Osamu Dazai
No Longer Human: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
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…Same genre
Machado de AssisThe AlienistBack from Europe, Dr. Simão Bacamarte settles in the small town of Itaguaí, in Brazil, and later founds an asylum there, the Green House, to study madness scientifically. His criteria widen week by week: first a respected citizen, then so many residents that the asylum ends up…Same genre
Fyodor DostoevskyThe Brothers KaramazovFyodor Karamazov, a debauched father, is set against his eldest son Dmitri over an inheritance and the same woman. Around them Ivan, tormented by the problem of evil, and Alyosha, a novice at the monastery, take opposite paths, while the servant Smerdyakov looks on. When the…Same genre
Fyodor DostoevskyCrime and PunishmentRaskolnikov, a poor student in Saint Petersburg, believes that certain men can transgress moral laws to achieve great things. He commits a crime he deems justified but is quickly consumed by intense inner turmoil. Between guilt, fear, and pride, his mind wavers as those around…Same genre
Oscar WildeThe Picture of Dorian GrayDorian Gray, a young man of exceptional beauty, sees his portrait age in his place while he keeps a flawless appearance. Influenced by Lord Henry, a cynical and provocative figure, he abandons himself to a life of boundless pleasure. But every act leaves a mark on his portrait,…Same genre
Virginia WoolfMrs DallowayClarissa Dalloway, a woman of London high society, prepares a party while revisiting her memories and life choices. Over the course of the day, her thoughts intertwine with those of other characters, including Septimus, a former soldier scarred by the war. Their parallel yet…Same genreSame era
Franz KafkaThe TrialOne morning Josef K., a senior clerk at a bank, is arrested in his lodgings by two warders who tell him nothing of the charge and leave him free to go to work. The case proceeds without being explained to him, in the attic of a suburban tenement where a court sits among piles…Same genreSame era
Saint AugustineConfessionsAugustine, in search of truth, retraces his path from a youth marked by doubt and excess to his spiritual conversion. He explores his mistakes, questions, and the influences that shaped his thought. Through this introspection, he seeks to understand the nature of good, evil,…Same genre
Stefan ZweigLetter from an Unknown WomanA well-known novelist comes home on his birthday and finds a long letter from a woman whose name he does not know. In it she tells her whole life, from the day when, still a girl, she watched him move into her building in Vienna. For years she loved him without making herself…Same genreSame era
Stefan ZweigChess StoryOn a liner sailing from New York to Buenos Aires travels Mirko Czentovic, the world chess champion, a boatman's son who knows almost nothing beyond the board. The narrator persuades a few passengers to buy a game from him, which the champion wins easily. A stranger, Dr B.,…Same genreSame era
Lu XunA Call to Arms · The True Story of Ah QThis collection brings together Lu Xun’s first stories, published in the years just after the fall of the empire. A man reads in the history books that his neighbours eat people, a down-at-heel scholar clings to his dignity in a tavern, a father buys his son a remedy soaked in…Same genreSame era
Stefan ZweigTwenty-Four Hours in the Life of a WomanAt a Riviera guest house, the flight of Madame Henriette with a young Frenchman she met the day before divides the guests. The narrator, alone in defending her, is soon taken into the confidence of Mrs C., an Englishwoman of sixty-seven still held by the memory of a single day.…Same genreSame era