Top 10 classic and contemporary short novels

Pint-Sized: 10 Great short reads to finish in a day

Bernice Ng

08 Sep 2015

mis à jour le 6 October 2015 à 22:28

1/10
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flickers in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
2/10
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The short read centers around Santiago, an aging fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.
3/10
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Do you dare approach the Blackwood mansion? How about Merricat Blackwood, one of the oddest and most wonderful characters to ever occupy a house of any kind? You should, because this macabre, hilarious little book, with its family of possible poisoners and definite outcasts is as beautiful as it is weird.
4/10
We the Animals by Justin Torres
Here's a bildungsroman about three wild brothers of white and Puerto Rican parentage who live a rough and tumble childhood in rural upstate New York.
5/10
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Carson’s legendary novel in verse takes the monster’s view — of the classic myth of Herakles and Geryon, of love, and of growing up in the modern world. The woman is a visionary, and this slim volume packs in more beauty than many a tome.
6/10
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922.
7/10
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by the English author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley about the young science student Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but sentient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
8/10
Knighthood by Djuna Barnes
Nightwood is a 1936 novel by Djuna Barnes first published in London by Faber and Faber. Nightwood is one of the earliest prominent novels to portray explicit homosexuality, and can be considered gay literature.
9/10
Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the crime novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective, Sherlock Holmes.
10/10
Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov
Heart of a Dog is a novel by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of the New Soviet man, it was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when Communism appeared to be weakening in the Soviet Union.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fiction novels are the best to read when you need to escape from the mundane reality of the non-fiction world we live in. Here are our top short fiction novels that you can indulge in your spare time.

Most people just don't have the time to read long novels, as rewarding finishing them can be. But, don't doubt the power of a great short novel, because they can hold just as much adventure, excitement and meaning in them.

So to get the ball rolling on petite-sized reads, we've rounded up a delicate blend of classics and contemporary short novels to indulge yourself in. From great names of the past, to unknown names of the present, these novels will capture your imagination and take you to a different place in that short adventure.

These recommendations are all fiction, but as in every category there are smaller and more intricate specifications, such as fantasy fiction, historical, paranormal and science fiction etc. Maybe even some erotica. Or maybe not.

Bernice Ng

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Pint-Sized: 10 Great short reads to finish in a day

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