Books like “A Hero of Our Time”

What to read after “A Hero of Our Time” by Mikhail Lermontov: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Dead Souls
Nikolai Gogol · 1842
Similar setting: “Russian Empire”
- Russian Empire
- Morally Grey Character
Chichikov arrives in a provincial Russian town and charms its officials and landowners. He has come to buy serfs who have died but are still listed on the tax rolls, and his odd scheme draws him into the vanity and corruption of the society around him.
2
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy · 1878
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
Anna Karenina, married to a senior official, meets the young officer Vronsky at a Moscow railway station, and the attraction between them overturns her settled life. In parallel, the landowner Levin wrestles with faith, work and his courtship of Kitty. The novel follows both households and the price society demands.
3
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy · 1869
Similar setting: “Russian Empire”
- Russian Empire
- Love Triangle
Across the years of Napoleon's campaigns, the lives of several Russian families intertwine. Pierre searches for a purpose, Prince Andrei for glory and love, and Natasha grows up amid courtship and loss, while the war moves steadily toward the burning of Moscow.
4
The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger · 1951
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Expelled from prep school and drifting through New York before going home, teenager Holden Caulfield narrates a few days of restless encounters. He rails against adults he calls phonies while quietly grieving a brother and his own place in the world.
5
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- Morally Grey Character
A poor student in St Petersburg, convinced that great men stand above the law, murders a pawnbroker and her sister. What follows is less a chase than a slow unravelling, as guilt, a detective's needling and a young woman's faith close in on him.
6
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert · 1856
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
- Morally Grey Character
A country doctor's wife dreams of romance and a grander life than her dull provincial marriage offers. She takes lovers and spends beyond her means, chasing a happiness that keeps slipping away. A sharply observed novel about desire, debt and disillusion.
7
The Red and the Black
Stendhal · 1830
Same genre: “Psychological fiction”
- Love Triangle
- Morally Grey Character
An ambitious young man from a poor family claws his way into high society, first through the church and then through his charm. Torn between two women and his own hunger for status, he risks everything. A novel about ambition, class and love.
8
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston · 1937
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Janie Crawford tells her friend the story of her life: three marriages, a long search for love and independence, and the storm that changes everything. Set in the Black towns and farms of Florida, the novel follows her from a silent girl to a woman who speaks for herself.
9
Elric of Melniboné
Michael Moorcock · 1972
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
Elric is the frail albino emperor of Melniboné, an ancient island empire long past its glory. Sickly and thoughtful, he rejects his people's cruelty, only for his cousin to seize the throne. To reclaim it he takes up the soul-drinking sword Stormbringer, and its price follows him.
10
The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath · 1963
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Esther Greenwood wins a magazine internship in New York, but the city and the pressure of her bright future leave her feeling hollow. Back home, her mind begins to slip and she is drawn toward a darkness she cannot name, even as she tries to recover.
11
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque · 1929
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Paul Baumer and his classmates enlist in the German army straight from school, urged on by a patriotic teacher. Trench life strips away everything they were taught, and the friends cling to each other as the war grinds them down.
12
A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman · 2012
Similar atmosphere: “Melancholic”
- Melancholic
Ove is a grumpy widower who has decided there is nothing left for him, until a noisy young family moves in next door and keeps interrupting his plans. Piece by piece, the neighbourhood draws him back into a life he thought was over.