Interesting British Novels?

Question

Can anyone introduce some interesting British novels? any topics or subjects all possible!! i just want to know more about British by reading novels or books?

Answer 1

You could try Agatha Christie novels...true they are mystery and they deal wth murders and the solving of them. Especially the ones that feature Ms. Jane Marple give you a prime example of British village life during the time they were written. The ones that feature Tommy and Tuppence also give insight into Britain during war time.

Terry Pratchett could be helpful also with the critique on society though if you really wanted to you could apply some of his topics to your own culture... especially if your country was closely tied to Britain but is not entirely that.

And the Bartimaeus trilogy can give you an idea of England in more recent times, so can the Harry Potter Series.

Answer 2

Welcome to Manchester!
There are a great many modern British classics, which can give you an insight into the strange world of British society;
Of an old fashioned genre, where the UK stereotypes originate, I should recommend the short stories of H H Munro (aka Saki), which are very amusing and based at the end of Victorian England, and amongst the Upper Classes. Also, PGWodehouse's 'Jeeves and Wooster' stories, which are similar in style and setting.
Between the wars, there are the whodunnits of Agatha Christie, which are often better in print than the tv and film versions. As a woman, you might enjoy the books of E M Forster, such as 'A Room with a View' and Howards End'.
After the second world war, there were some great 'Cold War' spy novels, which also show the Machievellian workings of the British Civil Service and Intelligence Agencies. In this genre, any book by Frederick Forsyth or John Le Carre can be recommended, though 'The Odessa File', 'The Day of the Jackal', 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' & 'Smileys People' are probably the best known.
In the last few years, Irvine Welsh's 'Trainspotting' is a cult classic, though written with a strong Scots dialect. If you enjoy reading about police dramas, especially those with a slightly Christian twist to them, then the novels of Ian Rankins 'Inspector Rebus' are currently highly acclaimed. On a lighter note, and if you wish to both laugh aloud, and learn about life up here, where it's grim (ie the North), then Peter Kays autobiography 'The Sound of Laughter' will give you an insight into everyday life in the NorthWest.
There are, of course, the old classics such as George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Gaskell (who lived in Manchester), AJ Cronin & HG Wells.
Quite a list there, but I hope it has given you some ideas, and I hope you find some you like. Good luck, and good reading.

Answer 3

What do you mean by 'want to know more about British?' Do you mean the British, as in the British people? Anything written by someone from Britain would be a British novel, and sometimes (e.g. for the purpose of literary awards allocation) British Commonwealth writers are included, too. Beowulf was the first written story in English, but English isn't the only British language. I mention Beowulf simply to illustrate how vast the British literary canon is. Surely you've heard of Dickens, et al! As you've written your question in English, I'd imagine you've read some fiction in the English language before, so why don't you start by finding out where authors are from when selecting a novel.

Answer 4

Ok read Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up!Dead funny and will tell you lots about Thatcherite Britain.

Read Ian Mc Ewan because he will tell you about Britain post 9/11 and also Enduring Love is full of haunting images.

Read Martin Amis for a contrast of 80s America and Britain.

Read Grahame Greene becuaes he's amazing- especially Our Man in Havana.

Jane Eyre by Bronte- the classic must.

Have fun these are my favorites- avoid Austen's Northanger Abbey

Answer 5

Try "The Bell" by Iris Murdoch, and several of her other novels written around this time (1960s, 1970s). They are good reads, intelligent and quintessentially British.
If you already know her work, try early novels by Graham Greene, written in the 1950s, 1960s. Brilliant.

Answer 6

Jane Austin is a brilliant British Author. They're classics/romance books. Here's some of her work:
Pride and Prejudice (my favorite)
Persuasion
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Northanger Abby

Answer 7

Try Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell, Graham Greene, John LeCarre', and Charles Dickens.

Answer 8

If you want to learn about British culture, history, society, etc, you have to come here. The only thing you will learn through reading British novels is something about British novels.

Answer 9

Jonathan Strange & Dr Norrell By Suzanna Clarke

Answer 10

Gormenghast by Mervin Peake. In the characters and setting is all of british society good bad and ugly but is set almost within a dream. It is very moving and clever and unlike anything else in british literature. give it a try its my favourite book