Novels & Short Stories, RET-SPI
novels and short stories have been enchanting and transporting readers for a great many years. There's a little something for everyone: within these two genres of literature, a wealth of types and styles can be found, including historical, epistolary, romantic, Gothic, and realist works, along with many more.
Novels & Short Stories Encyclopedia Articles By Title
The Return of the Native, novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1878. The novel is set on Egdon Heath, a fictional......
rhétoriqueur, any of the principal poets of the school that flourished in 15th- and early 16th-century France (particularly......
Rip Van Winkle, short story by Washington Irving, published in The Sketch Book in 1819–20. Though set in the Dutch......
Tom Ripley, fictional hero-villain of a series of psychologically acute crime novels by Patricia Highsmith. An......
The Rise of Silas Lapham, the best-known novel of William Dean Howells, published in 1885. The novel recounts the......
Robert The Devil, legendary son of a duke of Normandy, born in answer to prayers addressed to the devil. He uses......
Robinson Crusoe, novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in London in 1719. Defoe’s first long work of fiction,......
robinsonade, any novel written in imitation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719–22) that deals with the problem......
Roderick Hudson, first novel by Henry James, serialized in The Atlantic Monthly in 1875 and published in book form......
Roderick Random, picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, published in 1748. Modeled after Alain-René Lesage’s Gil......
Roger Malvin’s Burial, short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1832 in the periodical The Token......
Roman de Fauvel, (French: “Romance of Fauvel”), French poem by Gervais du Bus that, in addition to its literary......
roman à clef, novel that has the extraliterary interest of portraying well-known real people more or less thinly......
roman-fleuve, series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national......
romance, literary form, usually characterized by its treatment of chivalry, that came into being in France in the......
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, novel traditionally attributed to the 14th-century Chinese writer Luo Guanzhong.......
Romola, novel by George Eliot, first published in 1862–63 in The Cornhill Magazine. The book was published in three......
A Room with a View, novel by E.M. Forster, published in 1908. Forster’s keen observation of character and of British......
Rootabaga Stories, collection of children’s stories by Carl Sandburg, published in 1922. These fanciful tales reflect......
Roughing It, semiautobiographical novel by Mark Twain, published in 1872. This humorous travel book, based on Twain’s......
Rougon-Macquart cycle, sequence of 20 novels by Émile Zola, published between 1871 and 1893. The cycle, described......
Rudin, novel by Ivan Turgenev, published as a serial in the journal Sovremennik and as a book in 1856. The novel......
récit, a brief novel, usually with a simple narrative line. One of the writers who consciously used the form was......
Salammbô, historical novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1862. Although the titular heroine is a fictional......
Salterton trilogy, series of novels by Robertson Davies, consisting of Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954),......
Sanctuary, novel by William Faulkner, published in 1931. The book’s depictions of degraded sexuality generated......
Sapphira and the Slave Girl, novel by Willa Cather, published in 1940. The novel is set in Cather’s native Virginia......
Sartoris, novel by William Faulkner, published in 1929 as a shortened version of a novel that was eventually published......
The Satanic Verses, magic realist epic novel by Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie that upon its publication in......
satire, artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings......
Satires, collection of 16 satiric poems published at intervals in five separate books by Juvenal. Book One, containing......
Satyricon, (1st century ad), comic, picaresque novel attributed to Petronius...
The Scarlet Letter, novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. It is considered a masterpiece of American......
The Scarlet Pimpernel, romantic novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, produced as a play in 1903 and published in book......
Scenes from Private Life, collection of six lengthy short stories by Honoré de Balzac, published in 1830 as Scènes......
Scenes of Clerical Life, the first novel by George Eliot, comprising three tales that had originally appeared serially......
science fiction, a form of fiction that deals principally with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society......
Scoop, novel by Evelyn Waugh, published in 1938. This savage satire of London journalism, sometimes published with......
The Screwtape Letters, epistolary novel by C.S. Lewis, published serially in 1941 in the Guardian, a weekly religious......
The Sea of Fertility, four-part epic novel by Mishima Yukio, published in Japanese in 1965–70 as Hōjō no umi and......
The Sea of Grass, novel by Conrad Richter, published in 1936, presenting in epic scope the conflicts in the settling......
The Sea-Wolf, novel by Jack London, published in 1904. This highly popular novel combines elements of naturalism......
The Secret Agent, novel by Joseph Conrad, first published serially in the New York weekly Ridgeway’s in 1906–07......
The Secret Garden, novel for children written by American author Frances Hodgson Burnett and published in book......
The Secret History, murder mystery novel by Donna Tartt, published in 1992. Tartt’s first novel, begun when she......
Seize the Day, novella by American author Saul Bellow, published in 1956. This short novel examines one day in......
Sense and Sensibility, novel by Jane Austen that was published anonymously in three volumes in 1811 and that became......
A Sentimental Education, novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in French in 1869 as L’Éducation sentimentale: histoire......
A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, comic novel by Laurence Sterne, published in two volumes in 1768.......
sentimental novel, broadly, any novel that exploits the reader’s capacity for tenderness, compassion, or sympathy......
A Separate Peace, novel by John Knowles, published in 1959. It recalls with psychological insight the maturing......
Serapion Brothers, group of young Russian writers formed in 1921 under the unsettled conditions of the early Soviet......
The Setting Sun, novel by Dazai Osamu, published in 1947 as Shayō. It is a tragic, vividly painted story of life......
Seven Gothic Tales, volume of short stories by Danish writer Isak Dinesen, published in English in 1934 and then......
Seventeen, humorous novel by Booth Tarkington, published in 1916. The novel recalls the events of one summer in......
Shadows on the Rock, novel by Willa Cather, published in 1931. The novel is a detailed study of the lives of French......
Shamela, novel by Henry Fielding, published under the pseudonym Conny Keyber in 1741. In this parody of Samuel......
She, romantic novel by H. Rider Haggard, published in 1887, about two adventurers who search for a supernatural......
The Sheltering Sky, first novel by Paul Bowles, published in 1948. Considered a model of existential fiction, it......
Between Edgar Allan Poe’s invention of the detective story with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841 and Arthur......
Shijing, the first anthology of Chinese poetry. It was compiled by the ancient sage Confucius (551–479 bc) and......
shilling shocker, a novel of crime or violence especially popular in late Victorian England and originally costing......
The Shining, gothic horror novel by Stephen King, first published in 1977. Eclipsed perhaps only by its 1980 film......
Ship of Fools, novel by Katherine Anne Porter, published in 1962. Porter used as a framework Das Narrenschiff (1494;......
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published in Cosmopolitan in 1936,......
short story, brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel and that usually deals with only a few......
Show Boat, popular sentimental novel by Edna Ferber, published in 1926. The book chronicles three generations of......
Shrek, animated cartoon character, a towering, green ogre whose fearsome appearance belies a kind heart. Shrek......
Siddhartha, novel by Hermann Hesse based on the early life of Buddha, published in German in 1922. It was inspired......
Silas Marner, novel by George Eliot, published in 1861. The story’s title character is a friendless weaver who......
The Silent Cry, novel by Ōe Kenzaburō, published in Japanese in 1967 as Man’en gannen no futtōbōru (literally,......
Silver Age, in Latin literature, the period from approximately ad 18 to 133, which was a time of marked literary......
Simplicissimus, novel by Hans Jacob Christoph von Grimmelshausen, the first part of which was published in 1669......
Sister Carrie, first novel by Theodore Dreiser, published in 1900 but suppressed until 1912. Sister Carrie is a......
Skamander, group of young Polish poets who were united in their desire to forge a new poetic language that would......
The Sketch Book, short-story collection by Washington Irving, first published in 1819–20 in seven separate parts.......
Sketches by “Boz”, title of two series of collected sketches and short tales by Charles Dickens, writing under......
Slaughterhouse-Five, antiwar novel by Kurt Vonnegut, published in 1969. The absurdist, nonlinear work blends science......
The Sleepwalkers, trilogy of novels by Hermann Broch, published in German in three volumes as Die Schlafwandler......
The Small House at Allington, novel by Anthony Trollope, published serially in The Cornhill Magazine from September......
George Smiley, fictional character, a British secret service agent who appears in many of the spy stories of John......
Smoke, novel by Ivan Turgenev, published in Russian in 1867 as Dym. Set in Baden-Baden, Germany, it combines a......
Snow Country, short novel by Kawabata Yasunari, published in Japanese in 1948 as Yukiguni. The work was begun in......
The Snows of Kilimanjaro, short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published in Esquire magazine in 1936 and later......
So Big, novel by Edna Ferber, published in 1924 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1925. The book tells......
The Social Cancer, novel by Filipino political activist and author José Rizal, published in 1887. The book, written......
social problem novel, work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice,......
Some Prefer Nettles, autobiographical novel by Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, published in Japanese in 1928–29 as Tade kuu......
The Song of Bernadette, novel by Czech-born writer Franz Werfel, published in 1941 in German as Das Lied von Bernadette.......
Song of the Lark, novel by Willa Cather, published in 1915. The heroine, Thea Kronborg, overcomes many hardships......
Sons and Lovers, semiautobiographical novel by D.H. Lawrence, published in 1913. His first mature novel, it is......
Sophie’s Choice, novel by William Styron, published in 1979, that examines the historical, moral, and psychological......
The Sorrows of Young Werther, novel by J.W. von Goethe, published in German as Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in......
The Sot-Weed Factor, picaresque novel by John Barth, originally published in 1960 and revised in 1967. A parody......
sotie, short satirical play popular in France in the 15th and early 16th centuries, in which a company of sots......
The Sound and the Fury, novel by William Faulkner, published in 1929, that details the destruction and downfall......
Southern gothic, a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region......
Sam Spade, fictional character, the quintessential hard-boiled private detective, the protagonist of a novel (The......
The Spell, allegorical novel by Hermann Broch, published posthumously in 1953 as Der Versucher. It was the only......
The Spinoza of Market Street, title story of a short-story collection by Isaac Bashevis Singer, published in Yiddish......