Books like 'Omensetter's Luck'
Readers who enjoyed Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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The Fortress by Meša Selimović
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA novel on 18th century Sarajevo under Ottoman rule, featuring a soldier returned from the wars. A Muslim, he marries a Christian girl who supports him while he dabbles in politics, eventually leading a raid to rescue a friend from jail... -
Death and the Dervish by Meša Selimović
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDeath and the Dervish is an acclaimed novel by Bosnian writer Mesa Selimovic. It recounts the story of Sheikh Nuruddin, a dervish residing in an Islamic monastery in Sarajevo in the eighteenth century during the Ottoman Turk hegemony over the Balkans. When his brother is arrested, he must descend into the Kafkaesque world of the Ottoman authorities in his search to discover what happened to him... -
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by João Guimarães Rosa
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLively reminiscences of bandit warfare in the sertao, the still primitive Brazilian back country, told by a wise, retired outlaw chief. ~Worldcat.orgGrande Sertão: Veredas (Portuguese for "Great Backlands: Tracks"; English translation: The Devil to Pay in the Backlands) is a novel published in 1956 by the Brazilian writer João Guimarães Rosa...Categorized as:
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Collected Works: Wise Blood / A Good Man is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear it Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays and Letters by Flannery O'Connor
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn her short lifetime, Flannery O'Connor became one of the most distinctive American writers of the twentieth century. By birth a native of Georgia and a Roman Catholic, O'Connor depicts, in all its comic and horrendous incongruity, the limits of worldly wisdom and the mysteries of divine grace in the "Christ-haunted" Protestant South...Categorized as:
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The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke by Rainer Maria Rilke, Stephen Mitchell
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsParallel German text and English translation.The influence and popularity of Rilke’s poetry in America have never been greater than they are today, more than fifty years after his death. Rilke is unquestionably the most significant and compelling poet of romantic transformation, of spiritual quest, that the twentieth century has known... -
Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWe have a marvelous, almost legendary image of the circumstances in which the composition of this great poem began. Rainer Maria Rilke was staying at Duino Castle, on a rocky headland of the Adriatic Sea near Trieste. One morning he walked out onto the battlements and climbed down to where the cliffs dropped sharply to the sea... -
The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950 by T.S. Eliot
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis omnibus collection includes all of the author’s early poetry as well as the Four Quartets, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and the plays Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, and The Cocktail Party...Categorized as:
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In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis extraordinarily sensitive and insightful portrait of religious life centers on Philippa Talbot, a highly successful professional woman who leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community...Categorized as:
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Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsNobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was one of the most important writers in 20th-century Indian literature. Among his expansive and impressive body of work, "Gitanjali" is regarded as one of his greatest achievements, and has been a perennial bestseller since it was first published in 1910...Categorized as:
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The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer by Isaac Bashevis Singer
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe forty-seven stories in this collection, selected by Singer himself out of nearly one hundred and fifty, range from the publication of his now-classic first collection, Gimpel the Fool, in 1957, until 1981...Categorized as:
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When Stars Fall at Midnight by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratings1921EstelleCast out and alone, I lost everything weeks before my wedding—my betrothed, my family, my future. With nowhere to turn, I accept the help of a compassionate stranger, not knowing it may lead me towards a path I swore never to tread.PercivalAfter my wife succumbed to a psychotic break, I placed her in an asylum, a decision that haunts me as I raise our daughter alone...Categorized as:
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Report to Greco by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsKazantzakis's autobiographical novel 'Report to Greco' was one of the last things he wrote before he died. It paints a vivid picture of his childhood in Crete, still occupied by the Turks, and then steadily grows into a spiritual quest that takes him to Italy, Jerusalem, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Russia and the Caucasus, and finally back to Crete again... -
The Titan: by Theodore Dreiser
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIf there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it...Categorized as:
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Christ Recrucified by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe inhabitants of a Greek village, ruled by the Turks, plan to enact the life of Christ in a mystery play but are overwhelmed by their task. A group of refugees, fleeing from the ruins of their plundered homes, arrive asking for protection - and suddenly the drama of the Passion becomes reality... -
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A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLibrarian note: Alternate cover edition of: 9780976395096Set on the eve of World War II, A Mind at Peace captures the anxieties of a Turkish family facing the difficult reality entrenched in the early republic, founded on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923...Categorized as:
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Return To Jarrow by Janet MacLeod Trotter
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCatherine (Kitty) McMullen, is seventeen, restless and rebellious. Resentful of her mother Kate's new husband, she yearns for stories of the father she never knew and when her gossipy aunt divulges that he was a wealthy gentleman, Catherine's discontent with grimy, impoverished Jarrow grows... -
Collected Short Stories: Volume 2 by W. Somerset Maugham
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis final classic collection reveals Somerset Maugham's unique talent for exposing and exploring the bitter realities of human relationships in tales of love, infidelity, passion and prejudice. The stories range from "The Lotus Eater" where a man envisions a life of bliss in the Mediterranean, to the astringent tales of "The Outstation" and "The Back of Beyond" in Malaya and South East Asia...Categorized as:
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The Spinoza Problem by Irvin D. Yalom
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen sixteen-year-old Alfred Rosenberg is called into his headmaster’s office for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a school speech, he is forced, as punishment, to memorize passages about Spinoza from the autobiography of the German poet Goethe. Rosenberg is stunned to discover that Goethe, his idol, was a great admirer of the Jewish seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza...Categorized as:
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3 by Flannery O'Connor: The Violent Bear It Away / Everything That Rises Must Converge / Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe quintessential Southern writer, O'Connor wrote fiercely comic, powerful fiction. This anthology includes the masterpieces Wise Blood. The Violent Bear it Away, and Everything that Rises Must Converge...Categorized as:
classics gothic historical-fiction literary-fiction southern-gothic spirituality 20th-century adult -
Gora by Rabindranath Tagore, Marguerite Glotz
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsVast in its scope and rich in thought Gora has been acclaimed as a monumental work in the history of Bengali fiction. The story reflects the social, political and religious scene in Bengal at the turn of the century. The forces that were operating in Bengal at that time were one of the intense nationalism and revival of ancient spiritual values and also that of liberal western thought...Categorized as:
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The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin, Germaine de Tonnac-Villeneuve
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrancis Chisholm is a compassionate and humble priest whose individuality and directness make him unpopular with other clergy. Considered a failure by his superiors, he is sent to China to maintain a mission amid desperate poverty, civil war, plague, and the hostility of his superiors. In the face of this constant danger and hardship, Father Chisholm finds the keys to the kingdom of heaven...Categorized as:
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Freedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFreedom or Death by Nikos Kazantzakis is a novel on the heroic or epic scale about the rebellion of the Greek Christians against the Turks on the island of Crete, where Kazantzakis was from...Categorized as:
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Her Western Heart by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEscaping from an arranged marriage, Gemma Campbell finds herself embarking on an unknown journey – one that will bring out her courage and resilience. The only thing known to her is: she wants to decide her own marriage, by way of mail-order bride... -
Tilly's Story by June Francis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCan she leave her troubles behind to find true happiness? In the aftermath of the Great War, many are searching for a new life. But has Tilly missed her only chance for love? Since the end of the First World War, the residents of Victoria Crescent have been slowly rebuilding their lives... -
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When the Clouds Go Rolling By by June Francis
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe secrets of the past can never be forgotten An orphaned young woman is overjoyed to find a family she never knew existed, but has to come to terms with their troubled history. Since her parents died Clara O’Toole has lived with her grandmother, Bernie...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book epic -
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels that brilliantly fleshes out Christ’s Passion. This literary rendering of the life of Jesus Christ has courted controversy since its publication by depicting a Christ far more human than the one seen in the Bible... -
Step by Step by June Francis
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWill their friendship survive against all odds? In the early 1900s two girls see each other through good times and bad. But can their friendship endure when an dreadful act of violence sees their families turn against one another? Hannah Kirk and Alice Moran have been friends since childhood. Growing up in the back streets of Chester, they support each other through hard times... -
Selected Poems: 1931 - 2004 by Czesław Miłosz
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSelected Poems: 1931 - 2004 celebrates Czeslaw Milosz's lifetime of poetry. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of our time, Milosz is a master of expression and probing inquiry. Life opened for Czeslaw Milosz at a crossroads of civilizations in northeastern Europe...Categorized as:
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Hell Screen by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratings"There can be no doubt that Akutagawa had more individuality than any other writer of his time and has left in Japanese literature a mass of artistic work, often grotesque and curious, that, while it undoubtedly angers the proletarian experimenters who now hold the stage and fight with lusty pens and a highly developed class consciousness against all that he stood for, will continue to live as...Categorized as:
classics gothic historical-fiction literary-fiction 20th-century adult anthologies dark -
Glamorous Powers by Susan Howatch
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJon Darrow, a man with psychic powers, is a man who has played many parts: a shady faith-healer; a naval chaplain, a passionate husband, an awkward father, an Anglo-Catholic monk. In 1940 Darrow returns to the world he once renounced, but faced with many unforeseen temptations he fails to control his psychic, most glamorous powers...Categorized as:
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The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989 by Samuel Beckett
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNobel prize winner Samuel Beckett is one of the most profoundly original writers of our century. He gives expression to the anguish and isolation of the individual consciousness with a purity and minimalism that have altered the shape of world literature...Categorized as:
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The Hope by Herman Wouk
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“One of our best writers today—a modern Charles Dickens—is Herman Wouk… The Hope is not only a good read, but it also causes a good think.” —William Safire, New York Times Starting in 1948 and reaching its climax during the Six-Day War of 1967, The Hope begins the story of Israel, a country fighting for its life—outmatched and surrounded by enemies...Categorized as:
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Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain, Henry Nash Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLetters from the Earth is one of Mark Twain's posthumously published works. The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth...Categorized as:
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The Complete Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA landmark collection that brings together Truman Capote’s life’s work in the form he called his “great love,” The Complete Stories confirms Capote’s status as a master of the short story...Categorized as:
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Mail Order Bride And The Gift of Children (A Western Historical Romance Book) (Evergreen Frontier) by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFinding love is never easy for a single mother listing herself as a mail order bride. But it is necessary.Eliza Buell has just given birth to her second child. Now a single mother after the death of her husband, she finds herself alone and desperate for a way to help her children survive the coming winter. With no other option, Eliza opts to become a mail order bride...Categorized as:
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Escaped Mail Order Bride And Her Redeemed Husband by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen home is no longer safe, the only way out is to escape as a mail order bride… Catherine West is fleeing from her abusive stepfather Hershel West, and she decides she will tow her ten-year-old stepbrother Guss along. Her only hope: Jeremiah Bealls, a ranch hand who has been writing to her through a mail order bride catalogue... -
Collected Stories by Frank O'Connor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe definitive collection of short stories by a master of the form and one of Ireland's most celebrated authorsThis indispensable volume contains the best of Frank O’Connor's short fiction. From “Guests of the Nation” to “The Mad Lomasneys” to “First Confession” to “My Oedipus Complex,” these tales of Ireland have touched generations of readers the world over and placed O'Connor alongside W. B...Categorized as:
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Mail Order Bride's Baby And Her One-Arm Indian by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA mail order bride with an unwanted baby in tow meeting a one-arm Indian husband-in-waiting is nothing short of a disaster… Rachael Jeffers has spent her entire life living, and then working, in an orphanage. Until circumstances give her no option but to flee – with a baby in tow. Her only hope now is a man named Motega, whom she had corresponded via letters...Categorized as:
historical-fiction literary-fiction religion spirituality 20th-century adult book fiction -
Pregnant Mail Order Bride and her Brave Sheriff by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLeaving an abusive husband is hard, but loving a new partner is harder… Daughter of a woman of the Iroquois tribe and a white settler from New York, Kateri Hodges finds herself drowning in the debts of her abusive husband after he dies. She feels like a broken woman. What decent man would want her? Christopher Fellows is the new sheriff in town... -
Mail Order Bride And Her Children's Hope by Florence Linnington
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSometimes a woman has no choice but to start life afresh as a mail order bride, along with her children… When Emily’s husband dies unexpectedly leaving her with two young children, the only thing she’s left with is the mercantile store that she has no means to run. Emily decides to leave everything behind and start over in the west as a mail order bride...Categorized as:
historical-fiction religion spirituality western fiction 20th-century historical industrial-era -
Collected Stories and Other Writings by John Cheever
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsJohn Cheever’s stories rank among the finest achievements of twentieth-century short fiction. Ensnared by the trappings of affluence, adrift in the emptiness of American prosperity, his characters find themselves in the midst of dramas that, however comic, pose profound questions about conformity and class, pleasure and propriety, and the conduct and meaning of an individual life... -
Collected Poems, 1937-1971 by John Berryman
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThis volume brings together all of Berryman’s poetry, except for his epic The Dream Songs, ranging from his earliest unpublished poem (1934) to those written in the last months of his life (1972). A definitive edition of one of America’s most distinguished poets...Categorized as:
literary-fiction postmodernism philosophical fiction 20th-century anthologies historical adult -
The Wisdom of the Sands by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe final, deeply-felt summing-up of the author's experience and his philosophy of life. Choosing a desert prince as his protagonist and narrator, he presents the timeless problems of humanity against the austere background of the wilderness. The book abounds in vivid pictures of desert life, forays and sandstorms, mirage-born madness, beleaguered cities, caravans going their perilous ways... -
The Town by William Faulkner
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsContinues Faulkner's tale of the Snopes family, set in rural, post-bellum Mississippi... -
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The Decay of the Angel by Yukio Mishima
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe dramatic climax of The Sea of Fertility tetraology takes place in the late 1960s. Honda, now an aged and wealthy man, discovers and adopts a sixteen-year-old orphan, Toru, as his heir, identifying him with the tragic protagonists of the three previous novels, each of whom died at the age of twenty. Honda raises and educates the boy, yet watches him, waiting...Categorized as:
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Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsA national bestseller, Dictionary of the Khazars was cited by The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of the year... -
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFirst published in 1932, here is John Cowper Powys's masterwork, an epic novel of terrific cumulative force and lyrical intensity...Categorized as:
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Bats Out of Hell by Barry Hannah
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLove and torment, lunacy and desire, tenderness and war — the stories in Bats Out of Hell provide a brilliant, dazzling odyssey into American life. Barry Hannah's reputation as a master of the short story, first established in 1978 with the publication of Airships, is magnified in this volatile, long-awaited collection of new stories...Categorized as:
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Babbitt & Main Street: Two Classic American Books by Sinclair Lewis
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings• Two of American author Sinclair Lewis' novels are in this Kindle eBook: Babbitt & Main Street Babbitt (1922) Babbitt is at its heart a satire of American society. It was an immediate hit and helped Babbitt win the Nobel Prize in literature. Main Street Another satire, this time involving small town life in America... -
A Spider Thread by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLet us suppose the Buddha Sakyamuni was taking a morning stroll in paradise one day and happened by a lotus pond whence the flowers shone brilliant white as jewels, their golden centers effusing an ineffable perfume everywhere thereabouts...Categorized as:
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