Novels & Short Stories, PLA-SAP
Whether it's "Don Quixote," "Pride and Prejudice," "The Great Gatsby," or "The Fall of the House of Usher," 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
Play It As It Lays
Play It As It Lays, second novel written by American essayist and novelist Joan Didion. First published in 1970,......
Playboy of the Western World, The
The Playboy of the Western World, comedy in three acts by J.M. Synge, published and produced in 1907. It is a masterpiece......
Player Piano
Player Piano, first novel by Kurt Vonnegut, published in 1952 and reissued in 1954 as Utopia 14. This anti-utopian......
Pléiade, La
La Pléiade, group of seven French writers of the 16th century, led by Pierre de Ronsard, whose aim was to elevate......
Pnin
Pnin, novel written in English by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1957. It is an episodic story about Timofey Pnin,......
Point Counter Point
Point Counter Point, novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1928. In his most ambitious and complex work, Huxley......
Poirot, Hercule
Hercule Poirot, fictional Belgian detective created by English mystery writer Agatha Christie. He appears in 33......
Poisonwood Bible, The
The Poisonwood Bible, novel by the well-respected American writer Barbara Kingsolver. Published in 1998, it was......
polyphonic prose
polyphonic prose, a freely rhythmical form of prose that employs characteristic devices of verse other than strict......
Ponder Heart, The
The Ponder Heart, comic novella by Eudora Welty, published in 1954. Cast as a monologue, it is rich with colloquial......
Portnoyâs Complaint
Portnoyâs Complaint, novel by Philip Roth, published in 1969. The book became a minor classic of Jewish American......
Portrait of a Lady, The
The Portrait of a Lady, novel by Henry James, published in three volumes in 1881. The masterpiece of the first......
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, autobiographical novel by James Joyce, published serially in The Egoist......
Possessed, The
The Possessed, novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, published in Russian in 1872 as Besy. The book, also known in English......
Possession
Possession, novel by British scholar and writer A.S. Byatt, first published in 1990. It won the Booker Prize for......
Postman Always Rings Twice, The
The Postman Always Rings Twice, novel by American master of hard-boiled fiction James M. Cain, published in 1934.......
Potter, Harry
Harry Potter, fictional character, a boy wizard created by British author J.K. Rowling. His coming-of-age exploits......
Power and the Glory, The
The Power and the Glory, novel by British writer Graham Greene, published in 1940. Classified as one of his four......
Prairie, The
The Prairie, novel by James Fenimore Cooper, published in two volumes in 1827, the third of five novels published......
Praisesong for the Widow
Praisesong for the Widow, novel by Paule Marshall, published in 1983. Recently widowed Avey (Avatara) Johnson,......
Pre-Romanticism
Pre-Romanticism, cultural movement in Europe from about the 1740s onward that preceded and presaged the artistic......
Precious Bane
Precious Bane, novel by Mary Webb, published in 1924. The story is set in the wild countryside near the Welsh border......
Premature Burial, The
The Premature Burial, short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in Dollar Newspaper in July 1844. As a frequent......
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice, romantic novel of manners by English author Jane Austen, published anonymously in three volumes......
Prime Minister, The
The Prime Minister, novel by Anthony Trollope, published serially during 1875 and 1876 and in book form in 1876.......
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, novel by Muriel Spark, published in 1961 and adapted for the stage in 1966. The......
Prince and the Pauper, The
The Prince and the Pauper, novel by Mark Twain, published in 1881. In it Twain satirizes social conventions, concluding......
Princess Casamassima, The
The Princess Casamassima, novel by Henry James, published in three volumes in 1886. In the novel James examines......
Princesse de ClĂšves, La
La Princesse de ClĂšves, novel written by Marie-Madeleine, comtesse de La Fayette, and published anonymously in......
Prisoner of Zenda, The
The Prisoner of Zenda, novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. This popular late-Victorian romance relates the......
Professor, The
The Professor, first novel written by Charlotte Brontë. She submitted the manuscript for publication in 1847, at......
Professorâs House, The
The Professorâs House, novel by Willa Cather, published in 1925, in which the protagonist, a university professor,......
Psycho
Psycho, horror novel by written by prolific American author Robert Bloch, published in 1959. Bloch, a protégé of......
psychological novel
psychological novel, work of fiction in which the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters are of......
Puddânhead Wilson
Puddânhead Wilson, novel by Mark Twain, originally published as Puddânhead Wilson, a Tale (1894). A story about......
Purloined Letter, The
The Purloined Letter, short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in an unauthorized version in 1844. An enlarged......
Pursuit of Love, The
The Pursuit of Love, novel written by the English author Nancy Mitford (1904â1973), published in 1945. The Pursuit......
Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots, fictional character, the cat in the fairy tale of the same name (in French, âLe MaĂźtre Chat ou le......
PĂšre Goriot, Le
Le PÚre Goriot, novel by Honoré de Balzac, originally published in French in the Revue de Paris in 1834 and published......
Q.E.D.
Q.E.D., short story by Gertrude Stein, one of her earliest works, written in 1903 and published posthumously in......
Queen of Spades, The
The Queen of Spades, classic short story by Aleksandr Pushkin, published in 1834 as âPikovaya dama.â In the story......
Quentin Durward
Quentin Durward, novel of adventure and romance by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1823. The novel was a popular......
Quicksand
Quicksand, novel by American writer Nella Larsen, published in 1928. A loosely autobiographical work, it was the......
Quiet American, The
The Quiet American, novel by Graham Greene, combining a murder mystery with a cautionary tale of Western involvement......
Quo Vadis?
Quo Vadis?, historical novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in Polish under its Latin title in 1896. The title......
Rabbit, Run
Rabbit, Run, novel by John Updike, published in 1960. The novelâs hero is Harry (âRabbitâ) Angstrom, a 26-year-old......
Rage in Harlem, A
A Rage in Harlem, crime novel by American writer Chester Himes that was the first book in what became known as......
Ragged Dick
Ragged Dick, childrenâs book by Horatio Alger, Jr., published serially in 1867 and in book form in 1868. Alternately......
Rainbow, The
The Rainbow, novel by D.H. Lawrence, published in 1915. The novel was officially banned after it was labeled obscene,......
Raj Quartet, The
The Raj Quartet, series of four novels by Paul Scott. The tetralogy, composed of The Jewel in the Crown (1966),......
Rameauâs Nephew
Rameauâs Nephew, novel by Denis Diderot, written between 1761 and 1774 but not published during the authorâs lifetime.......
Ransom of Red Chief, The
The Ransom of Red Chief, short story by O. Henry, published in the collection Whirligigs in 1910. In the story,......
Rappacciniâs Daughter
Rappacciniâs Daughter, allegorical short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in United States Magazine......
RashĆmon
RashĆmon, short story by Akutagawa RyĆ«nosuke, published in Japanese in 1915 in a university literary magazine.......
Rasselas
Rasselas, philosophical romance by Samuel Johnson published in 1759 as The Prince of Abissinia. Supposedly written......
Razorâs Edge, The
The Razorâs Edge, philosophical novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1944. The novel is concerned in large......
Real Life of Sebastian Knight, The
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, novel by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1941. It was his first prose narrative......
Rebecca
Rebecca, Gothic suspense novel by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938. Widely considered a classic, it is a psychological......
Rebel Angels, The
The Rebel Angels, novel of ideas by Robertson Davies, published in 1981. The novel was the first in a trilogy that......
Red and the Black, The
The Red and the Black, novel by Stendhal, published in French in 1830 as Le Rouge et le noir. The novel, set in......
Red Badge of Courage, The
The Red Badge of Courage, novel of the American Civil War by Stephen Crane, published in 1895 and considered to......
Red Harvest
Red Harvest, first novel written by American master of detective fiction Dashiell Hammett. Originally published......
Red Pony, The
The Red Pony is a book of four related stories by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1937 and expanded......
Redburn
Redburn, novel by Herman Melville, published in 1849. Redburn, based on a trip Melville took to Liverpool, England,......
Rediscovered Artists: 6 Big Names That Time Almost Forgot
For every artist who becomes enduringly famous, there are hundreds more who fall into obscurity. It may surprise......
Reflections in a Golden Eye
Reflections in a Golden Eye, novel by Carson McCullers, serialized in Harperâs Bazaar in 1940 and published in......
Regeneration Trilogy
Regeneration Trilogy, trilogy of novels written by British novelist Pat Barker, published 1991â95, that are set......
Remains of the Day, The
The Remains of the Day, novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, published in 1989. The Remains of the Day, Ishiguroâs first novel......
Remembrance Rock
Remembrance Rock, novel by Carl Sandburg, published in 1948. The work, Sandburgâs only novel, is a massive chronicle......
René
René, novel by François-Auguste-René Chateaubriand, published in French as René, ou les effets de la passion in......
Return of the Native, The
The Return of the Native, novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1878. The novel is set on Egdon Heath, a fictional......
rhétoriqueur
rhétoriqueur, any of the principal poets of the school that flourished in 15th- and early 16th-century France (particularly......
Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle, short story by Washington Irving, published in The Sketch Book in 1819â20. Though set in the Dutch......
Ripley, Tom
Tom Ripley, fictional hero-villain of a series of psychologically acute crime novels by American writer Patricia......
Rise of Silas Lapham, The
The Rise of Silas Lapham, the best-known novel of William Dean Howells, published in 1885. The novel recounts the......
River Between, The
The River Between, novel by Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongâo, published in 1965. The River Between was Ngugiâs second......
Robert The Devil
Robert The Devil, legendary son of a duke of Normandy, born in answer to prayers addressed to the devil. He uses......
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe, novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in London in 1719. Defoeâs first long work of fiction,......
robinsonade
robinsonade, any novel written in imitation of Daniel Defoeâs Robinson Crusoe (1719â22) that deals with the problem......
Roderick Hudson
Roderick Hudson, first novel by Henry James, serialized in The Atlantic Monthly in 1875 and published in book form......
Roderick Random
Roderick Random, picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett, published in 1748. Modeled after Alain-RenĂ© Lesageâs Gil......
Roger Malvinâs Burial
Roger Malvinâs Burial, short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1832 in the periodical The Token......
Roman de Fauvel
Roman de Fauvel, (French: âRomance of Fauvelâ), French poem by Gervais du Bus that, in addition to its literary......
roman Ă clef
roman Ă clef, novel that has the extraliterary interest of portraying well-known real people more or less thinly......
roman-fleuve
roman-fleuve, series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national......
romance
romance, literary form, usually characterized by its treatment of chivalry, that came into being in France in the......
romance novel
romance novel, a fiction book that focuses on the themes of love and romantic relationships. More specifically,......
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms, novel traditionally attributed to the 14th-century Chinese writer Luo Guanzhong.......
Romola
Romola, novel by George Eliot, first published in 1862â63 in The Cornhill Magazine. The book was published in three......
Room with a View, A
A Room with a View, novel by E.M. Forster, published in 1908. Forsterâs keen observation of character and of British......
Rootabaga Stories
Rootabaga Stories, collection of childrenâs stories by Carl Sandburg, published in 1922. These fanciful tales reflect......
Roots
Roots is a book by American writer Alex Haley, published in 1976, that combines history and fiction to chronicle......
Roughing It
Roughing It, semiautobiographical novel by Mark Twain, published in 1872. This humorous travel book, based on Twainâs......
Rougon-Macquart cycle
Rougon-Macquart cycle, sequence of 20 novels by Ămile Zola, published between 1871 and 1893. The cycle, described......
Rudin
Rudin, novel by Ivan Turgenev, published as a serial in the journal Sovremennik and as a book in 1856. The novel......
récit
récit, a brief novel, usually with a simple narrative line. One of the writers who consciously used the form was......
SalammbĂŽ
SalammbĂŽ, historical novel by Gustave Flaubert, published in 1862. Although the titular heroine is a fictional......
Salterton trilogy
Salterton trilogy, series of novels by Robertson Davies, consisting of Tempest-Tost (1951), Leaven of Malice (1954),......
Sanctuary
Sanctuary, novel by William Faulkner, published in 1931. The bookâs depictions of degraded sexuality generated......
Sapphira and the Slave Girl
Sapphira and the Slave Girl, novel by Willa Cather, published in 1940. The novel is set in Catherâs native Virginia......