Here's a list of ten of my favourite novels! I'm discounting books from series because I am in love with far too many trilogies. I have also only included only one novel per author, to keep my list varied. I may have hyperbolised these novels, but that just shows how much I adore them, and I may have been intentionally vague about others because they're difficult to talk about without spoiling them.
'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald is mostly on this list for Fitzgerald's unparalleled used of symbolism. The characters, the setting, and the green light on the dock are all used as representations of the abstract: ignorance, society, and hope. As far as literary technique goes, there are few novels as good as 'The Great Gatsby'.
I've already spoken about 'The Princess Bride' by William Goldman; I'll summarise it as a novel you're bound to like if you enjoy witty humour and remarkable characterisation.
Markus Zusak's 'The Book Thief' is the most effective tear-jerker I've ever read; it's written from the point of view of Death, who tells the story of a little girl living in Nazi Germany. Beyond Zusak's horrifying tales of love and loss is his incredible writing style, which focuses heavily on foreshadowing and creates something of a microcosm of Nazi Germany set primarily on just one street..
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'The Fault in Our Stars' is the most successful book that my favourite author, John Green, has written thus far, having spent seven consecutive weeks in the top spot of the New York Times bestseller list. 'TFiOS' is the most honest sory about death, love, and the impact we have on this world that I have ever read and that I suspect will ever be written. The characters are flawed in very non-typical ways, making them totally believable and impossible not to love. 'TFiOS' is a cancer book, but it's philosophical and funny and so very real.
'Pride and Prejudice' is a novel I hope you've read, and if you haven't then I suggest you immediately find your way to a bookshop or a library, find it, and read it. The characters are perhaps over-emphasised, but there are some very strong characters (many of them female) who all link together in an elaborate web of names and relations that is very much like real life. 'Pride and Prejudice' is a classic, and widely regarded as Jane Austen's best work, so you definitely ought to read it.
'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding was the first book I really read into; before studying 'LotF', I had no concept of microcosms, allegories, symbolism, or pathetic fallacy. This is the novel that introduced me to literature and it will forever be important to me.
'A Picture of Dorian Gray' is Oscar Wilde's only novel -- but that's just as well because nothing could ever live up to it. It's a very dark story, focusing heavily on sex, drugs and murder. However, to state these as the full content of the novel would be missing the point. 'Dorian Gray' is about how our experiences shape us and how a society with youth and beauty at its centre will eventually destroy itself. Read anything of Wilde's, as it's all brilliant, but especially read this.
'A Monster Calls' was written by Patrick Ness but the idea belonged to Siobhan Dowd, who died before she had a chance to write it. It's a children's story but the subtleties of it, the emotions explored throughout it, and the symbolism it's focused on are all very much suited to an adult audience. The book contains elements of Ness' fantasy and sci-fi writings, while maintaining Dowd's depth, characterisation and humanity.
'Before I Fall' by Lauren Oliver is a novel that sat on my bookshelf for a long time before I got around to reading it. I had low expectations of it, based on the blurb, but it'd been recommended to me so I decided to read it. I was blown away. It shouldn't be possible for a character to believably transform from shallow and selfish to selfless and empathetic, but Oliver manages it. It shouldn't be interesting to read an account of the very same day seven times, but Oliver makes it interesting. She has a very subtle kind of writing talent that can sneak up on you and leave you in awe.
With a similar title to the last novel, Jenny Downham's 'Before I Die' is another cancer book. I read this novel a long time ago and it got me hooked on young adult fiction, because it stayed with me for so long after I'd read it. The story is one of a bucket list to be completed before the main character succumbs to her cancer; the list is very stereotypical for a teenager, but in the end the tasks themselves aren't the important thing. The important thing is living life to its fullest.
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