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Literature

Great books shape how we see ourselves and our world, whether through timeless stories or illuminating reflections on the craft of writing itself. These transformative works explore life's deepest questions while teaching us to read between the lines of human experience.

Literature Book Summaries

How Fiction Works Summary
How Fiction Works
by James Wood 2008 265 pages
3.99
7.9K ratings
Writing
Literary Criticism
Books About Books
Dogeaters Summary
Dogeaters
by Jessica Hagedorn 1990 272 pages
3.61
3.0K ratings
Historical Fiction
Novels
Literature
The Overcoat Summary
The Overcoat
by Nikolai Gogol 1842 57 pages
4.15
48.2K ratings
Short Stories
Russia
Russian Literature
The Merchant of Venice Summary
The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare 1596 249 pages
3.78
197.7K ratings
Classics
Plays
Drama
Sense and Sensibility Summary
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen 1811 409 pages
4.09
1.3M ratings
Classics
Romance
Historical Fiction
The White Castle Summary
The White Castle
by Orhan Pamuk 1985 145 pages
3.48
16.2K ratings
Historical Fiction
Turkish Literature
Turkish
Wuthering Heights Summary
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë 1847 464 pages
3.90
1.9M ratings
Gothic
Historical Fiction
Literature
The Clown Summary
The Clown
by Heinrich Böll 1963 272 pages
3.93
30.9K ratings
German Literature
Classics
Novels
The Namesake Summary
The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri 2003 304 pages
4.02
278.4K ratings
Book Club
Literary Fiction
Contemporary
The Epic of Gilgamesh Summary
The Epic of Gilgamesh
by Anonymous 1201 72 pages
3.75
112.8K ratings
Classics
Poetry
Mythology
Walden or, Life in the Woods Summary
Walden or, Life in the Woods
by Henry David Thoreau 1854 352 pages
3.78
199.1K ratings
Classics
Philosophy
Nature
Ham on Rye Summary
Ham on Rye
by Charles Bukowski 1982 288 pages
4.14
114.3K ratings
Classics
Novels
Literature
A Moveable Feast Summary
A Moveable Feast
by Ernest Hemingway 1964 192 pages
4.02
160.9K ratings
Memoir
Biography
France
Dubliners Summary
Dubliners
by James Joyce 1914 352 pages
3.84
167.9K ratings
Classics
Short Stories
Ireland
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Summary
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
by Thomas C. Foster 2003 314 pages
3.59
32.7K ratings
School
Books About Books
Writing
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Summary
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare 1595 298 pages
3.94
563.5K ratings
Plays
Fantasy
School
Moby-Dick or, The Whale Summary
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
by Herman Melville 1851 720 pages
3.56
596.8K ratings
Classics
Literature
Adventure
Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead Summary
Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead
by Fyodor Dostoevsky 1864 233 pages
4.19
77.8K ratings
Classics
Russia
Philosophy
The Sound and the Fury Summary
The Sound and the Fury
by William Faulkner 1929 366 pages
3.86
190.5K ratings
Literature
Classics
Novels
Death of a Salesman Summary
Death of a Salesman
by Arthur Miller 1949 144 pages
3.58
250.3K ratings
Classics
Plays
Drama
Letters to a Young Poet Summary
Letters to a Young Poet
by Rainer Maria Rilke 1929 80 pages
4.29
110.1K ratings
Poetry
Classics
Philosophy
The Wild Duck Summary
The Wild Duck
by Henrik Ibsen 1884 128 pages
3.80
10.8K ratings
Plays
Classics
Theatre
On the Road Summary
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac 1957 307 pages
3.61
434.1K ratings
Classics
Travel
Literature
Kokoro Summary
Kokoro
by Natsume Sōseki 1914 256 pages
4.04
38.2K ratings
Japan
Classics
Japanese Literature
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass Summary
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll 1871 239 pages
4.06
592.4K ratings
Classics
Fantasy
Childrens
The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky Summary
The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky
by Fyodor Dostoevsky 1877 320 pages
4.23
4.1K ratings
Short Stories
Classics
Russia
Gulliver’s Travels Summary
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift 1726 306 pages
3.59
291.6K ratings
Classics
Fantasy
Adventure
Freedom Summary
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen 2010 562 pages
3.79
172.6K ratings
Book Club
Contemporary
Literary Fiction
Life for Sale Summary
Life for Sale
by Yukio Mishima 1968 192 pages
3.71
12.6K ratings
Japan
Japanese Literature
Classics
Leaves of Grass Summary
Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman 1855 624 pages
4.12
113.7K ratings
Poetry
Classics
Literature
The Lords of Discipline Summary
The Lords of Discipline
by Pat Conroy 1980 512 pages
4.34
29.4K ratings
Historical Fiction
Military Fiction
Southern
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea Summary
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
by Yukio Mishima 1963 181 pages
3.84
48.1K ratings
Japan
Classics
Japanese Literature
Lord Jim Summary
Lord Jim
by Joseph Conrad 1900 455 pages
3.61
32.2K ratings
Classics
Literature
Adventure
Pedro Páramo Summary
Pedro Páramo
by Juan Rulfo 1955 124 pages
4.06
89.5K ratings
Classics
Magical Realism
Spanish Literature
Lord of the Flies Summary
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding 1954 182 pages
3.70
3.1M ratings
Classics
Young Adult
School
Persuasion Summary
Persuasion
by Jane Austen 1817 249 pages
4.15
744.6K ratings
Classics
Historical Fiction
Historical
Ulysses Summary
Ulysses
by James Joyce 1922 783 pages
3.77
137.3K ratings
Classics
Literature
Ireland
The Maniac Summary
The Maniac
by Benjamín Labatut 2023 368 pages
4.34
20.7K ratings
Historical Fiction
Philosophy
Literary Fiction
Poetics Summary
Poetics
by Aristotle 144 pages
3.83
28.1K ratings
Philosophy
Poetry
Writing
Crash Summary
Crash
by J.G. Ballard 1973 224 pages
3.59
28.0K ratings
Science Fiction
Horror
Novels
Four Great Tragedies Summary
Four Great Tragedies
Hamlet / Othello / King Lear / Macbeth
by William Shakespeare 1606 592 pages
4.42
17.9K ratings
Classics
Plays
Drama
The Spinoza Problem Summary
The Spinoza Problem
by Irvin D. Yalom 2012 321 pages
4.26
17.5K ratings
Philosophy
Psychology
Historical Fiction
The Scarlet Letter Summary
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 279 pages
3.44
896.8K ratings
Historical Fiction
School
Literature
We Summary
We
by Yevgeny Zamyatin 1924 256 pages
3.88
106.0K ratings
Science Fiction
Classics
Dystopia
A Clockwork Orange Summary
A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess 1962 192 pages
4.00
748.0K ratings
Classics
Science Fiction
Dystopia
Survivor Summary
Survivor
by Chuck Palahniuk 1999 289 pages
3.93
122.0K ratings
Contemporary
Thriller
Novels
Identity Summary
Identity
by Milan Kundera 1997 176 pages
3.69
31.6K ratings
Novels
Czech Literature
Literature
Palm Sunday Summary
Palm Sunday
An Autobiographical Collage
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 1981 300 pages
3.78
6.7K ratings
Essays
Short Stories
Classics
The Age of Innocence Summary
The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton 1920 293 pages
3.97
187.5K ratings
Classics
Historical Fiction
Romance
Saturday Summary
Saturday
by Ian McEwan 2005 289 pages
3.64
72.2K ratings
Contemporary
Literary Fiction
Book Club
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