18 books like Native Son

What to read after Native Son — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh · 1945 · ★ 4.0 · 327p · ≈ 10h · Challenging The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles… Shares: Drama

Little Green Walter Mosley · 2013 · ★ 4.5 · 291p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Surviving a near-fatal car wreck and cruising the streets of the Sunset Strip during the heyday of the late 1960s, Easy Rawlins investigates the disappearance of a young African-American, a case that is complicated by Rawlins's changing perspectives. Shares: African American men, African Americans

Invisible Man Ralph Ellison · 1952 · ★ 3.9 · 450p · ≈ 15h · Moderate Invisible Man is the story of a young black man from the South who does not fully understand racism in the world. Filled with hope about his future, he goes to college, but gets expelled for showing one of the white benefactors the real and seamy side of black existence. He moves to Harlem and becomes an orator for the Communist party, known as the Brotherhood. In his position, he is both… Shares: African American men, African Americans, Classics

Angela Davis Angela Y. Davis · 1974 · ★ 3.5 · 400p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Her own powerful story to 1972, told with warmth, brilliance, humor & conviction. The author, a political activist, reflects upon the people & incidents that have influenced her life & commitment to global liberation of the oppressed. Shares: Communism, African Americans

Soul on ice Eldridge Cleaver · 1863 · ★ 4.0 · 210p · ≈ 7h · Challenging A collection of essays and open letters written while a prisoner at California's Folsom State prison. Shares: Blacks, African Americans

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred D. Taylor · 1976 · ★ 3.9 · 210p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, it is the story of one family's struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence. It is a story of physical survival, but more important, it is a story of the survival of the human spirit. And, too, it is Cassie's story -- Cassie Logan, an independent girl raised by a family for whom independence is primary, a family determined not… Shares: Blacks, African Americans, Classics

Redbone Ron Stodghill · 2006 · ★ 4.2 · 256p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Lance Herndon was at the top of his game in 1996. At age forty-one he was a self-made millionaire, the owner of Access, Inc., a successful information-systems consulting company. As a prominent member of Atlanta's young, wealthy, and powerful set, he was surrounded by black Atlanta's "beautiful people." But when he failed to show up for work one day, friends and family started to worry. Their… Shares: African American men, African Americans

Roots Alex Haley · 1861 · ★ 4.4 · 476p · ≈ 15h · Challenging Roots is a novel written by Alex Haley and published in 1976. It portrays the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States, and follows his life and the lives of his alleged descendants in the U.S. down to Haley. The release of the novel, combined with its hugely popular television adaptation, Roots (1977), led to a cultural… Shares: Blacks, African Americans

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (Easy Rawlins Mysteries) Walter Mosley · 1990 · ★ 4.0 · 219p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins has few illusions about the world--at least not about the world of a young black veteran in the late 1940s in Southern California. His stint in the Army didn't do anything to dissuade him from his belief that justice doesn't come cheap, especially for men like him. "I thought there might be some justice for a black man if he had money to grease it," Easy says. Fired… Shares: African American men, African Americans

If Beale Street Could Talk James Baldwin · 1974 · ★ 4.3 · 197p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Like the blues -- sweet, sad and full of truth -- this masterly work of fiction rocks us with powerful emotions. In it are anger and pain, but above all, love -- affirmative love of a woman for her man, the sustaining love of a black family. Fonny, a talented young artist, finds himself unjustly arrested and locked in New York's infamous tombs. But his girlfriend, Tish, is determined to… Shares: African American men, African Americans

East of Eden John Steinbeck, David Wyatt & Susan Shillinglaw Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the interwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of… Shares: Classics

Lord of the Flies William Golding, Lois Lowry & Jennifer Buehler Lord of the Flies is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of prepubescent British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves that lead to a descent into savagery. The novels themes include morality, leadership, and the tension between civility and chaos. Shares: Classics

The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas · 1964 · ★ 4.5 · 242p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Shares: Classics

The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov · 141p · ≈ 4h · Moderate The Master and Margarita () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967 by his widow Elena Bulgakova. The manuscript was first published as a book in 1967, in Paris, France. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official… Shares: Classics

Les Misérables Christine Donougher & Victor Hugo Les Misérables (, ) is a French epic historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television, and the stage, including a musical. Shares: Classics

The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin & Charlie Jane Anders The Left Hand of Darkness is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, its popularity established Le Guins status as a major author of science fiction. The novel is set in the fictional universe of the Hainish Cycle, a series of novels and short stories by Le Guin, which she introduced in the 1964 short story "The Dowry of Angyar". It was fourth in… Shares: Classics

Crossing to Safety Wallace Stegner, Terry Tempest Williams & T.H. Watkins Crossing to Safety is a 1987 semi-autobiographical novel by "The Dean of Western Writers", Wallace Stegner. One of his works set in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, it gained broad literary acclaim and commercial popularity. Shares: Classics

The World of Yesterday - An Autobiography Stefan Zweig, Helmut Ripperger & B.W. Huebsch Stefan Zweig's autobiography Shares: Classics

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