Reading List · Lisanne Swart
Books like The Great Gatsby
You finished it. You felt the sadness of it. The hollow parties, the green light, the dream that was never really the dream. And now you want more — not just another book set in the 1920s, but another book that does what Gatsby does: makes you feel the gap between who we are and who we desperately want to be. What I love most about The Great Gatsby isn’t the parties or even Gatsby himself — it’s what the book reveals about the lies we tell ourselves. Every book on this list does the same thing, just in a different way. They all ask: what happens when the dream you’re chasing was never real to begin with?
These 7 books like The Great Gatsby do exactly that. Some are classics. Some are unexpected. All of them will leave you with that same bittersweet feeling Fitzgerald’s novel does.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 books · Fiction & Nonfiction
Read this list if…
You’re drawn to stories about obsession and reinvention.
You love fiction that reveals the emptiness behind wealth.
You want to read about the American Dream and its cost.
You’re fascinated by characters who destroy themselves chasing an illusion.
You want books that are beautifully written and emotionally devastating.
Maybe skip this list if you want feel-good reads — these books are gorgeous, but they don’t let you off the hook.
01
Memoir
Educated On my shelf
Tara Westover · 2018
Like Gatsby, Tara Westover is someone who reinvents herself entirely — escaping a world she was born into and climbing toward something she has only imagined. The cost of that reinvention is the heart of this book. It’s not fiction, but it reads like the most compelling novel you’ve ever picked up.
The hunger to become someone else. The price of leaving behind where you came from. The question of whether reinvention is liberation or loss.
Read my full recommendation →
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Bol.com →
02
Fiction
Lolita On my shelf
Vladimir Nabokov · 1955
Nabokov’s most controversial novel shares Gatsby’s most defining quality: a narrator completely consumed by an obsession that destroys everything around it. The prose is intoxicating — deliberately so. Nabokov makes you feel how beautiful the lie looks from inside it.
Obsession as a form of self-destruction. A narrator who can’t see himself clearly. Language so gorgeous it almost distracts you from the horror underneath.
Read my full recommendation →
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Bol.com →
03
Fiction
Poor Things On my shelf
Alasdair Gray · 1992
A woman who is literally given a new identity and uses it to refuse the life society expects of her. Where Gatsby constructs his identity to fit in, Bella uses hers to break free. Two sides of the same coin — and both are unforgettable.
Identity as something constructed rather than given. A world obsessed with surfaces. A protagonist who refuses to be who others need them to be.
Read my full recommendation →
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Bol.com →
04
Fiction
Lord of the Flies On my shelf
William Golding · 1954
Strip away civilization and what’s left? Golding’s answer is as dark as Fitzgerald’s. Both books are critiques of what happens when human ambition and desire operate without restraint. Both are essential.
The collapse of social order. The thin line between aspiration and destruction. A profound disillusionment with human nature.
Read my full recommendation →
Buy on Bol.com →
05
Nonfiction
Mastery On my shelf
Robert Greene · 2012
An unexpected entry — but hear me out. Gatsby is a man who wills himself into existence through sheer ambition and obsession. Greene’s Mastery is the non-fiction examination of exactly that: what it takes to become who you want to be, and what it costs. Read them together and Gatsby becomes even richer.
The psychology of self-creation. Ambition as both a gift and a curse. What happens when the dream is the only thing keeping you alive.
Read my full recommendation →
06
Fiction
Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates · 1961
Often called the spiritual successor to The Great Gatsby. Frank and April Wheeler have the life everyone envies — and it’s destroying them. Yates writes about the gap between the life you imagined and the life you’re living with brutal, beautiful precision. If Gatsby broke your heart, this one will too.
The American Dream as a trap. The performance of happiness. Two people chasing an idea of themselves that doesn’t exist.
07
Memoir
Tell Me Who I Am On my shelf
Alex & Marcus Lewis · 2013
A man wakes up after an accident with no memory of who he is — and his twin brother decides what to tell him, and what to hide. Like Gatsby, this is a book about the stories we construct around ourselves, and what happens when those stories crack. One of the most unsettling books I’ve ever read.
Identity as a construction. The secrets that hold a life together. What we lose when the illusion breaks.
Read my full recommendation →
Buy on Amazon →
Not sure where to start?
If you loved Gatsby’s prose → start with Lolita. Nabokov is the only writer who matches Fitzgerald’s ability to make language feel like music.
If you loved the themes → start with Revolutionary Road. It’s the most direct heir to everything Gatsby was saying about the American Dream.
If you want non-fiction → start with Educated. It’s the truest real-life version of Gatsby’s central obsession: becoming someone else entirely.
Frequently asked questions
What book is most similar to The Great Gatsby?
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates is most commonly recommended as the closest book to The Great Gatsby. Like Fitzgerald, Yates dissects the American Dream with ruthless precision — showing how the life people desperately chase is often the thing that destroys them. If you want something more contemporary, Educated by Tara Westover captures the same obsession with reinvention and the cost of becoming someone new.
Is there a sequel to The Great Gatsby?
There is no official sequel to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, Fitzgerald’s own Tender is the Night is often considered a spiritual continuation — exploring the same world of wealth, glamour, and slow collapse, this time set on the French Riviera. It’s darker and more personal, and essential reading for anyone who loved Gatsby.
What did F. Scott Fitzgerald write after The Great Gatsby?
After The Great Gatsby (1925), Fitzgerald wrote Tender is the Night (1934), which many consider his most ambitious novel. He also wrote numerous short stories and began work on The Last Tycoon, which was left unfinished at his death in 1940. None of his later work matched the cultural impact of Gatsby, but Tender is the Night in particular deserves far more readers than it has.
What themes does The Great Gatsby share with other books?
The Great Gatsby’s most enduring themes are the corruption of the American Dream, obsession and self-reinvention, the emptiness of wealth, and the impossibility of recapturing the past. Books that share these themes include Revolutionary Road, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Educated, and The Talented Mr. Ripley — all of which explore what happens when the life someone desperately wants turns out to be hollow or unattainable.
