Search

Showing results for “The Novel”

Jump to a topic

The NovelThe novel is a literary form that features an extended, fictional prose narrative that typically runs at least 40,000 words. Fans of the novel argue that it is the epitome of literary expression because its unique form allows for empathy in a way that other genres and media do not. Many consider the world's first novel to be "The Tale of Genji," an 11th-century text written by Murasaki Shikibu in Japanese vernacular. As time went on, writers followed in Shikibu's footsteps, offering explorations of human interiority. Thanks to the rise of the printing press, these novels—along with other early examples—were easily reproduced and widely distributed to an increasingly literate public. Throughout its centuries-long history, the novel has responded to social issues, imagined faraway worlds, and even questioned its own usefulness. The form is still evolving in the 21st century by responding to the unique concerns of the present.Explore The Novel

True Crime Pulitzer Prize New Journalism Satire Horror Flannery O’Connor Romance Novels ‘The Wizard of Oz’

What we've found

A guide to the novels of Jane AustenAusten wrote six novels, four that were published anonymously while she was alive ("Sense and Sensibility," "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," "Emma") and two that were published posthumously, under her own name ("Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion"). This guide, with annotations from Arizona State University professor Devoney Looser, breaks down each book's story and significance, making it an excellent primer for Jane-curious readers. PBS Jane Austen revolutionized a form of narration in the novelAusten's books are narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator, which was not new for her time. Austen, however, helped popularize a little-used technique called "free indirect discourse," in which the narrator took on the style and voice of the character being described without drifting into the first-person perspective. It's a technique still often used by novelists today. Jane Austen Society of North America The debate over federalism helped produce the novel character of the United StatesDuring ratification, Federalists argued that a strong national government was essential for national survival. Anti-Federalists warned that it could overwhelm states and threaten individual liberty—forcing compromises that shaped early American federalism and led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. National Constitution Center Circulating libraries helped the novel's popularity surgeAs literacy rates began to rise in the 19th century, so did the demand for reading materials. The only problem? Newspapers and books weren’t cheap, and newly literate middle-class families struggled to afford literature. That changed when booksellers began offering small fees for patrons who decided to borrow rather than purchase books. This was eventually called a circulating library, an innovation that would satisfy the burgeoning readership of novels and increase literacy rates further. Random Bits of Fascination Writer DH Lawrence argued that the novel is the height of literatureDH Lawrence was a 20th-century writer, known for his novel “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.” In his essay “Why the Novel Matters,” written in 1925, Lawrence argues that the novel, more than any other literary form, allows readers to experience the whole of human experience, writing that “only in the novel are all things given full play.” University of Toronto The novel broke new ground by offering realistic storiesIn this brief interview, Terry Castle, an English professor at Stanford, explains the origins of the early British novel. Castle details how the novel was produced for a newly literate middle class interested in recognizable characters and stories “about life as they knew it” rather than Greek and Roman myths or medieval romances. She also explains why a newly enfranchised female demographic was attracted to the fiction of writers like Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf. Stanford University Explore a list of the best novels of all timeThe Guardian polled 172 authors, critics, and academics to compile this list of the best novels in the English language. There might be an overrepresentation of the 19th century, but it's a fascinating look at how people define a "classic," and a good guide for your next trip to the library. The Guardian A novelization of 'Star Wars' preceded the movie–and was a massive successThe book "Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker" was released in November 1976, six months before the film it was based on hit theaters. By February, the novel had sold out of its initial print run of 125,000 copies and would quickly sell over 3.5 million copies. StarWars.com During the COVID-19 pandemic, readers returned to Camus' 'The Plague'The 1947 novel, about a city in Algeria that enacts a city-wide quarantine to battle a deadly outbreak, captured readers' attention in the early months of 2020. In the UK, over 2,000 copies of the book were sold in March of that year, over six times what it had sold the month before. The Guardian Kamel Daoud's 'The Meursault Investigation' earned him a fatwaAlthough the novel was read by many as a criticism of Camus' "The Stranger" and French colonialism in Algeria, it was also read by some as blasphemous. In December 2014, a member of the Islamic Awakening Front, a militant Islamist group, said the book "placed the Koran in doubt, along with the sanctity of Islam" and called for Daoud's execution. The Times The first line of 'The Stranger' is one of literature's most famous openingsThe novel's first sentence thrusts readers into the narrator Mersault's world, but its meaning can shift depending on the translation. A 1988 translation by Matthew Ward attempted to "Americanize" the text, removing some Britishisms and bringing it closer to what Camus intended in the original French manuscript. That included changing "Mother" to "Maman," a more familiar—and childlike—name. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) The New York Times Examining the potential of the emerging field of insect-based bioremediationAlso known as entomoremediation, the novel approach uses larvae and adult insects, including their gut microbiomes and associated enzymes, to extract or degrade pollutants. As of 2025, research has shown that black soldier flies can degrade a wide range of antibiotics, highlighting their potential for bioremediating antibiotic-contaminated organic waste. Oxford Academic - National Science Review The economics of romance novelsRomance is the publishing industry's most popular genre, with over 44 million units sold in 2025 alone. This episode of "The Economics of Everyday Things" podcast explores how the once-maligned form became the most reliable kind of book in the industry. Spotify How a sick George Orwell finished '1984'The writer worked on the novel while living in a remote cottage in Scotland. While he was there, he was in a boating accident that sent him overboard, eventually leading to a fatal bout of tuberculosis. Orwell finished the novel (and massive revisions) while trying to recover. He died in 1950, at 46. The Independent Hear 2 literature professors unpack the legacy of 'Animal Farm'The University of Oxford's David Dwan—a professor of English literature and intellectual history—is an Orwell scholar who has written about the author's politics, especially as they relate to "Animal Farm." In this conversation with Dr. Nathan Waddell, from the University of Birmingham, UK, Dwan explores how framing the novella as a beast fable both made it more accessible and allowed it to be overly simplified. Reading Orwell 'Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.'Meyer Wolfsheim in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" Why so many romance stories take place in Regency-era EnglandThe British Regency era lasted less than a decade, but it remains a popular setting for romance stories, including for Julia Quinn's "The Duke and I," the novel that became Netflix's "Bridgerton." Scholars note that the period's strict social hierarchy, high fashion, and aristocratic traditions are ripe for the romance genre's tropes. JSTOR The history of Samuel Richardson's 'Pamela,' which some consider the first romance novelThe 1740 novel will likely strike modern readers as odd, to say the least. Its titular character, a 15-year-old maidservant, is harassed by her boss, who finally changes his ways and asks for her hand in marriage, which is presented as a happy ending. As this analysis of the text makes clear, though, "Pamela" established a template for the romance genre, even if contemporary writers have been happy to break it. Southern Methodist University 'Dracula' was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmareBram Stoker, the author of the classic horror novel, said that a dinner of "dressed crab" led to unsettling dreams about "a vampire king rising from the tomb." He'd revisit that vision, eventually creating the iconic titular vampire. Mental Floss Mark Twain abhorred Jane Austen's writingTwain was no fan of the novelist, calling her work "impossible." In an 1898 letter to a friend, Twain wrote, "Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone." JSTOR Many critics panned Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' when it was releasedThe 1847 novel, initially published under a pseudonym, was seen by some early readers as obscene and cruel. One particularly brutal review from Graham's Lady's Magazine read, "How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery." Book Marks Thomas Mann set his novel ‘The Magic Mountain’ in DavosThomas Mann’s 1924 novel “The Magic Mountain” is set in a Davos sanatorium, using the alpine resort as a symbolic backdrop for exploring time, illness, modernity, and European intellectual life on the eve of World War I. My Switzerland Jane Austen used satire to critique women's place in societyAlthough the novelist is sometimes dismissed as a romance writer, her stories feature pointed societal critiques, especially of women's limited options and challenged popular notions that women were subservient and passive. The Conversation There are no established minimum fitness standards for spaceflightMicrogravity is known to cause arterial hardening, bone weakening, and other health issues, but the novelty of space tourism and the minimal exposure time for suborbital trips have limited the number of research studies. Many companies have participants sign extensive waivers to bypass the requirement of specific medical standards. Space.com 'A Christmas Carol' was originally going to be a political pamphlet Dickens planned to write a treatise on the day’s social issues and had a particularly dry working title: “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.” After a week, though, he decided to rework the ideas into a fictional story, working at a quick pace so it could be released in time for Christmas. It worked: The story was published on December 19, 1843. TIME Mark Twain coined the phrase 'The Gilded Age'The writer's 1873 book "The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today" (cowritten with newspaper editor Charles Dudley Warner) satirized the speculative investing and greed that took place following the Civil War. That era is now known as the Gilded Age, a term derived from the novel. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) The New York Times The musical 'The Wizard of Oz' debuted in 1902Following the success of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’ Baum adapted the novel for the stage. It premiered at Chicago’s Grand Opera House in 1902 and made it to Broadway’s Majestic Theatre in 1903. It then toured the country through 1909. It was also a musical adaptation of the story. New York Public Library Read JK Rowling's original 'Harry Potter' pitch that a dozen publishers rejectedRowling claims 12 publishing houses rejected the pitch first written in 1995—which contained this letter and the story's first few chapters—before Bloomsbury accepted it. TIME Early reviews turned ‘Harry Potter’ into an unexpected hitThough only 500 hardback copies of "The Philosopher’s Stone" were printed in 1997—and mostly sent to libraries, due to doubts it would sell—glowing reviews and word of mouth fueled a surge in demand. Within a year, the book had sold more than 70,000 copies in the UK. The Independent In 'Frankenstein,' Mary Shelley questioned both Romantic and Enlightenment idealsThe classic monster story is a richly philosophical tale about the role of technology, written by Shelley at the age of 18. This podcast episode explores Shelley's deeper intentions with the story and debunks some of the popular misconceptions about its plot and meaning. Philosophize This!Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ was the first Gothic novelWalpole’s 1764 novel takes place in a haunted castle, with self-closing doors, moving pictures, and a wandering ghost—many of the tropes that would come to define the Gothic and horror genres, and influence other genres like fantasy. BBC News The fabulous prison escapes of Japan's Yoshie ShiratoriBetween 1936 and 1947, Japan's Harry Houdini escaped from prison four times, each more daring than the next. Even as the walls grew taller and the windows smaller, Siratori found ways to free himself from captivity. Amusing Planet Philip Roth once tried to correct details on one of his novel's Wikipedia pagesThe Wikipedia entry for Roth's 2000 novel "The Human Stain" alleges that the book was based on the life of Anatole Broyard, a Black American writer who "passed" for white, something he shared in common with the main character in Roth's novel, though Roth said that wasn't true. When Roth tried to correct the error, Wikipedia editors told him he would need a secondary source to back up his claim. The Atlantic 'Lady Muraski' was a pen nameThe author behind "The Tale of Genji" is still unknown. The woman's diary and some details about her aristocratic life have been found, but scholars have not yet pinned down her identity. (Some users may experience a paywall.) The Atlantic Kurt Vonnegut's 'Cat's Cradle' was inspired by the bombing of HiroshimaThe writer fought in World War II and witnessed the firebombing of Dresden, which he recounted in 1969's satirical "Slaughterhouse Five." Six years earlier, though, he wrote about the bombing of Hiroshima in "Cat's Cradle," channeling some of the horror he witnessed in Dresden to write about the dropping of the atomic bomb. (Some users may experience a paywall.) The Atlantic Walt Whitman wrote a temperance novelBefore “Leaves of Grass” there was “Franklin Evans,” a novel about a young man whose drinking ruins his life. Whitman all but disowned the novel for the rest of his life, though critics note that he preached teetotaling throughout his life. Books and Culture Audit a Yale course on great American novels after 1945Wish you'd paid more attention back in college? There's good news: You can still pop into some college classes, without having to pay tuition (or write term papers). This course from one-time Yale professor Amy Hungerford walks through the great American novels after World War II, including works from Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, and more. Open Yale Courses Classifying the 'first novel' is trickyThe question of what counts as the "first novel" doesn't have a simple answer. This explainer looks at early contenders—from ancient Roman satire to Japan's "Tale of Genji"—and how different cultures shaped the rise of long-form fiction. 1440 Modernist novels used unconventional narrative approachesModernist writers in the early 20th century sought to capture the complexities of the human mind in their fiction. Novelists like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Jean Rhys, and William Faulkner experimented with the form by using unconventional approaches to narrative, time, and structure. This lecture from Dr. Madeleine Davies from the University of Reading explains how modernists revolutionized fiction, using Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” as a primary example. MASSOLIT Is streaming the new novel?Ever since the rise of “prestige television” in the early 2000s, critics and viewers alike have argued that TV has replaced the novel by becoming the most significant storytelling medium, citing the cultural importance of shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” and “Succession.” This essay notes that streaming has strengthened that argument, turning episodes into chapters, and explains why this has been bad for storytelling in both forms. Flavorwire Joyce's 'Ulysses' is among modernism's most famous novelsJames Joyce’s 1922 epic, “Ulysses,” might be the most intimidating of the modernist movement's many famous novels. It’s a lengthy tome and incredibly dense, written in a stream-of-consciousness style that many readers find impenetrable. Others, however, find it transcendent. This travelogue was written by a reporter traveling to Dublin for Bloomsday, the annual holiday celebrating the novel, who wants to understand why so many people are so drawn to something so esoteric. National Geographic Young readers are increasingly interested in graphic novelsSales for the form, which relies on illustration as much as text but otherwise follows the form of the novel, are up 69% among young school-aged children. The genre has many sophisticated, intellectual, and critically-acclaimed titles, though it's sometimes derided as a less serious form of literature. Still, studies find that young children who read graphic novels and comics report higher levels of affinity for reading. Fast Company Virginia Woolf admired 'The Tale of Genji'Widely considered one of the defining voices of modernist literature, Virginia Woolf was known for her experiments with stream-of-consciousness narration, nonlinear storytelling, and psychologically complex characters. In a 1925 essay about Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji,” largely considered the world’s first novel, Woolf explains how Shikibu’s style captures the intricacies of living in ways only the novel can. University of Michigan Many literary scholars consider 'The Tale of Genji' to be the first novelWhile the definition of a "novel" is sometimes disputed, most literary historians consider the first novel to be "The Tale of Genji," an epic story written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century that offered a psychological exploration of Hikaru Genji. Though not widely distributed outside of Japan until it was translated into English in 1925, Shikibu's story had a profound impact on Virginia Woolf. Smarthistory David Foster Wallace admired Stephen King's writingDavid Foster Wallace was one of the most acclaimed American writers of the 1990s and early 2000s, releasing dense, philosophically informed works of literary fiction. When the syllabus for an undergraduate literature course he taught surfaced through his archives at the University of Texas, many of his fans were surprised to find it included so much supposedly commercial fiction, including Stephen King's "Carrie." Below are his annotations on two pages of the novel. Open Culture How banning a book ensured its successThis article explore the controversial history of DH Lawrence's novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover." Learn about how it was banned in several countries and the six-day trial in the UK that lifted the ban. Soon after going on sale, the novel became a bestseller and a significant cultural touchstone. BBC News The 1819 novel 'Ivanhoe' popularized the word 'freelancing'In the novel, the author wrote about “free-lances:” mercenary soldiers who were “free” to use their weapons (called, yes, “lances”) in service of whoever paid them the most. A video details that story and other gig economy basics. TED-Ed Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood,' a pioneer of the true crime genre, isn't wholly accurateThe nonfiction novel "In Cold Blood" influenced true crime's narrative and investigative bend and was supposedly only 92% accurate. Journalist Ben Yagoda reflects on its accuracy after finding the fact-checking file for the four-part series published before the story was converted into hardback. Yagoda says the inaccuracies are "especially striking" because the story was originally published in one of the magazines credited with establishing fact-checking as a practice. (Some users may experience a paywall.) Slate The earliest novelistic writing about a real-life murder might be an 1875 essay by poet Celia ThaxterThough the nonfiction novel "In Cold Blood" is often cited as the beginning of the true crime genre, records show that true crime narratives were woven for decades before the novel's 1965 serialization. In "A Memorable Murder," Thaxter recounts the slaughter of her neighboring New England islanders. Reactor The man behind the dark novel abandoned on the floor of the BastilleAs tensions rose in the days before the French Revolution of 1789, Donatien Alphonse François attempted to fan the flames by shouting at passersby about false horrors happening inside the Bastille where he was imprisoned. This 39-minute podcast... iHeartRadio

Try another search?