Books that Feature the Theme of Masculinity

This thematic Collection centers books that explore the concepts of manhood and masculinity. Through novels, plays, and literary genres, a diverse chorus of authors examines various interpretations of masculine identity and the masculine experience through coming-of-age stories, war narratives, and fantasy realms.

The Fifth Child

by Doris Lessing

Publication year 1988

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Fear, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Disability, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Birth, Childhood & Youth, Appearance & Reality, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Family, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Social Class, Beauty

Tags Horror & Suspense, Gothic Literature, Classic Fiction

The Fifth Child is a novella by British writer Doris Lessing, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature. First published in the UK in 1988, the work blends domestic realism and gothic horror in an unsettling portrait of Harriet and David Lovatt, a couple with old-fashioned values whose lives are upended by the birth of their fifth child, Ben. Aggressive, unusually strong, and non-communicative, Ben does not conform to the Lovatts’ expectations of a... Read The Fifth Child Summary

The Frozen River

by Ariel Lawhon

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Gender Identity, Indigenous Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Birth, Animals, Family, Mothers, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Equality, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Gender & Feminism

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The Girl On The Train

by Paula Hawkins

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Conflict, Fear, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Love, Memory, Masculinity, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Marriage

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Trauma & Abuse, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction

Paula Hawkins wrote The Girl on the Train over the course of six months in 2014. Hawkins, an Oxford-educated journalist and writer, drew on her experience as a reporter in London to structure the novel and describe its locations. Drawing immediate comparisons to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train had similar performance, debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2015, and remaining there for 13 consecutive weeks... Read The Girl On The Train Summary

The Godfather

by Mario Puzo

Publication year 1968

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Masculinity, Family, Justice

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Dramatic Literature

The Godfather, by American author Mario Puzo, was published in 1969 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons. It was an immediate success, remaining on the New York Times Bestseller List for 67 weeks and selling over nine million copies in two years. The book was lauded for its authenticity, despite the fact that Puzo had no real-life experience with the Mafia, though he did grow up in Vito Corleone’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola’s... Read The Godfather Summary

The Great Santini

by Pat Conroy

Publication year 1976

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Family, Loyalty & Betrayal, Fear, Love, Masculinity, Coming of Age

Tags Life-Inspired Fiction, Military & War, Southern Literature, Historical Fiction

Pat Conroy’s 1976 novel, The Great Santini, is a semi-autobiographical work of fiction that explores the tumultuous life of a military family in the American South during the early 1960s. The story centers on Ben Meecham, the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel Bull Meecham, a charismatic but violently abusive Marine Corps fighter pilot. As Ben navigates his 18th year, he grapples with the intense psychological conflict of loving and fearing his father, whose brutal warrior... Read The Great Santini Summary

The Homecoming

by Harold Pinter

Publication year 1964

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Masculinity, Aging, Social Class, Community, Gender Identity

Tags Drama, Psychological Fiction, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction

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The Immoralist

by Andre Gide

Publication year 1902

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Colonialism, Sexual Identity, Masculinity

Tags LGBTQ+, Classic Fiction, Travel Literature, Gender & Feminism, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, French Literature, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy

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The Labyrinth of Solitude

by Octavio Paz

Publication year 1950

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Colonialism, Masculinity

Tags Philosophy, Race & Racism, Sociology, Gender & Feminism, Latin American Literature, Women`s Studies, World History, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The Labyrinth of Solitude is a nine-part philosophical and historical essay on Mexican identity and culture. Octavio Paz, a famous Mexican poet and career diplomat, began writing The Labyrinth of Solitude during his time as the Mexican ambassador to France in the late 1940s. Originally published in 1951, the first edition of Paz’s work appeared in Spanish under the title El labertino de la soledad, and it is widely considered to be Paz’s masterpiece. This... Read The Labyrinth of Solitude Summary

The Lady in the Lake

by Raymond Chandler

Publication year 1943

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Place, Marriage, Social Class, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

The Lady in the Lake, by Raymond Chandler, is a detective novel originally published in 1943. Chandler was born in Chicago but later moved to California, and he drew on his experiences living there when writing his Philip Marlowe novels. Marlowe, a down-on-his-luck Los Angeles detective, first appears in Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep, which was adapted into a film noir in 1946 with Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart. In the 1946 adaptation of The... Read The Lady in the Lake Summary

The Last Kingdom

by Bernard Cornwell

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Masculinity

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, British Literature, Military & War, Medieval, World History, Fantasy

The Last Kingdom, published in 2004, was the first volume in what would become a series of 12 historical adventure novels, set in Britain in the late-ninth and early 10th centuries. The novels chronicle the bloody territorial wars between the English armies of the island’s then four kingdoms and the invading Danish armies, fierce Northern warriors known in contemporary pop culture as the Vikings. Bernard Cornwell was already an established and prolific writer of historical... Read The Last Kingdom Summary

The Laws of Human Nature

by Robert Greene

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Forgiveness, Hate & Anger, Femininity, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Power & Greed, Science & Technology

Tags Psychology, Self-Improvement, Philosophy, Business & Economics, Leadership, Sociology

... Read The Laws of Human Nature Summary