Novel: Quick Facts

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Oct. 5, 2026

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A timeless novel

Title page of Voltaire's Candide, ou l'Optimisme, printed in 1759, with French text, a floral ornament, and handwritten notes at the bottom.

John Hersey, wearing a military helmet and uniform, sits at the wheel of a military vehicle with another helmeted man visible behind him.

First edition cover of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, featuring a Greek-inspired illustration of a seated figure beneath a tree, with bold title text above.

Movie poster A Clockwork Orange featuring Malcolm McDowell as Alex, holding a knife and staring through a triangle, with bold film title below.

Olive green cover of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, featuring an illustration of a factory with smokestacks emitting smoke, and the title and author's name in bold white letters.

Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis)

Beloved's inspiration

What Was the First Novel Ever Written?

Open book with Regency-era illustration of Jane Austen holding a book; large script “J. Austen” across; background of handwritten text.

Explore Essential Elements of the Novel with Clifton Fadiman and Actors

The Colorful Life of Alice Walker

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby raises a champagne glass, with 'The Great Gatsby' book cover superimposed and an arrow pointing to it.

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Topics

prison camp novel sea novel Newgate novel sensation novel proletarian novel dystopian novel International Booker Prize Anti-Booker Prize Booker Russian Novel Prize War stories: 13 modern writers who served in war children’s literature tragedy dramatic literature comedy biography folk literature Modernist literature short story epic romance

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Key People

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Edmond Goncourt

French author

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Mary Hayley Bell

British author and actress

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Yevgeny Petrov

Soviet humorist

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Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Zinovyev

Russian writer and scholar

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Michael Banim

Irish author

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Albion W. Tourgée

American lawyer, judge, journalist, and novelist

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Arthur Hailey

Canadian writer

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Émile Erckmann

French author

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Tim LaHaye

American Baptist evangelical leader

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Louis-Alexandre Chatrian

French author

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Will Durant

American author

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Ilya Ilf

Soviet humorist

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Jules Goncourt

French author

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Walter M. Miller, Jr.

American writer

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Richard Matheson

American author and screenwriter

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John Banim

Irish author

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Esther Forbes

American author

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Albert Halper

American author

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James Goldman

American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist

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Frances Lockridge

American mystery writer

Young woman with glasses reading a book, student

Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz

Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library

Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz

Textbook chalkboard and apple. Fruit of knowledge. Hompepage blog 2009, History and Society, school education students

The Literary World (Famous Novels)

Row of colorful books on a bookshelf. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The Literary World

Nobel prize-winning American author, Pearl S. Buck, at her home, Green Hills Farm, near Perkasie, Pennsylvania, 1962. (Pearl Buck)

Novels and Novelists Quiz