Books like “The Trial”

What to read after “The Trial” by Franz Kafka: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Nineteen Eighty-Four
George Orwell · 1949
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Psychological Thriller”
- Dystopia
- Psychological Thriller
In the totalitarian superstate of Oceania, every thought and word is watched. Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting the past, until he starts a diary and a secret affair. His small rebellion against a system that controls reality itself slowly closes in around him.
2
Anthem
Ayn Rand · 1938
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
In a future run by the collective, the word I has no meaning and all work is done for the good of all. Equality 7-2521 breaks the rules by doing forbidden research and falling in love, then flees a society that cannot allow an individual to exist.
3
We
Yevgeny Zamyatin · 1924
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
In the glass city of OneState, citizens live by a strict timetable and are known only by numbers. When the mathematician D-503 begins to keep a private journal, a woman named I-330 draws him into a movement that wants to tear down the walls of the ordered world.
4
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1866
Similar atmosphere: “Psychological Thriller” and “Philosophical”
- Psychological Thriller
- Philosophical
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.
5
The Time Machine
H. G. Wells · 1895
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
An inventor builds a machine that carries him far into the future. He finds a gentle people living above ground and a sinister race below, and slowly learns what became of humanity. A short, influential tale of time travel and a dark vision of the end.
6
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess · 1962
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
Alex, a teenager who loves violence and classical music, leads his gang through nights of brutal crime. When the state captures him, it offers to cure his impulses with an experimental treatment, making him the subject of a system that manufactures both good and evil.
7
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley · 1932
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
In a future where citizens are engineered for contentment and kept calm with a drug called soma, Bernard Marx and the Savage John discover the cost of a stable, pleasure-driven society. John's arrival from a reservation exposes the emptiness behind the World State's comfort.
8
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick · 1968
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia” and “Philosophical”
- Dystopia
- Philosophical
In a dust-choked future, a bounty hunter is paid to retire androids that have escaped to Earth and passed as human. As he tracks them down he starts to question what makes a life real, and whether he can trust his own memories.
9
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad · 1899
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Philosophical
A sailor tells of his journey up an African river to reach a mysterious ivory trader who has become a god to the locals. The deeper he goes, the more he sees of greed and cruelty, and of what people become when no one restrains them. A short, unsettling classic.
10
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway · 1952
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Philosophical
An aging Cuban fisherman, Santiago, has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. When a huge marlin finally takes his line far out to sea, he must hold on through a long, painful contest of endurance and will.
11
Animal Farm
George Orwell · 1945
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
The animals of Manor Farm drive out their human master and run the farm themselves, promising equality for all. The pigs slowly take control, and their revolution turns into a new kind of tyranny, showing how power can corrupt those who hold it.
12
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury · 1953
Similar atmosphere: “Dystopia”
- Dystopia
Guy Montag is a fireman who burns books in a future where reading is a crime and screens fill every quiet moment. After a young neighbour asks him whether he is happy, curiosity makes him hide a book of his own, and he begins to question everything his job stands for.