Novel

A novel is a long narrative, normally in prose, which describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story.

The genre has also been described as possessing "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years". This view sees the novel's origins in Classical Greece and Rome, medieval, early modern romance, and the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Ian Watt, however, in The Rise of the Novel (1957) suggests that the novel first came into being in the early 18th century,

Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era; the first part of Don Quixote was published in 1605.

The romance is a closely related long prose narrative. Walter Scott defined it as "a fictitious narrative in prose or verse; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents", whereas in the novel "the events are accommodated to the ordinary train of human events and the modern state of society". However, many romances, including the historical romances of Scott,Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, are also frequently called novels, and Scott describes romance as a "kindred term". Romance, as defined here, should not be confused with the genre fiction love romance or romance novel. Other European languages do not distinguish between romance and novel: "a novel is le roman, der Roman, il romanzo."

Novel (Roman law)

In Roman law, a Novel (Lat. novella) is a new decree or edict, in other words a new law. The term was used from the fourth century AD onwards and was specifically used for laws issued after the publishing of the Codex Theodosianus in 438 and then for the Justiniac Novels, or Novellae Constitutiones. The term was used on and off in later Roman history until falling out of use during the late Byzantine period.

See also

  • Constitution (Roman law)
  • References

    Further reading

  • H.F. Jolowicz and B. Nicholas, Historical Introduction to Roman Law, 3rd edn. (1972)
  • Ninety-nine Novels

    Anthony Burgess's book Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice (Allison & Busby, 1984, ISBN 0-85031-585-9) covers a 44-year span between 1939 and 1983. Burgess was a prolific reader, in his early career reviewing more than 350 novels in just over two years for the Yorkshire Post. In the course of his career he wrote over thirty novels.

    The list represents his personal choices.

    In an interview with Don Swaim Burgess reveals that the book was originally commissioned by a Nigerian publishing company, and written in two weeks.

    Sorted by author

  • Chinua AchebeA Man of the People – (1966)
  • Brian AldissLife in the West (1980)
  • Kingsley AmisLucky Jim (1954)
  • Kingsley Amis – The Anti-Death League (1966)
  • James BaldwinAnother Country (1962)
  • J. G. BallardThe Unlimited Dream Company (1979)
  • John BarthGiles Goat-Boy (1966)
  • Saul BellowThe Victim (1947)
  • Saul Bellow – Humboldt's Gift (1975)
  • Elizabeth BowenThe Heat of the Day (1949)
  • Malcolm BradburyThe History Man (1975)
  • Podcasts:

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    Latest News for: novels

    Writer turned broken heart into graphic novel ‘The Flip Side’

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    The Eagle-Tribune 25 Apr 2025
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    Perseverance and passion to publish a first novel at age 50: Our Best Life

    Cleveland 25 Apr 2025
    ROCKY RIVER, Ohio --- Julie Ditchburn Patton started writing after giving birth to her youngest son ....
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