18 books like The cloud atlas

What to read after The cloud atlas — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Of time and the river Thomas Wolfe · 1935 · ★ 4.2 · 912p · ≈ 30h · Challenging This book continues the story of Eugene Gant, the protagonist in Look Homeward Angel. If you have read and liked Angel you should definitely follow through and read this(vol 1 and 2). Autobiographical in nature.. Shares: Young men, Bildungsromans

Sophie's Choice William Styron · 1979 · ★ 4.2 · 624p · ≈ 20h · Moderate The gripping, unforgettable story of Stingo, a 22-year-old writer; Sophie, a Polish-Catholic beauty who survived the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz; and Nathan, her mercurial lover. The three friends share magical, heart-warming times until doom overtakes them as Sophie's and Nathan's darkest secrets are revealed. Shares: Young men, War stories, Bildungsromans, Romance

Bicycle days John Burnham Schwartz · 1989 · 253p · ≈ 8h · Moderate When Alec Stern arrives in Japan, he discovers a land of opportunity. For only in Tokyo could an impressionable young man fresh out of college find, in one stroke, a new job, a new family, and a society that lavishes attention on Japanese-speaking gaijin. Yet, even as Alec claims a place in this new world, he is haunted by memories of the one he left behind—a world once infinitely secure but… Shares: Young men, Bildungsromans

The wolves of winter Tyrell Johnson · 2018 · ★ 3.8 · 338p · ≈ 11h · Moderate "A captivating tale of humanity pushed beyond its breaking point, The Wolves of Winter follows a heroic young woman who crosses all boundaries to save the ones she loves."--Cover. Shares: Alaska, Bildungsromans

Northern Lights Nora Roberts · 2004 · ★ 4.1 · 562p · ≈ 18h · Moderate Lunacy, Alaska, was Nate Burke’s last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he’d watched his partner die on the street—and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as Chief of Police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town. But just as he wonders whether this has been all a big mistake, an unexpected kiss on New Year’s Eve under the brilliant Northern Lights of the Alaska sky lifts… Shares: Alaska, Romance

The Winds of War Herman Wouk · 1971 · ★ 4.6 · 890p · ≈ 29h · Moderate Follows the various members of the Henry family as they become involved in the events preceeding America's involvement in World War II. Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation. Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and… Shares: War stories, World War II

Why are we in Vietnam? Norman Mailer · 1967 · ★ 3.7 · 208p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Narrated by Ranald ("D.J.") Jethroe, Texas's most precocious teenager, on the eve of his departure to fight in Vietnam, this story of a hunting trip in Alaska is both brilliantly entertaining and profoundly thoughtful. Shares: Young men, Bildungsromans

Armageddon in Retrospect Kurt Vonnegut · 1998 · ★ 3.9 · 240p · ≈ 8h · Moderate To be published on the first anniversary of Kurt Vonnegut's death, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve new and unpublished writings on war and peace. Imbued with Vonnegut's trademark rueful humor, the pieces range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II—an essay that is as timely today as it was then—to a painfully funny short story… Shares: War stories, World War II

Miss Marjoribanks Margaret Oliphant · 1866 · 546p · ≈ 18h · Challenging When Dr. Marjoribanks’s wife dies, his teenage daughter makes it her purpose in life “to be a comfort to dear papa.” At least, Lucilla thinks, ten years of such devotion might suffice, by which time she might have begun to “go off.” But beneath this grand intention lies a yet more ambitious plan: to revolutionize the moribund and constricted social life of Carlingford. She is remarkably… Shares: Bildungsromans, Romance

The Spymasters W. E. B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV · 2012 · ★ 4.1 · 424p · ≈ 14h · Moderate Summer 1943. Two of the Allies' most important plans for winning World War II are at grave risk - Operation Overlord's invasion of France, and the Manhattan Project's race to build the atomic bomb. A furious FDR turns to OSS spy chief Wild Bill Donovan - and Donovan turns to his top agent, Dick Canidy, and his team. Their work is cut out for them. In the weeks to come they will fight not only the… Shares: War stories, World War II

Reef Romesh Gunesekera · 1994 · ★ 3.4 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Triton is a young chef who was forced to leave his father's house to work for Mr. Ranjan Salgado, a marine biologist obsessed by swamps, sea movements, and a Sri Lankan island's disappearing reef. Almost immediately, thanks to his master's obsessions, Triton works hard to please him with his carefully prepared delicacies. But neither of them know that the political unrest threatening Sri Lanka… Shares: Young men, Bildungsromans

King Rat James Clavell · 1950 · ★ 4.2 · 371p · ≈ 12h · Moderate The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power and corrupt or destroy… Shares: War stories, World War II

Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts Joseph von Eichendorff · 1864 · ★ 3.3 · 150p · ≈ 5h · Challenging Der Taugenichts ist Sohn eines Müllers und durch und durch Romantiker. Mit den elenden Philistern und der engen Welt, in der sie leben, will er um keinen Preis etwas zu tun haben. Als sein Vater ihn aus dem Haus wirft, damit er endlich lernt, für sich selbst zu sorgen, zieht er mit seiner Geige zu Fuss durchs Land bis nach Italien und lebt seine Freiheit. Auf einem Schloss hatte er sich in eine… Shares: Young men, Bildungsromans

Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières · 1994 · ★ 4.0 · 534p · ≈ 17h · Moderate De dochter van een Griekse dokter wordt tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog gescheiden van haar geliefde, een kapitein in het Italiaanse leger. Shares: War stories, World War II

Ragnarok A. S. Byatt · 2011 · ★ 3.5 · 192p · ≈ 6h · Moderate As the bombs of the Blitz rain down on Britain, one young girl is evacuated to the countryside. She is struggling to make sense of her new wartime life. Then she is given a copy of Asgard and the Gods -- a book of ancient Norse myths -- and her inner and outer worlds are transformed. Shares: War stories, World War II

Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer · 2002 · ★ 3.9 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate A young man arrives in the Ukraine, clutching in his hand a tattered photograph. He is searching for the woman who fifty years ago saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Unfortunately, however, he is aided in his quest by Alex, a translator with an uncanny ability to mangle English into new forms; a 'blind' old man haunted by memories of the war; and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis, Jr,… Shares: Young men, World War II

War and remembrance Herman Wouk · 1978 · ★ 4.4 From the Middle East, to Moscow, to Hitler's death camps, the members of the Henry family face grave danger as they fight in the Second World War. Shares: War stories, World War II

The English Patient Michael Ondaatje · 1992 · ★ 3.9 · 308p · ≈ 10h · Moderate With ravishing beauty and unsettling intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. Hana, the exhausted nurse; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burned man who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of… Shares: War stories, World War II

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