Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Class Conflict
The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga
An exploration of the Indian class system, told from the perspective of a lower-caste man.
The entire novel is narrated through letters by Balram Halwai to the Premier of China, who will soon be visiting India. Balram is an Indian man from an impoverished background, born in the village of ... (Wikipedia)
Bleak House
by Charles Dickens
A social commentary on the English legal system, exploring themes of inequality, injustice and corruption.
Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually ... (Goodreads)
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
A story of redemption and revolution set during the French Revolution.
A Tale of Two Cities is Charles Dickens’s great historical novel, set against the violent upheaval of the French Revolution. The most famous and perhaps the most popular of his works, it compresses ... (Goodreads)
Nana
by Émile Zola
Tragic story of a young woman's life, and the devastating consequences of her actions.
Nana tells the story of Nana Coupeau's rise from streetwalker to high-class prostitute during the last three years of the French Second Empire . Nana first appeared near the end of Zola's earlier ... (Wikipedia)
The Communist Manifesto
by Karl Marx
A treatise on the fundamental principles of communism, and its role in society.
A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the ... (Goodreads)
Glue
by Irvine Welsh
A gritty portrait of characters struggling with poverty, addiction, and violent crime in Edinburgh.
Glue is the story of four boys growing up in the Edinburgh schemes, and about the loyalties, the experiences - and the secrets - that hold them together into their thirties. Four boys becoming men: ... (Goodreads)
A Room with a View
by E.M. Forster
A young woman's exploration of love, morality, and societal norms in Edwardian England.
The novel is set in the early 1900s as upper-middle-class English women are beginning to lead more independent, adventurous lives. In the first part, Miss Lucy Honeychurch is touring Italy with her ... (Wikipedia)
The Human Stain
by Philip Roth
A professor's life unravels after a scandal, exploring the limits of identity and redemption.
It is 1998, the year in which America is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small New England town an aging Classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forced to ... (Goodreads)
Shirley
by Charlotte Brontë
A young woman's turbulent journey to find her place in a restrictive society.
Robert Moore is a mill owner noted for apparent ruthlessness towards his employees. He has laid off many of them, and is apparently indifferent to their consequent impoverishment. In fact he had no ... (Wikipedia)
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck
A story of humble farmers facing the struggles of poverty and the upheaval of social change.
The story begins on Wang Lung 's wedding day and follows the rise and fall of his fortunes. The House of Hwang, a family of wealthy landowners, lives in the nearby town, where Wang Lung's future ... (Wikipedia)
The Forsyte Saga
by John Galsworthy
Epic tale of an upper-class British family, exploring the clash between traditional values and modernity.
John Galsworthy, a Nobel Prize-winning author, chronicles the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle-class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during ... (Goodreads)
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
Epic tale of power, ambition, and survival set against the backdrop of 12th century England.
The sinking of the, White Ship, leaves King Henry I of England without a clear heir, and The Anarchy begins upon his death. Henry's nephew Stephen of Blois and Henry's daughter Maud fight for the ... (Wikipedia)
Jude the Obscure
by Thomas Hardy
A tale of struggle and sorrow for a poor, uneducated man amid the rigid conventions of Victorian England.
The novel tells the story of Jude Fawley, who lives in a village in southern England (part of Hardy's fictional county of Wessex ), who yearns to be a scholar at "Christminster", a city modelled on ... (Wikipedia)
Doctor Zhivago
by Boris Pasternak
A love story set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, exploring the tragedy of a nation in upheaval.
The plot of Doctor Zhivago is long and intricate. It can be difficult to follow for two reasons. First, Pasternak employs many characters, who interact with each other throughout the book in ... (Wikipedia)
Cat Among the Pigeons
by Agatha Christie
A thrilling mystery involving a school of privileged young women, a missing diamond, and a daring detective.
A revolution takes place within Ramat, a fictional kingdom in the Middle East. Before their deaths, Prince Ali Yusuf entrusts his pilot, Bob Rawlinson, to smuggle a fortune in jewels out of the ... (Wikipedia)
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
Unexpected tensions arise between two families in a small American town.
The #1, New York Times, bestseller! “Witty, wise, and tender. It's a marvel.” —Paula Hawkins, author of, The Girl on the Train, and, A Slow Fire Burning,“To say I love this book is an understatement. ... (Barnes & Noble)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi
A young girl's adventures on the high seas, fighting for justice and freedom.
The story starts in the early summer of 1832, as thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle prepares to take a voyage from Liverpool , England, to her family's home in Providence, Rhode Island . Her upper ... (Wikipedia)
High-Rise
by J.G. Ballard
In a high-rise building, social boundaries begin to break down as the inhabitants descend into chaos and violence.
Following his divorce, doctor and medical-school lecturer Robert Laing moves into his new apartment on the 25th floor of a recently completed high-rise building on the outskirts of London. This tower ... (Wikipedia)
Family Matters
by Rohinton Mistry
Follows the lives of the Parsi family, navigating complex relationships in Bombay.
Nariman Vakeel is a 79 year-old Parsi widower beset by Parkinson's disease and haunted by memories of the past. He lives with his two middle-aged step-children. When Nariman's illness is compounded ... (Wikipedia)
When He Was Wicked
by Julia Quinn
A tale of forbidden love between a duke and a governess, testing societal conventions.
Everything was so much simpler... when he was wicked. In every life there is a turning point. A moment so tremendous, so sharp and breathtaking, that one knows one's life will never be the same. For ... (Goodreads)
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
by Antonio Gramsci
Collection of writings by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, exploring the role of culture and ideology in maintaining power structures.
An extensive anthology, including his most important writings while in prison on philosophy, history, Communist Party formation, the intellectuals, and other subjects. ... (Goodreads)
Down and Out in Paris and London
by George Orwell
An exploration of the dark side of two cities, and how life can be different for the privileged and the destitute.
This unusual fictional memoir - in good part autobiographical - narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great ... (Goodreads)
The Little Stranger
by Sarah Waters
A mysterious and haunting tale of a family living in an eerie old manor house.
Faraday, a country doctor with humble beginnings, is called to Hundreds Hall, an 18th-century estate that has lived far beyond its former glory. He treats a young maid who dislikes the large, ... (Wikipedia)
North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell
A tale of two contrasting worlds, exploring the divisions of the industrial revolution.
Nineteen-year-old Margaret Hale has lived for almost 10 years in London with her cousin Edith and her wealthy Aunt Shaw, but when Edith marries Captain Lennox, Margaret happily returns home to the ... (Wikipedia)
Ghosts
by Henrik Ibsen
A family's struggle to face the consequences of their past and present.
Helen Alving is about to dedicate an orphanage she has built in memory of her late husband. Despite his affairs, Mrs. Alving stayed with him to protect her son from the taint of scandal and for fear ... (Wikipedia)
The Red and the Black
by Stendhal
A young man's ambitious rise in 19th century French society, as he navigates through its politics and passions.
In two volumes,, The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the 19th Century, tells the story of Julien Sorel's life in France's rigid social structure restored after the disruptions of the French ... (Wikipedia)
Murder Must Advertise
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Detective story featuring Lord Peter Wimsey in a race against time to solve a mysterious murder.
Death Bredon arrives at Pym's Publicity Ltd, an advertising agency, to take up the post of junior copywriter. He is assigned the room of his predecessor Victor Dean, who has died in a fall down the ... (Wikipedia)
The Insulted and Humiliated
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A story of revenge, focusing on morality and redemption.
Natasha leaves her parents' home and runs away with Alyosha (prince Alexey) – the son of Prince Valkovsky. As a result of his pain, her father, Nikolai, curses her. The only friend that remains by ... (Wikipedia)
Fingersmith
by Sarah Waters
A thrilling tale of two women who conspire to swindle a wealthy gentleman.
Sue Trinder, an orphan raised in "a Fagin -like den of thieves" by her adoptive mother, Mrs Sucksby, is sent to help Richard "Gentleman" Rivers seduce a wealthy heiress. Posing as a maid, Sue is to ... (Wikipedia)
Goliath
by Scott Westerfeld
A young girl's quest for freedom in a future dystopia, risking all for a better life.
Alek and Deryn are abroad the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger. This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war. But ... (Goodreads)
Sons and Lovers
by D.H. Lawrence
A young man's struggle between his loyalty to his family and his desire for independence.
The refined daughter of a "good old burgher family," Gertrude Coppard meets a rough-hewn miner, Walter Morel, at a Christmas dance and falls into a whirlwind romance characterised by physical ... (Wikipedia)
How Green Was My Valley
by Richard Llewellyn
A Welsh family struggles with the destruction of their ancestral home and a changing way of life.
The novel is set in South Wales during the reign of Queen Victoria . It tells the story of the Morgans, a respectable mining family of the South Wales Valleys , through the eyes of one of the sons, ... (Wikipedia)
The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
A study of the dark side of the American Dream, exploring the disappointments and struggles of the have-nots.
Tod Hackett is the novel's protagonist. He moves from the east coast to Hollywood, California in search of inspiration for his next painting. The novel is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression ... (Wikipedia)
Heaven and Hell
by John Jakes
A family saga set in late 19th century America, confronting the consequences of ambition and greed.
The last days of the Civil War bring no peace for the Main and Hazard families. As the Mains’ South smolders in the ruins of defeat, the Hazards’ North pushes blindly for relentless industrial ... (Goodreads)
The Visit
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
A wealthy woman makes a fateful decision to exact revenge on the impoverished village that once wronged her.
The story opens with the town of Güllen (a name evoking "liquid manure" in German) preparing for the arrival of famed billionaire Claire Zachanassian, who grew up there. Güllen has fallen on hard ... (Wikipedia)
A Tale of Two Cities / Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Dual story of redemption and revolution, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution.
Two of the most beloved novels in all of English literature-together in one extraordinary volume. A TALE OF TWO CITIES After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor ... (Goodreads)
The Royal We
by Heather Cocks
A modern fairytale of a young woman's romance with a prince, and the challenges of life as a royal.
An American girl finds her prince in this "fun and dishy" (, People,) royal romance inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton.,American Bex Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister ... (Barnes & Noble)
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1
by Karl Marx
Analysis of capitalism, exploring its economic and social systems.
Capital , one of Marx's major and most influential works, was the product of thirty years close study of the capitalist mode of production in England, the most advanced industrial society of his day. ... (Goodreads)
Vile Bodies
by Evelyn Waugh
A satirical look at the decadence of the Bright Young Things of the 1920s.
Adam Symes has a novel to finish and, with the proceeds, plans to marry Nina Blount. Returning from France, his manuscript is impounded as obscene by customs officers, while in the next room his ... (Wikipedia)
Gore ot Uma
by Alexander Griboyedov
A satirical comedy of manners that follows a young man’s misadventures in Moscow high society.
"Горе от ума" - одна из первых русских комедий, разодранных на пословицы и поговорки, которыми до сих пор украшена речь всякого мало-мальски начитанного человека. "Горе от ума" - комедия, давшая ... (Goodreads)
The End of Eddy
by Édouard Louis
Autobiographical novel revealing the oppression and social exclusion experienced by an impoverished rural French family.
The most talked-about European novel since My Struggle —a sexually frank, brutally honest coming-of-age story “Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over ... (Goodreads)
A Conspiracy of Paper
by David Liss
A historical mystery set in 18th century London, following a Jewish detective as he uncovers a conspiracy involving the stock market and his own family.
Benjamin Weaver, a Jew and an ex-boxer, is an outsider in eighteenth-century London, tracking down debtors and felons for aristocratic clients. The son of a wealthy stock trader, he lives estranged ... (Goodreads)
She: A History of Adventure
by H. Rider Haggard
A thrilling journey of a woman's search for her true identity, filled with adventure and danger.
On his twenty-fifth birthday, Leo Vincey opens the silver casket that his father has left to him. It contains a letter recounting the legend of a white sorceress who rules an African tribe and of his ... (Goodreads)
Cop Town
by Karin Slaughter
A female police officer's fight against bigotry and corruption in 1970s Atlanta.
Atlanta, 1974. As a brutal killing rocks the city, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the police force will also be her last. For life is anything but easy in the male-dominated world of the ... (Goodreads)
Carve the Mark
by Veronica Roth
A story of two teens struggling to survive in a harsh, oppressive world.
Globally bestselling Divergent author Veronica Roth delivers a breathtaking fantasy featuring an unusual friendship, an epic love story, and a galaxy-sweeping adventure. #1, New York Times, ... (Barnes & Noble)
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