Midterms eating into your reading time? Try these five short reads for a quick cultural fix.
Animal Farm by George Orwell – 92 pages
George Orwell’s classic farm tale doubling as an anti-communist agenda is one of those short novels everyone should read at some point in their lives. Both comical and political, Orwell uses farm animals (particularly pigs) to parallel key figures of the Russian Revolution and adeptly criticise the ideologies and characters of the revolutionaries. Whether or not you agree with Orwell’s philosophy, the allegorical tale is nonetheless a brilliantly crafted and thoroughly entertaining read.
The Stranger by Albert Camus – 123 pages
“Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know” famously opens Camus’ absurdist novel about his void of an antihero, Meursault. The Stranger is one of those novels that reads like a gut-punch: it hits hard and leaves you feeling sick and numb. While that might not sound appealing, there’s something awful and poignant in The Stranger that makes you lay awake at night and think about your relationship to the world. Camus was first and foremost a philosopher and this novel reeks of his cigarette existentialism. Reading only takes a few hours, but thinking about it is something you can do for the rest of your life.
Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky – 176 pages
On the same note as The Stranger, Notes From Underground has a brilliant opening line and notes of Dostoevsky’s own cross-bearing nihilism. “I am a sick man, I am a spiteful man, I am an unattractive man” are the first few words you read in this novel, those words alone were enough to get be engrossed in not only the world of the Underground Man, but in the world of Dostoevsky himself. Notes From Underground doesn’t function as a novel in a conventional sense, so if you’re in the mood for action or for romance don’t start here. However, if you’re seeking introspection and philosophy, and a character so both deeply disturbing and relatable at the same time, Notes From Underground is a brilliant, quick read that you can always brag about having read.
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima – 192 pages
Yukio Mishima is one of Japan’s most coveted authors from the 20th century. An insane artist, his novels are always filled with the obsession and intrigue that surrounded his life and ultimately dramatic death. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is told from the perspective of a boy, who idolises a sailor who has fallen for his mother. The novel shows the twisted ways in which an idol can become an enemy, and love can become weakness and hatred. Mishima’s novels are always all too human, filled with tragedy, love, and loss. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is no doubt one of his most ingenious stories and a great foray into the world of Japanese literature.
Sula by Toni Morrison – 192 pages
Any novel by Toni Morrison is guaranteed to be absolutely amazing and I would die on that hill. From her genius work of American prose, Beloved, to her powerful critique of society, The Bluest Eye, she’s through and through utterly gifted with the pen. When I started reading Sula on a ferry to a small island in Canada there was no putting it down. It’s at its bones a tale of two friends living in a stunted community in the 1970s and how they drift apart and back together in the most twisted of ways. Though that description doesn’t necessarily capture the whole of Morrison’s gift with this novel. The true heart of it lies in the depiction of community, the depiction of flaws, and the grey area between good and evil. Each and every character is written to be loved, to be hated, to be blamed, and to be forgiven. Sula is one of those novels which draws you in and won’t let you go until the story has breathed its last breath.
Other Honourable Mentions:
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – 106 pages
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – 107 pages
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 110 pages
- Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata – 175 pages
- The End of the Affair by Graham Greene – 192 pages
Illustration courtesy of Lucy Keegan.