1984
A dystopian novel about totalitarian surveillance society and one man's futile attempt to rebel against it.
Greatest Novels
150 summaries · Page 1 of 5
2666
A sprawling novel centered around unsolved murders in a Mexican border town.
A Fine Balance
Four characters navigate life during India's Emergency period.
A House for Mr. Biswas
The struggle of a Trinidad-based Indian man to achieve independence and identity.
A Passage to India
The relationship between Indians and British colonials in the 1920s.
A Tale of Two Cities
Love and sacrifice during the French Revolution.
Absalom, Absalom!
The complex story of Thomas Sutpen's attempt to create a dynasty in the American South.
American Pastoral
The story of a successful businessman whose life is ruined by his daughter's political terrorism.
Anna Karenina
The tragic story of a married aristocrat and her affair with Count Vronsky, set against 19th-century Russian society.
As I Lay Dying
The Bundren family's journey to bury their mother Addie.
Atonement
The consequences of a young girl's false accusation.
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
A young writer's romance with his aunt and friendship with a soap opera writer.
Austerlitz
A meditation on memory and loss through the story of a man discovering his Jewish heritage.
Auto-da-Fé
A reclusive scholar's descent into madness.
Beauty and Sadness
A writer's past affair haunts his present relationships.
Beloved
A powerful ghost story about slavery's impact, based on the true story of Margaret Garner.
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The story of an ex-convict struggling to survive in 1920s Berlin.
Blood Meridian
A violent western following the Kid through the American-Mexican borderlands.
Brave New World
A dystopian vision of a future society controlled through pleasure and conditioning.
Catch-22
A satirical anti-war novel set during World War II, following bombardier John Yossarian.
Closely Watched Trains
A young railway worker's coming of age during Nazi occupation.
Crime and Punishment
A psychological thriller about a poor student who commits murder and grapples with guilt, morality, and redemption.
Dictionary of the Khazars
A lexicon novel about the conversion of the Khazar people.
Don Quixote
A masterpiece of Spanish literature about an elderly gentleman who becomes so obsessed with chivalric romances that he loses his sanity and decides to become a knight-errant.
Gravity's Rainbow
A complex novel about V-2 rockets and paranoia in World War II.
Heart of Darkness
Marlow's journey up the Congo River and his encounter with the mysterious Kurtz.
Henderson the Rain King
A wealthy American's spiritual quest in Africa.
Hopscotch
An experimental novel that can be read in multiple orders.
If on a winter's night a traveler
A postmodern novel about reading novels.
In Search of Lost Time
A seven-volume masterpiece exploring memory, time, and social life in late 19th-century French high society.
Independent People
An Icelandic sheep farmer's stubborn quest for independence.
Invisible Man
A powerful exploration of race and identity through the journey of an unnamed African American narrator.
Jakob von Gunten
A young man's experiences at a school for servants.
Jane Eyre
The story of an orphan girl's journey to adulthood and her complex relationship with Mr. Rochester.
Journey to the End of the Night
A cynical doctor's experiences through war, colonialism, and America.
JR
An 11-year-old builds a financial empire through payphone calls.