Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Robert Louis StevensonDr Jekyll and Mr HydeDr Jekyll, a respected scientist, develops an experiment that allows him to separate the two sides of his personality. Under the identity of Mr Hyde, he unleashes his darkest instincts without restraint. But this transformation becomes uncontrollable and threatens to destroy…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…By the same authorSame 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
Stefan ZweigFearIrene Wagner leads an untroubled bourgeois life in Vienna, married to a well-known defence lawyer and mother of two, and has been visiting a young pianist for some months. Leaving his flat one afternoon, she is stopped by a stranger who claims to be the man's discarded mistress…Same genreSame era
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 genreSame era
Stefan ZweigAmokAboard a liner home from Asia, a sleepless passenger approaches the narrator at night and asks him to keep a secret. A German doctor posted to a remote station in the Dutch East Indies, he tells of a European woman who came to demand an illegal operation. His refusal, dictated…Same genreSame era
Osamu DazaiNo Longer HumanThree notebooks, found with a few photographs, tell the life of Ōba Yōzō from childhood on. Convinced early that he understands nothing of other people, he plays the clown so that no one will guess his fear, and takes no rest from the act. As a student in Tokyo he drifts into…Same genre
Charlotte Perkins GilmanThe Yellow WallpaperA young woman is taken by her physician husband to a summer house, to rest from a nervous condition that followed a birth. Forbidden to write or to work, she keeps a secret journal and spends her days in a room hung with yellow wallpaper. The pattern on the wall slowly takes up…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
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
Guy de MaupassantThe HorlaAlone in his Normandy house, a man keeps a journal of the disturbances that began when a Brazilian three-master sailed past. He sleeps badly, drinks from his carafe at night without remembering it, and becomes sure an invisible being lives beside him. His notes, methodical at…Same genreSame era