Ten Novels of English Literature that I enjoy a Lot

I think that I do not need to give you the definition of novel. It is now the most popular form of literature and we all like it. We all love to read novels and especially when we have nothing to do, it is indeed a very good way of passing our time and learning something new. Here, I’m going to talk about some of the novels of English literature that I have enjoyed a lot and if you have not read any of them then I would strongly recommend you read them because you will like all of them.

Gulliver’s Travels

You may be surprised to see that I have started the list with Gulliver’s Travels which is more of a satire than a novel. Well, I would like you to remind that the definition of novel is that it is a very long fictional prose work and according to this definition, Gulliver’s Travels should fall into this category very easily. I like it because it is a very strong statement and protest against colonialism and it is perhaps one of the earliest protests against colonialism in English literature. The writer is Jonathan swift and he has attacked the mentality of some English officials who wanted to colonize the people and oppress them in other part of the world.

Pride and Prejudice

It is a novel that is enjoyed by millions of people even today and I know that many of you will be delighted with this selection. Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen and the main topic of this novel was love and marriage. However, it is much more than a romantic novel and it talks about the importance and role of money and wealth in marriage life. Thus, it is a realistic portrait of marriage and love and by reading it, we can see that love and marriage are not that romantic after all. Also I like the way that the author has analyzed and depicted the interaction of different characters in the novel.

Great Expectations

Any list of English novels will always be incomplete without the best novelist of all time Charles Dickens. I know that many of you are not a fan of Great Expectations but it is my most favorite novel of Charles Dickens because it portrays realistic point of view of life instead of romanticizing it too much. I particularly like the way the story develops. He was also good at characterization in this novel.

Keep the Aspidistra Flying

It is perhaps my most favorite novel in English literature and it was written by George Orwell. Of course, most people are fan of Orwell’s two other novels Animal Farm and 1984 but to me, Orwell was at his best in this novel. Here, the hero is idealist and young and he declared war on money and he wanted to be a poet. Many of us have this kind of idealistic dream in our young age but just like the hero, we understand that life without money is meaningless and it brings us to the brink of disaster. Instead, we find comport in married life And even live with some decent amount of money and adore the middle class lifestyle. I like the heroine of this novel a lot. Her name is Rosemary. She is perhaps one of the most supportive female characters in entire English literature.

The Sign of Four

You may wonder that what a detective novel is doing in this kind of list. I am a very big fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite characters. I like the mystery presented in this novel and also the art of characterization by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The confidence of Sherlock Holmes here really amazed me.

The Sea-Wolf

Jack London is no doubt one of the most popular novelists is in English literature. The Sea-Wolf was a best seller right away after it was published and if you have read it then you should know the reason. If you have not read it yet then I would strongly recommend you to read it as soon as possible because if you have not read it yet then there is no doubt that you are missing something. The narrative is excellent and description of nature is also impressive. The characters are very powerful and lively and you will rarely find this kind of analysis of human characters in novel.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn enjoyed more fame than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but I like the latter than the former. It is full of fun and excitement and there is something to learn too. We all want to be and perhaps a bit like Tom Sawyer when we were boys. He is very not very admirable but he has some human heart when we can find it with his dealings of the Negro slave and Huckleberry Finn. He is the source of all mischievous but at the same time he is also there for his loved ones.

Robin Hood

I do not know of any novel written about Robin hood but I surely like the character and that is why I have decided to include his name in this list of top ten novels. Robin Hood was the person who helped the oppressed people and fought against the tyrants. He could collect some young men with his own ideas and then motivated them to fight for liberty and justice. He was an outlaw but still if he got a lot of respect from the ordinary people. In our own age, we consider him as a symbol of liberty and democracy.

Ivanhoe

I wanted to mention A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens but then I felt that I have already included something from Dickens. That is why I’m writing about Ivanhoe of Sir Walter Scott. Robin Hood is also present in this novel and that makes it perhaps more attractive to me. Here, more than history, I like the way that Sir Walter Scott has done the art of characterization. There are several important and major characters and all of them have different qualities and characteristics. Their differences are shown in a very beautiful way to.

King Solomon's Mines

Many of us have the mind of having some adventure in life and we cannot do it because of different reasons. For this kind of people, the next best thing to do perhaps is to read this novel King Solomon's Mines by Sir H. Rider Haggard.