Title: The Left Hand of Darkness
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Pages: 304 Pages
Published: 1969
Structure: 20 Chapters and an appendix
The Lord of the Rings
Title: The Lord of the Rings
Author: J.R.R.Tolkien
Published: 1955
Pages: 1567 Pages
Structure: 6 “Books” each containing between 9 to 12 chapters, plus 6 appendices and 3 indexes, published in 3 volumes
Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR) is a masterpiece – one of the greatest works of literature of the twentieth century. I have never read a book with so much depth in its world, and such broad and majestic themes.
The Old Man and the Sea
Title: The Old Man and the Sea
Author: Ernest Hemmingway
Written: 1952
Pages: 99 Pages
Structure: No Chapters
How can such a short and simple story about an old man going fishing have so large an impact? Hemmingway’s “Old Man and the Sea” is one of the great stories of the twentieth century, earning the author the Nobel Prize for Literature shortly after it was published.
The Grapes of Wrath
Title: The Grapes of Wrath
Author: John Steinbeck
Written: 1939
Pages: 476 Pages
Structure: 30 Chapters
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read. It’s a powerful masterpiece that made me rethink the meaning of words we use every day such as “justice”, “community” and “compassion”.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Written: 1967
Translator: Gregory Rabassa
Pages: 422 Pages
Structure: 20 Chapters
What a wonderfully unusual book!
Beowulf
Title: Beowulf
Author: Anonymous
Written: 750 CE
Pages: 213 Pages
Structure: An epic poem consisting of 3,182 lines
Beowulf is a wonderfully strange book.
Anna Karenina
Title: Anna Karenina
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Written: 1878
Pages: 747 Pages
Structure: 7 “parts”, each split into about 30 chapters.
“Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy is an overwhelming novel with huge themes. I feel dwarfed by it and can’t possibly do it justice by sharing my small thoughts.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Title: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Author: Anonymous
Written: 2,100 CCE
Pages: 119 Pages
Structure: 12 “Tablets”.
I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.
Of Mice and Men
Title: Of Mice and Men
Author: John Steinbeck
Written: 1937
Pages: 106 Pages
Structure: 6 chapters, split into three “Acts” each consisting of two “Chapters”
“Of Mice and Men” is a heartbreakingly beautiful novella by John Steinbeck.
Metamorphoses (Ovid)
Title: Metamorphoses
Author: Ovid
Written: 8CE
Pages: 723 Pages
Structure: 15 “Books”. The total work contains about 250 myths.
“Metamorphoses” is an epic poem written by the Roman poet Ovid in the early first century.