10 Novels Everyone Should Read

First published in 1979, and based on a radio series of the same name, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a sci-fi comedy. We follow the plight of Arthur Dent, who is plucked from Earth, just moments before the planet is destroyed to make way for a galactic motorway (freeway).

Arthur and his friend, Ford Prefect; who Arthur believed to be an out-of-work actor, but is in fact an alien, begin a madcap journey through space.

First published in Italian, in 1980, The Name of The Rose transports the reader to a 14^th century Franciscan abbey, where several of the monks are accused of heresy. Brother William of Baskerville sets about investigating these charges, but his inquiry is interrupted by seven peculiar deaths.

Sometimes described is the 14^th century equivalent of Sherlock Holmes, it is an ever-twisting mystery that also delves into religious politics.

“One fine morning” a young banker, named Joseph K, is arrested. The day happens to coincide with Joseph’s thirtieth birthday. Exactly one year later, he is arrested again. This time, he is taken to an abandoned quarry and killed.

The Trial, written around 1914/1915, tells the story of the intervening year. As with all of Kafka’s writing, the ‘meaning’ of the novel is elusive. However, it is ostensibly a tale of state-induced self-destruction.

First published in 1951, The Catcher in The Rye was originally written with an adult audience in mind. However, it has subsequently become popular with adolescents and is a stalwart feature of many high school English classes.

It centres around Holden Caulfield, who tells the reader the story of a period of self-destructive behaviour. Although he never overtly gives his location, it is clear that Holden is telling this tale from the confines of a sanatorium or asylum.

First published in English in 1984, The Unbearable Lightness of Being is considered a ‘modern classic’. It is a philosophical work, which tells the interconnecting stories of four people and four relationships: Tereza and Tomas, Tomas and Sabina, Sabina and Franz, Franz and Marie-Claude.

It’s a provocative glimpse at how history affects personal identity and personal existence. It examines the choices that change our lives and the imperfections of adult love.

Another bleak view of the future is offered up in George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984, which explores a totalitarian regime. We follow Winston Smith, who is a low-ranking member of the governing party.

He is watched everywhere he goes and is constantly confronted with the image of the omniscient ‘Big Brother’. In an attempt to prevent all political rebellion, the party is implementing a new language called ‘Newspeak’.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

Perhaps the finest example of Romantic literature, Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte’s only novel. It tells of the passionate, all-consuming, destructive and, ultimately, doomed love between Catherine (Cathy) and Heathcliff.

Soon after it’s publication, the work was criticised for its characters, which are flawed, spiteful and, largely, dislikeable. However, it seems that these very complex and human qualities have simply added to the novel’s attraction.

Much more than just a love story, Wuthering Heights is a mixture of gothic horror, suspense, revenge tragedy and psychological thriller.