliver, a doctor and traveler, journeys through extraordinary lands inhabited by beings of radically different sizes and customs. With each voyage, he discovers societies that mirror and criticize the vices of the real world. Among giants, miniature peoples, and strange…Same genre
Jules VerneTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeasIn 1866 an unexplained sea monster alarms the navies of the world; in July 1867 Professor Aronnax sails to hunt it down. A collision with the monster throws him overboard along with a Canadian harpooner, and his servant jumps in after him: all three are taken aboard the…Same genreSame era
Herman MelvilleBartleby, the ScrivenerA Wall Street lawyer hires a new copyist, Bartleby, silent and at first beyond reproach. Asked one day to do an ordinary task, the clerk answers that he would prefer not to, and repeats it to every later request. Settled in the office, demanding nothing and yielding nothing, he…By the same authorSame genreSame era
John Stuart MillOn LibertyThe author examines the foundations of individual freedom in relation to the power of society and the state. He defends the idea that each person must be able to think, speak, and act freely as long as it does not harm others. Through clear and structured reasoning, he warns…Same genreSame era
Jean-Jacques RousseauThe Social ContractRousseau begins from a statement: man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. He then looks for a form of association in which each, uniting with all, still obeys only himself. From this pact he draws popular sovereignty, the general will, law as the expression of all,…Same genre
Mikhail LermontovA Hero of Our TimeIn the Caucasus of the 1830s, several voices describe the same man: Pechorin, a Russian officer, brilliant and destructive. An old captain recounts the abduction of a Circassian girl, and the traveller who hears him later reads his notebooks. They tell of a season at the spa…Same genreSame era
Rudyard KiplingThe Jungle BookMowgli, a child raised by wolves in the jungle, learns to survive among animals and understand their laws. Guided by Baloo the wise bear and Bagheera the protective panther, he grows between the human and wild worlds. But the threat of the tiger Shere Khan looms over him,…Same genre
Alexandre DumasThe Count of Monte CristoIn 1815 Edmond Dantès, a young first mate promised a command and a bride, is denounced on the day of his betrothal. Imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, he meets the abbé Faria, who teaches him and tells of a hidden treasure. Under the name of the Count of Monte…Same genreSame era
Yevgeny ZamyatinWeIn the One State, ringed by a wall of glass, people carry numbers and live by a fixed timetable in transparent flats. D-503, engineer of the spaceship Integral, keeps a journal meant for the peoples he will help conquer, until he meets I-330, who pulls him outside the rules.…Same genre
Honoré de BalzacThe Wild Ass's SkinRuined and resolved to die, young Raphaël de Valentin walks into an antique shop, where the dealer gives him a wild ass's skin covered with signs. The talisman grants every wish of its owner, but it shrinks with each wish, and its master's life shrinks with it. Rich overnight,…Same genreSame era
Miguel de CervantesDon QuixoteA gentleman of La Mancha has read so many books of chivalry that he sets out as a knight errant under the name Don Quixote. On a broken-down horse, with Sancho Panza, a talkative and practical farmer, he takes inns for castles and windmills for giants. His expeditions end in…Same genre