27 Books like The Fall

The Stranger

by Albert Camus

A dry-eyed son buries his mother, kills a stranger, and watches a courtroom prosecute his heart.

4.03

1.4M+

🎭 Absurdist Fiction 😐 Detached Narrator ⚖️ Trial Of Character ✒️ Sparse Prose 🚶 Outsider Protagonist

The Stranger 92%

A dry-eyed son buries his mother, kills a stranger, and watches a courtroom prosecute his heart.

by Albert Camus 1942

4.03

1.4M+ ratings

🎭 Absurdist Fiction 😐 Detached Narrator ⚖️ Trial Of Character ✒️ Sparse Prose 🚶 Outsider Protagonist

Nausea

by Jean-Paul Sartre • 1938

A historian's diary becomes a record of his unraveling as ordinary objects turn hostile and unreal.

3.93

142k+

🖤 Existentialist Novel 📚 Philosophical Fiction 😶 Alienated Protagonist 📖 Diary Format 😵 Confronting Absurdity

Nausea 94%

A historian's diary becomes a record of his unraveling as ordinary objects turn hostile and unreal.

by Jean-Paul Sartre 1938

3.93

142k+ ratings

🖤 Existentialist Novel 📚 Philosophical Fiction 😶 Alienated Protagonist 📖 Diary Format 😵 Confronting Absurdity

A Happy Death

by Albert Camus • 1971

An Algiers clerk murders a wealthy philosopher, convinced a fortune buys the time happiness demands.

3.80

26k+

🖤 Existential Fiction 🎭 Absurdist Philosophy 💰 Money And Meaning 🔪 Philosophical Murder 🧊 Cool Detachment

A Happy Death 93%

An Algiers clerk murders a wealthy philosopher, convinced a fortune buys the time happiness demands.

by Albert Camus 1971

3.80

26k+ ratings

🖤 Existential Fiction 🎭 Absurdist Philosophy 💰 Money And Meaning 🔪 Philosophical Murder 🧊 Cool Detachment

Hygiène de l'assassin

by Amélie Nothomb • 1992

A dying author's final interviewer knows the truth: his novels conceal a childhood murder.

3.77

19k+

🗣️ Verbal Duel ✍️ Confession Narrative 🖤 Misanthrope Protagonist 🐱 Cat And Mouse 🎭 Grotesque And Cerebral

Hygiène de l'assassin 92%

A dying author's final interviewer knows the truth: his novels conceal a childhood murder.

by Amélie Nothomb 1992

3.77

19k+ ratings

🗣️ Verbal Duel ✍️ Confession Narrative 🖤 Misanthrope Protagonist 🐱 Cat And Mouse 🎭 Grotesque And Cerebral

Journey to the End of the Night

by Louis-Ferdinand Céline • 1932

A French medic's journey through war, colonialism, and poverty reveals a nightmare with no exit.

4.18

48k+

🪖 War Novel 🗺️ Picaresque Novel 🖤 Misanthropic Satire 😒 Cynical Narrator 💔 Toxic Obsession

Journey to the End of the Night 92%

A French medic's journey through war, colonialism, and poverty reveals a nightmare with no exit.

by Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1932

4.18

48k+ ratings

🪖 War Novel 🗺️ Picaresque Novel 🖤 Misanthropic Satire 😒 Cynical Narrator 💔 Toxic Obsession

The Clown

by Heinrich Böll • 1963

A clown in postwar Bonn unravels after the woman he loves leaves him for a Catholic.

3.93

32k+

🏚️ German Postwar 🤔 Existential Novel 🎭 Artistic Outsider ⛪ Religious Hypocrisy 🏛️ Postwar Hypocrisy

The Clown 92%

A clown in postwar Bonn unravels after the woman he loves leaves him for a Catholic.

by Heinrich Böll 1963

3.93

32k+ ratings

🏚️ German Postwar 🤔 Existential Novel 🎭 Artistic Outsider ⛪ Religious Hypocrisy 🏛️ Postwar Hypocrisy

Identity

by Milan Kundera • 1997

A woman who believes men no longer see her receives anonymous letters insisting she is beautiful.

3.69

34k+

🥐 French Existentialism 💌 Secret Admirer 💔 Deceptive Partner 🕰️ Aging And Desire 🌫️ Melancholy Atmosphere

Identity 92%

A woman who believes men no longer see her receives anonymous letters insisting she is beautiful.

by Milan Kundera 1997

3.69

34k+ ratings

🥐 French Existentialism 💌 Secret Admirer 💔 Deceptive Partner 🕰️ Aging And Desire 🌫️ Melancholy Atmosphere

The First Man

by Albert Camus • 1994

A fatherless boy in Algiers. A silent mother. A teacher who sees what he could become.

3.96

12k+

🖊️ Autofiction 🤔 Existentialism 👨‍👦 Absent Father 👨‍🏫 Mentorship 🌱 Coming Of Age

The First Man 91%

A fatherless boy in Algiers. A silent mother. A teacher who sees what he could become.

by Albert Camus 1994

3.96

12k+ ratings

🖊️ Autofiction 🤔 Existentialism 👨‍👦 Absent Father 👨‍🏫 Mentorship 🌱 Coming Of Age

Homo Faber

by Max Frisch • 1957

An engineer who trusts only statistics meets a young woman on a ship who will unravel everything.

3.68

32k+

📚 Mid-Century Modernism 🖤 Post-War Existentialism 🍀 Chance And Fate 🎭 Tragic Irony 🧠 Rationalist Protagonist

Homo Faber 91%

An engineer who trusts only statistics meets a young woman on a ship who will unravel everything.

by Max Frisch 1957

3.68

32k+ ratings

📚 Mid-Century Modernism 🖤 Post-War Existentialism 🍀 Chance And Fate 🎭 Tragic Irony 🧠 Rationalist Protagonist

The Plague

by Albert Camus • 1947

Plague quarantines Oran. A doctor confronts an epidemic that cannot be cured, only endured together.

4.02

319k+

🖤 Existentialist Fiction 📖 Philosophical Allegory 🦠 Epidemic Narrative 👨‍⚕️ Doctor Protagonist 🤝 Solidarity In Crisis

The Plague 91%

Plague quarantines Oran. A doctor confronts an epidemic that cannot be cured, only endured together.

by Albert Camus 1947

4.02

319k+ ratings

🖤 Existentialist Fiction 📖 Philosophical Allegory 🦠 Epidemic Narrative 👨‍⚕️ Doctor Protagonist 🤝 Solidarity In Crisis

Caligula and Three Other Plays

by Albert Camus • 1949

Four plays by Albert Camus where grief becomes tyranny, silence kills, and justice demands blood.

4.07

3k+

🎭 Absurdist Drama 👑 Existential Tyranny 💣 Revolutionary Ethics 🏛️ Totalitarian Allegory 💬 Fatal Miscommunication

Caligula and Three Other Plays 91%

Four plays by Albert Camus where grief becomes tyranny, silence kills, and justice demands blood.

by Albert Camus 1949

4.07

3k+ ratings

🎭 Absurdist Drama 👑 Existential Tyranny 💣 Revolutionary Ethics 🏛️ Totalitarian Allegory 💬 Fatal Miscommunication

The Counterfeiters

by André Gide • 1925

Learning he's a bastard, a student flees his bourgeois life and stumbles into a novelist's fiction.

3.83

10k+

🎭 Novel Within A Novel 👤 Illegitimate Son 🎨 Artist Protagonist 💔 Doomed Affair 🖤 Existential Despair

The Counterfeiters 91%

Learning he's a bastard, a student flees his bourgeois life and stumbles into a novelist's fiction.

by André Gide 1925

3.83

10k+ ratings

🎭 Novel Within A Novel 👤 Illegitimate Son 🎨 Artist Protagonist 💔 Doomed Affair 🖤 Existential Despair

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

by Walker Percy • 1961

A New Orleans stockbroker drifts through pleasure and routine, searching for a life that feels true.

3.64

31k+

🎭 Southern Gothic 🤔 Existential Novel 🎬 Disaffected Narrator 🌊 Melancholy 🏙️ Mid-Century America

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy 90%

A New Orleans stockbroker drifts through pleasure and routine, searching for a life that feels true.

by Walker Percy 1961

3.64

31k+ ratings

🎭 Southern Gothic 🤔 Existential Novel 🎬 Disaffected Narrator 🌊 Melancholy 🏙️ Mid-Century America

Immortality

by Milan Kundera • 1990

A novelist sees a woman wave at a pool. He invents Agnes, who yearns to disappear.

4.14

43k+

📖 Philosophical Novel 🏛️ Fame And Posterity 🎭 Image And Reality 👯 Sibling Rivalry 💔 Marriage In Crisis

Immortality 90%

A novelist sees a woman wave at a pool. He invents Agnes, who yearns to disappear.

by Milan Kundera 1990

4.14

43k+ ratings

📖 Philosophical Novel 🏛️ Fame And Posterity 🎭 Image And Reality 👯 Sibling Rivalry 💔 Marriage In Crisis

The Erasers

by Alain Robbe-Grillet • 1953

A detective hunts a killer through a maze of canals, unaware the victim faked his death.

3.77

2k+

🏛️ Nouveau Roman 🪦 Faked Death 🎭 Mistaken Identity 🕵️ Conspiracy And Paranoia 📋 Bureaucratic Maze

The Erasers 90%

A detective hunts a killer through a maze of canals, unaware the victim faked his death.

by Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953

3.77

2k+ ratings

🏛️ Nouveau Roman 🪦 Faked Death 🎭 Mistaken Identity 🕵️ Conspiracy And Paranoia 📋 Bureaucratic Maze

The Third Policeman

by Flann O'Brien • 1967

Murder for money strands a man in a land policed by bicycles, the dead serving tea.

3.96

23k+

🌀 Absurdist Fiction ☘️ Irish Modernism 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 👤 Nameless Protagonist 🩸 Murder Guilt

The Third Policeman 90%

Murder for money strands a man in a land policed by bicycles, the dead serving tea.

by Flann O'Brien 1967

3.96

23k+ ratings

🌀 Absurdist Fiction ☘️ Irish Modernism 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 👤 Nameless Protagonist 🩸 Murder Guilt

Notes from Underground

by Fyodor Dostoevsky • 1864

A retired clerk in St. Petersburg pens a furious confession: his mind has made action impossible.

4.17

238k+

🖤 Existential Fiction 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 💔 Self-Loathing Protagonist 🦹 Antihero 🇷🇺 19th Century Russia

Notes from Underground 90%

A retired clerk in St. Petersburg pens a furious confession: his mind has made action impossible.

by Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864

4.17

238k+ ratings

🖤 Existential Fiction 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 💔 Self-Loathing Protagonist 🦹 Antihero 🇷🇺 19th Century Russia

Le Rivage des Syrtes

by Julien Gracq • 1951

On a dead sea, a restless young officer guards a war three centuries silent.

4.01

2k+

📖 Allegorical Fiction ⏳ Endless Waiting 🚫 Forbidden Frontier 🌫️ Dreamlike Atmosphere 🏛️ Decaying Empire

Le Rivage des Syrtes 90%

On a dead sea, a restless young officer guards a war three centuries silent.

by Julien Gracq 1951

4.01

2k+ ratings

📖 Allegorical Fiction ⏳ Endless Waiting 🚫 Forbidden Frontier 🌫️ Dreamlike Atmosphere 🏛️ Decaying Empire

The Pledge

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt • 1957

To comfort a murdered girl's mother, a detective makes a promise that consumes him.

3.90

11k+

📚 Literary Crime Fiction 🔍 Obsessed Detective ⚖️ Mob Justice 🌑 Existential Despair 🕰️ Postwar Europe

The Pledge 90%

To comfort a murdered girl's mother, a detective makes a promise that consumes him.

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1957

3.90

11k+ ratings

📚 Literary Crime Fiction 🔍 Obsessed Detective ⚖️ Mob Justice 🌑 Existential Despair 🕰️ Postwar Europe

Marshlands

by André Gide • 1895

To write about a man at peace with stagnation, a writer must confront his own paralysis.

3.58

1k+

📖 Novel Within A Novel 🤔 Philosophical Fiction ✒️ Writer Protagonist 🥀 Ennui 🗼 Belle Epoque Paris

Marshlands 90%

To write about a man at peace with stagnation, a writer must confront his own paralysis.

by André Gide 1895

3.58

1k+ ratings

📖 Novel Within A Novel 🤔 Philosophical Fiction ✒️ Writer Protagonist 🥀 Ennui 🗼 Belle Epoque Paris

Small Boat

by Vincent Delecroix • 2023

A rescue operator answers a sinking migrant boat's distress calls, and her calm becomes the crime.

3.98

14k+

📖 Philosophical Novella 🛶 Migration Crisis 📋 Cold Bureaucracy 📞 Rescuer's Guilt 👁️ Complicit Witness

Small Boat 90%

A rescue operator answers a sinking migrant boat's distress calls, and her calm becomes the crime.

by Vincent Delecroix 2023

3.98

14k+ ratings

📖 Philosophical Novella 🛶 Migration Crisis 📋 Cold Bureaucracy 📞 Rescuer's Guilt 👁️ Complicit Witness

Huis clos

by Jean-Paul Sartre • 1944

Three strangers arrive in hell expecting torture. Instead they get a drawing room and each other.

4.11

47k+

🎭 Absurdist Theatre 🇫🇷 French Existentialism 💀 Philosophical Afterlife 🚪 Single Room Drama 🤥 Bad Faith

Huis clos 90%

Three strangers arrive in hell expecting torture. Instead they get a drawing room and each other.

by Jean-Paul Sartre 1944

4.11

47k+ ratings

🎭 Absurdist Theatre 🇫🇷 French Existentialism 💀 Philosophical Afterlife 🚪 Single Room Drama 🤥 Bad Faith

The Trial

by Franz Kafka • 1925

Arrested without charges, a bank clerk navigates a labyrinthine court where acquittal is a myth.

3.94

402k+

🎭 Absurdist Fiction 😱 Existential Dread 🏛️ Bureaucratic Nightmare 🌫️ Surreal Atmosphere 🏙️ Urban Alienation

The Trial 90%

Arrested without charges, a bank clerk navigates a labyrinthine court where acquittal is a myth.

by Franz Kafka 1925

3.94

402k+ ratings

🎭 Absurdist Fiction 😱 Existential Dread 🏛️ Bureaucratic Nightmare 🌫️ Surreal Atmosphere 🏙️ Urban Alienation

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by Milan Kundera • 1984

A Czech surgeon's womanizing and his wife's jealousy meet the 1968 Soviet invasion.

4.10

552k+

🧠 Existential Novel 👁️ Jealousy And Obsession 🔺 Literary Love Triangle 🐶 Canine Companion 🥀 Wistful Romance

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Summary

The Unbearable Lightness of Being 90%

A Czech surgeon's womanizing and his wife's jealousy meet the 1968 Soviet invasion.

by Milan Kundera 1984

4.10

552k+ ratings

🧠 Existential Novel 👁️ Jealousy And Obsession 🔺 Literary Love Triangle 🐶 Canine Companion 🥀 Wistful Romance

The Kindly Ones

by Jonathan Littell • 2009

An intellectual SS officer recounts his role in the Holocaust, insisting it was just a job.

4.03

15k+

🕯️ Holocaust 🗣️ Perpetrator Narrator 🤥 Unreliable Narrator 💔 Incestuous Obsession ✒️ Confessional Fiction

The Kindly Ones 90%

An intellectual SS officer recounts his role in the Holocaust, insisting it was just a job.

by Jonathan Littell 2009

4.03

15k+ ratings

🕯️ Holocaust 🗣️ Perpetrator Narrator 🤥 Unreliable Narrator 💔 Incestuous Obsession ✒️ Confessional Fiction

Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead

by Fyodor Dostoevsky • 1864

A retired official in a Petersburg cellar explains why his intelligence has made him spiteful.

4.19

79k+

🖤 Existential Fiction 😈 Antihero Narrator 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 😏 Darkly Comic 🇷🇺 19th Century Russia

Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead Summary

Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead 90%

A retired official in a Petersburg cellar explains why his intelligence has made him spiteful.

by Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864

4.19

79k+ ratings

🖤 Existential Fiction 😈 Antihero Narrator 🎭 Unreliable Narrator 😏 Darkly Comic 🇷🇺 19th Century Russia

The Hour of the Star

by Clarice Lispector • 1977

An invisible Rio typist wants to be noticed; a fortune-teller promises she will be.

4.11

58k+

📚 Existential Fiction 🖋️ Narrator Intrusion 🌾 Overlooked Lives 🏙️ Urban Poverty ⏳ Fatalistic Fiction

The Hour of the Star 89%

An invisible Rio typist wants to be noticed; a fortune-teller promises she will be.

by Clarice Lispector 1977

4.11

58k+ ratings

📚 Existential Fiction 🖋️ Narrator Intrusion 🌾 Overlooked Lives 🏙️ Urban Poverty ⏳ Fatalistic Fiction

Compare Features	Free	Pro
📖 Read Summaries Read unlimited summaries. Free users get 3 per month
🎧 Listen to Summaries Listen to unlimited summaries in 40 languages	—
❤️ Unlimited Bookmarks Free users are limited to 4	—
📜 Unlimited History Free users are limited to 4	—
📥 Unlimited Downloads Free users are limited to 1	—

People love SoBrief

Join our global community of 600,000+ readers

★★★★★

This site is a total game-changer. I've been flying through book summaries like never before. Highly, highly recommend.

— Dave G

Worth my money and time, and really well made. I've never seen this quality of summaries on other websites. Very helpful!

— Em

Highly recommended!! Fantastic service. Perfect for those that want a little more than a teaser but not all the intricate details of a full audio book.

— Greg M