Books like Sodome et Gomorrhe

A microscopic, devastating dissection of high-society hypocrisy and the agonizing paranoia of hidden desires. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Sodome et Gomorrhe.

decadent
claustrophobic
opulent
obsessive

01
Tod in Venedig
Thomas Mann
A feverish, suffocating descent into obsession set against the decaying splendor of a plague-ridden city.
Feels:
- feverish
- oppressive
- languid
02
Sérotonine
Michel Houellebecq
A caustic, darkly hilarious plunge into the suffocating despair of modern life and the catastrophic decline of Western civilization.
Shares:
- melancholic
03
Du côté de chez Swann
Marcel Proust
A sensory plunge into the architecture of memory, where a single taste of cake unlocks an entire lost world.
Shares:
- melancholic
04
Hunting and Gathering
Anna Gavalda
A tender, slow-burning embrace of a novel about broken people finding a home in one another.
Feels:
- cozy
- intimate
- bittersweet
05
La Cousine Bette
Honore de Balzac
A masterclass in patient, venomous revenge set against the glittering, corrupt backdrop of 19th-century Paris.
Shares:
- decadent
- claustrophobic
- satirical
- destructive jealousy
06
Enduring Love
Ian McEwan · 1997
A chilling, elegantly crafted descent into paranoia that pits scientific rationalism against the terrifying force of obsession.
Shares:
- claustrophobic
07
La nausée
Sartre, Jean-Paul; Translated by Robert Baldick · 2005
A visceral, diary-style descent into the overwhelming, suffocating realization that existence is entirely without inherent meaning.
Shares:
- claustrophobic
08
The hours
Michael Cunningham · 1998
A luminous, deeply interior meditation on the quiet tragedies and fleeting beauties of a single ordinary day.
Shares:
- melancholic
- hidden desires
09
La bâtarde
Violette Leduc · 1965
A feverish, unapologetic plunge into the depths of desire, shame, and the fierce pursuit of self-creation.
Shares:
- obsessive
- melancholic
10
L'immoraliste
André Gide · 1930
A sun-drenched, feverish confession of a man shedding his moral constraints in pursuit of absolute, destructive freedom.
Feels:
- sun-drenched
- feverish
- languid
11
Querelle de Brest
Jean Genet · 1953
A lush, hallucinatory descent into a shadowy port town where crime, betrayal, and homoerotic desire are elevated to sacred rituals.
Shares:
- claustrophobic
12
Sex and the City
Candace Bushnell · 2001
A sharp, cocktail-soaked anthropological study of Manhattan's elite and their cynical, glittering mating rituals.
Shares:
- satirical

Back to Sodome et Gomorrhe