Fiction
Memorable novels and fables chosen for the questions and perspectives they leave with readers.
Books
George Orwell
1984
2 min read
1984
What happens to a person when private thought is no longer safely separate from public power?
2 min read
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
A sharp remark can make a social world feel legible just before it makes it harder to see.
2 min read
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
A spare, symbolic journey for readers willing to let a novel ask what desire becomes once it is no longer safely unnamed.
John Green
The Fault in Our Stars
2 min read
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
Banter, intimacy, and the wish to be known sit close to fear in The Fault in Our Stars, a contemporary young-adult novel that meets emotional exposure with unsentimental wit.
Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things
2 min read
The God of Small Things
The order in which a life is remembered can be as consequential as the events themselves.
2 min read
The Little Prince
What if growing up doesn't only teach us what matters—but also teaches us what to overlook?
Kazuo Ishiguro
The Remains of the Day
2 min read
The Remains of the Day
Some lives are most difficult to read at the point where they sound most composed.
Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart
2 min read
Things Fall Apart
Before outsiders arrive in a novel, a community has already been arguing, celebrating, judging, and governing itself.