The Mosquito Coast, published in 1981 by Paul Theroux, is an adventure story narrated by 13-year-old Charlie Fox, the son of a brilliant inventor who uproots his family to establish a self-sustaining settlement in the jungles of Honduras. Writing in the tradition of novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, and Lord of the Flies, Theroux cited the Jonestown Massacre and the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith as influences in... Read The Mosquito Coast Summary

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The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the final novel written by English novelist Charles Dickens. Dickens completed about half of the novel before he died in June 1870, and he had already begun publishing the novel in serial form. Because the novel revolves around the mysterious disappearance, and possible murder, of the titular character, many individuals have speculated about how Dickens would have resolved the mystery had he completed the text. In the existing portion... Read The Mystery of Edwin Drood Summary

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) is Edgar Allan Poe’s only complete novel. The first two installments were published in 1837 in the Southern Literary Messenger magazine, where Poe was an editor. After leaving the Messenger, he continued working on the novel intermittently until it was published as a complete text in 1838. It brings together various literary genres—including the adventure story, coming-of-age narrative, and scientific guidebook— and infuses them with an... Read The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket Summary

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In The Old Man and the Sea, a 1952 adventure novella by American author Ernest Hemingway, an aging fisherman pits his life and wits against a giant fish as he battles to catch it and then protect its flesh from ravenous sharks. With its themes of endurance, perseverance, and respect for one’s opponent, this simple, straightforward narrative is widely regarded as an American classic and one of the greatest sea stories ever told.The book helped... Read The Old Man and the Sea Summary

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Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Overcoat” is one of the best-known and most anthologized examples of Russian fiction. Numerous authors have cited “The Overcoat” as influencing Russian surrealism, short fiction, and satire. In 1941, the Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov referred to “The Overcoat” as “the greatest short story ever written” (Nabokov, Vladimir. “The Art of Translation.” The New Republic, 4 Aug. 1941). Likewise, one of the most famous apocryphal sayings in Russian literature (attributed... Read The Overcoat Summary

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Written and first performed in 472 BC, the ancient Greek tragedy The Persians by Aeschylus is the oldest extant example of the genre. Known as the father of Greek tragedy, Aeschylus was also a veteran of the Greco-Persian wars, on which The Persians is based. Because it depicts recent events, The Persians stands out from other plays of the genre, which for the most part focus on the distant past or mythological heroes. The approach was a... Read The Persians Summary

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The Pilgrim’s Progress was written by John Bunyan and published in 1678. The work is a religious allegory that is among the most famous works of English literature; many critics also consider it the first English example of the novel genre. Like Christian, the main character in Part 1, Bunyan’s path to Christianity was a journey. After rejecting religion early in his life, Bunyan devoted himself to God and became a Puritan. He believed the... Read The Pilgrim's Progress Summary

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The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, is considered one of the most important novels written in English. It was published first in serial form between 1880 and 1881, and later revised for another edition in 1908. The novel details the experience of a young American woman, Isabel Archer, who travels to Europe. She is committed to her freedom, rejecting two marriage proposals. After she inherits an unexpected fortune, she falls victim to the... Read The Portrait of a Lady Summary