A novel is a long or extended work of fiction written in prose, usually in the form of a story. It is longer and more complex than a short story or novella (ie. 40,000+ words), and it is not bound by the restrictions of plays and poetry. The word "novel" is from the Italian word novella which means "new". A person who writes novels is known as a novelist.
1 Qualities of the novel
Most novels have the following qualities, but in each case there are exceptions:
- Intended as entertainment (but The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon is didactic).
- The subject matter is wholly fictional (but Moby-Dick by Herman Melville has digressions into fact).
- The subject matter is realistic (but many have surreal or fantastic elements, from Satyricon onwards).
- The subject matter is human beings, their actions and relations (perhaps in disguise, for example as animals, as in George Orwell's Animal Farm).
- There are a small number of central characters (but 253 by Geoff RymanGeoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a science fiction and mainstream fiction writer. He was born in Canada, and has lived most of his life in England. His science fiction and fantasy works include The Warrior Who Carried Life (1985), the novella The Unc has many characters none of whom is central).
- A single plotPlot in literature, theater, movies According to Aristotle's Poetics a plot in literature is "the arrangement of incidents" that (ideally) each follow plausibly from the other. The plot is like the chalk outline that guides the painter's brush. An example links the events and characters.
- The main character or characters have evolved and grown by the end of the novel (according to Anthony BurgessJohn Anthony Burgess Wilson ( February 25, 1917 — November 25, 1993), better known by the pen name Anthony Burgess was a British writer. Life Burgess was born in Manchester, England and was left motherless at two years old by the 1918- 1919 influenza pand, when discussing his dissatisfaction with the film adaption of A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange is a dystopian 1962 novel by the Mancunian writer Anthony Burgess, adapted as a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971. It is widely regarded as a successor to earlier great British dystopian novels such as Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New W; but in The Mezzanine by Nicholson BakerNicholson Baker (born January 7, 1957) is a contemporary American novelist. Work Baker's highly unconventional novels de-emphasize traditional elements (particularly plot), emphasizing instead a very close level of introspection and sifting of thoughts an the timescale is too short for evolution or growth to occur).
Novels are sometimes contrasted with romances. Romantic fictionRomantic fiction is one of the oldest genres in literature, with a history that goes back at least to the medieval concept of courtly love, the "cult of the Virgin Mary" and beyond. In this context, the term, "romance", which originally referred to any ki tends to be fantastic, to be set in a mythical ancient time, and to have shallower characters than novels. Don QuixoteDon Quixote (or Don Quijote pronounced kee-HO-teh) de la Mancha is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. It is one of the earliest novels in a modern European language and many people consider it the best book in the Spanish language. The ful can be read as a parody of the popular romances of chivalry.
2 History of the novel
2.1 Classical period
In ancient Greece and Rome, these were earliest extant novels (some people would call them precursors of the novel):
- Xenophon, The Education of Cyrus ( GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce, 4th century BC). A fictional account of the education of King Cyrus the Great of Persia. A strong candidate for the first novel.
- Petronius, Satyricon ( Latin, 1st century).
- Apuleius, The Golden Ass ( Latin, 2nd century).
- Chariton, The Loves of Chaereas and Callirhoe ( Greek, 1st century– 2nd century).
- Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon ( Greek, 2nd century).
- Longus, Daphnis and Chloe ( Greek, 2nd century).
- Xenophon of Ephesus, Ephesian Tale ( Greek, 2nd century– 3rd century).
- Heliodorus, Ethiopian Tale ( Greek, 3rd century– 4th century).
- Anon, Joseph and Aseneth ( Greek, 1st century– 5th century).
- Anon, The Story of Apollonius, King of Tyre ( Latin adaptation of lost Greek original, 5th century– 6th century).
