Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Symbolism
Moby-Dick or, the Whale
by Herman Melville
A whaling ship's vengeful pursuit of a white whale, with a captivating narrative.
Ishmael travels in December from Manhattan Island to New Bedford, Massachusetts , with plans to sign up for a whaling voyage. The inn where he arrives is overcrowded, so he must share a bed with the ... (Wikipedia)
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
A group of boys stranded on an island, struggling to develop a functioning society.
In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British aeroplane crashes on or near an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their middle childhood or ... (Wikipedia)
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
by Thomas C. Foster
A guide to exploring literature’s hidden meanings and uncovering the underlying themes.
While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper meanings interwoven in these literary texts... How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those ... (Goodreads)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
A young girl's magical journey through a strange land to find her way home.
Dorothy is a young girl who lives with her Aunt Em , Uncle Henry , and dog, Toto , on a farm on the Kansas prairie. One day, she and Toto are caught up in a cyclone that deposits them and the ... (Wikipedia)
Paradise Lost
by John Milton
Epic poem of the Fall of Man, exploring the depths of human nature and the consequences of sin.
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of ... (Goodreads)
Les Fleurs du Mal
by Charles Baudelaire
Collection of poems exploring the beauty and depravity of human nature.
Charles Baudelaire's 1857 masterwork was scandalous in its day for its portrayals of sex, same-sex love, death, the corrupting and oppressive power of the modern city and lost innocence, Les Fleurs ... (Goodreads)
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
A complex exploration of logic, mathematics and art, exploring their relationships and interconnections.
Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity ... (Goodreads)
The Rule of Four
by Ian Caldwell
An academic quest to decode a centuries-old mystery, uncovering secrets of the past.
The book is set on the Princeton campus during Easter weekend in 1999. The story involves four Princeton seniors, both friends and roommates, getting ready for graduation: Tom, Paul, Charlie and Gil. ... (Wikipedia)
Titus Groan
by Mervyn Peake
A young man's rise to power in a decaying castle, amidst a backdrop of a decaying world.
The novel begins as the imperious and ritual-driven servant Mr. Flay seeks to tell someone new of the birth of an heir to the House of Groan in a remote part of the sprawling castle of Gormenghast. A ... (Wikipedia)
Gormenghast
by Mervyn Peake
A darkly humorous fantasy epic of a crumbling castle and its eccentric inhabitants.
Titus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed ... (Goodreads)
The Illustrated Man
by Ray Bradbury
A collection of short stories about the human condition and its connection to the universe.
That The Illustrated Man has remained in print since being published in 1951 is fair testimony to the universal appeal of Ray Bradbury's work. Only his second collection (the first was Dark Carnival ... (Goodreads)
Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of metaphysical tales and philosophical musings exploring the nature of reality.
Although his work has been restricted to the short story, the essay, and poetry, Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina is recognized all over the world as one of the most original and significant figures in ... (Goodreads)
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
A thrilling mystery involving secret societies, hidden clues, and an ancient conspiracy.
Louvre curator and Priory of Sion grand master Jacques Saunière is fatally shot one night at the museum by an albino Catholic monk named Silas, who is working on behalf of someone he knows only as ... (Wikipedia)
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
Epic tales of the gods and goddesses of Norse mythology, set in a world of giants, dwarfs, and monsters.
“Remarkable.… Gaiman has provided an enchanting contemporary interpretation of the Viking ethos.”—Lisa L. Hannett, Atlantic Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical ... (Barnes & Noble)
Ulysses
by James Joyce
Epic narrative following a day in the life of an Irishman living in Dublin.
It is 8 a.m. Buck Mulligan , a boisterous medical student, calls Stephen Dedalus (a young writer encountered as the principal subject of, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, ) up to the roof of ... (Wikipedia)
The Solitaire Mystery
by Jostein Gaarder
A young boy's journey to uncover the mystery of his past and the truth of his identity.
The book follows two seemingly separate stories: A 12-year-old boy, Hans-Thomas, and his father are driving through Europe on a journey to locate and bring home the boy's estranged mother. Whilst on ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
by Jacob Grimm
Classic collection of folktales and children's stories, exploring morality, adventure and magic.
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, collects more than 200 tales set down by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early decades of the nineteenth century, among them some of the best-loved and most famous fairy ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Waves
by Virginia Woolf
Inner musings of six characters in search of individual identity, expressed through the ebb and flow of the sea.
The novel follows its six narrators from childhood through adulthood. Woolf is concerned with the individual consciousness and the ways in which multiple consciousnesses can weave together. Bernard ... (Wikipedia)
Pale Fire
by Vladimir Nabokov
A darkly comic and philosophical exploration of art, sanity, and the nature of reality.
Shade's poem digressively describes many aspects of his life. Canto 1 includes his early encounters with death and glimpses of what he takes to be the supernatural. Canto 2 is about his family and ... (Wikipedia)
The Red Tree
by Shaun Tan
A surreal journey through a dark and mysterious landscape, exploring themes of isolation, depression, and the power of imagination.
When a child awakens with dark leaves drifting into her bedroom, she feels that 'sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to, and things go from bad to worse.' Feelings too complex for ... (Goodreads)
The Yellow Wall-Paper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman's descent into madness due to oppressive social expectations.
A woman and her husband rent a summer house, but what should be a restful getaway turns into a suffocating psychological battle. This chilling account of postpartum depression and a husband's ... (Goodreads)
The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon
A surreal journey of uncovering the truth of a mysterious organization.
In the mid-1960s, Oedipa Maas lives a fairly comfortable life in the (fictional) northern Californian village of Kinneret, despite her lackluster marriage with Mucho Maas, a rudderless radio jockey , ... (Wikipedia)
The Aleph and Other Stories
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of stories featuring metaphysical and philosophical explorations of the human condition.
Full of philosophical puzzles and supernatural surprises, these stories contain some of Borges's most fully realized human characters. With uncanny insight, he takes us inside the minds of an ... (Goodreads)
From Hell
by Alan Moore
A gripping story of murder, conspiracy and suspense set in 19th century London.
Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence , also known as Prince Eddy, marries and fathers a child with Annie Crook, a shop girl in London's East End . Prince Eddy had visited the area under an assumed ... (Wikipedia)
The Castle of Crossed Destinies
by Italo Calvino
A group of travelers, unable to speak, use tarot cards to tell their stories and reveal their fates.
A group of travellers chance to meet, first in a castle, then a tavern. Their powers of speech are magically taken from them and instead they have only tarot cards with which to tell their tales. ... (Goodreads)
People of the Book
by Geraldine Brooks
A journey through time as an ancient book is discovered and its secrets revealed.
The "complex and moving" ( The New Yorker ) novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war. Inspired by a true story, "People of the ... (Goodreads)
The Street of Crocodiles
by Bruno Schulz
A surreal and dreamlike collection of short stories set in a small town in Poland, exploring themes of memory, identity, and the decay of society.
The collection tells the story of a merchant family from a small Galician town which resembles the writer's home town, Drohobycz , in many respects. The story abounds in mythical elements, introduced ... (Wikipedia)
History of Beauty
by Umberto Eco
An exploration of the concept of beauty throughout time, from antiquity to the present day.
Umberto Eco’s groundbreaking and much-acclaimed first illustrated book has been a critical success since its first publication in 2004. What is beauty? Umberto Eco, among Italy’s finest and most ... (Goodreads)
The Labyrinth of the Spirits
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A thrilling mystery set in the dark depths of Franco's Spain, weaving together a story of love, revenge, and the supernatural.
Daniel Sempere and Fermín Romero de Torres again appear in the novel set in the Barcelona of the 1950s. Daniel, overwhelmed by rage and need to avenge the death of his mother, Isabella, will discover ... (Wikipedia)
The Devil's Star
by Jo Nesbø
Murder mystery set in Oslo involving a mysterious pentagram symbol.
A young woman is murdered in her Oslo flat. One finger has been severed from her left hand, and behind her eyelid is secreted a tiny red diamond in the shape of a five-pointed star - a pentagram, the ... (Goodreads)
The Power of Myth
by Joseph Campbell
A conversation between Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers on the role of mythology in human life, exploring universal themes and archetypes.
The Power Of Myth launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people. ... (Goodreads)
The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount
by Italo Calvino
Two novellas exploring the nature of identity, morality, and existence through the stories of a knight made of empty armor and a nobleman split in two.
The protagonists of this novel are two paladins of Charlemagne: the non-existent knight, named Agilulf (he is in fact a lucid empty armor) and an inexperienced and passionate young man, Rambaldo. The ... (Wikipedia)
The Golem
by Gustav Meyrink
A man becomes obsessed with the legend of the Golem, leading him on a surreal journey through the mystical underworld of Prague.
The novel centers on the life of Athanasius Pernath, a jeweler and art restorer who lives in the ghetto of Prague . But his story is experienced by an anonymous narrator, who, during a visionary ... (Wikipedia)
Gustav Klimt: 1862-1918
by Gilles Néret
A comprehensive overview of Klimt's life, work, and influence on the art world.
Cult of pleasure: Feminine sensuality by the Vienna Secession's greatest proponent Gustav Klimt's ornate, sensual, and decadent style made him not only the most prominent of the Vienna Secessionists ... (Goodreads)
Finnegans Wake
by James Joyce
A dream-like exploration of the subconscious, featuring wordplay, puns, and allusions.
A story with no real beginning or end (it ends in the middle of a sentence and begins in the middle of the same sentence), this "book of Doublends Jined" is as remarkable for its prose as for its ... (Goodreads)
Man and His Symbols
by C.G. Jung
An exploration of the collective unconscious, and its implications for self-realization.
Man and His Symbols owes its existence to one of Jung's own dreams. The great psychologist dreamed that his work was understood by a wide public, rather than just by psychiatrists, and therefore he ... (Goodreads)
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating
by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
A journey into the natural world and exploration of a small creature's extraordinary life.
In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her uncommon encounter with a Neohelix albolabris —a common ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Poems
by William Blake
A collection of poems that explore the spiritual, supernatural, and philosophical realms.
One of the great English Romantic poets, William Blake (1757-1827) was an artist, poet, mystic and visionary. His work ranges from the deceptively simple and lyrical Songs of Innocence and their ... (Goodreads)
Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece
by Three Initiates
An exploration of Hermetic philosophy and its relevance to modern life.
The precepts of Hermetic philosophy remained shrouded in secrecy for more than 2,000 years, clouded by obscure language and dense allegories. This concise guide offers a modern interpretation of the ... (Goodreads)
The Secret Teachings of All Ages
by Manly P. Hall
A comprehensive guide to the esoteric teachings of ancient civilizations, covering topics such as symbolism, mythology, and spirituality.
A classic since 1928, this masterly encyclopedia of ancient mythology, ritual, symbolism, and the arcane mysteries of the ages is available for the first time in a compact "reader's edition." Like no ... (Goodreads)
Dream Country
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of short stories that explore the boundaries of dreams, reality, and fantasy.
The third volume of the Sandman collection is a series of four short comic book stories. In each of these otherwise unrelated stories, Morpheus serves only as a minor character. Here we meet the ... (Goodreads)
Loveless, Volume 01
by Yun Kouga
A young couple's struggle to find a missing person and their own place in the world.
The long-awaited continuation of the best-selling series, a masterpiece tale of intrigue and innocence lost. Ritsuka Aoyagi is alone in the world—never fitting in at school and alienated from his own ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Citadel of the Autarch
by Gene Wolfe
The final book in the "Book of the New Sun" series, following Severian's journey to become the Autarch and save the dying sun.
Volume Four of the Book of the New Sun. Severian the Torturer continues his epic journey across the lands of Urth, a journey as fraught with peril as it is with wonder. Exiled from his guild he is an ... (Goodreads)
The Masque of the Red Death - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
by Edgar Allan Poe
A prince and his courtiers attempt to outwit death, only to be brought to their ultimate end.
The story takes place at the castellated abbey of the "happy and dauntless and sagacious" Prince Prospero. Prospero and 1,000 other nobles have taken refuge in this walled abbey to escape the Red ... (Wikipedia)
Van Gogh: The Life
by Steven Naifeh
A comprehensive biography of the renowned painter, exploring his life and legacy.
Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, who galvanized readers with their Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Jackson Pollock, have written another tour de force—an exquisitely detailed, compellingly ... (Goodreads)
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
by Victoria Finlay
Exploration of the history, science, and cultural significance of color.
Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors. For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue ... (Goodreads)
The Absolute Sandman, Volume One
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of tales of dreams, fantasy and horror, exploring the power of imagination.
One of the most popular and critically acclaimed comic book titles of all time,, New York Times, best-selling author Neil Gaiman 's masterpiece, The Sandman, set new standards for mature, lyrical ... (Goodreads)
Grimm's Fairy Stories
by Jacob Grimm
Classic collection of folk & fairy tales, offering timeless moral lessons.
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. Contains stories such as "The Goose Girl", "Hansel and Grethel", "Cinderella", "The Golden ... (Goodreads)
The Nonexistent Knight
by Italo Calvino
A knight's surreal quest to find an elusive castle, full of mysterious characters and adventures.
The protagonists of this novel are two paladins of Charlemagne: the non-existent knight, named Agilulf (he is in fact a lucid empty armor) and an inexperienced and passionate young man, Rambaldo. The ... (Wikipedia)
Chasing Vermeer
by Blue Balliett
An artistic mystery that unravels through a series of clues and puzzles.
The book begins with a mysterious letter that is delivered to three unknown recipients, two women and one man. The letter tells them they are of great need to the sender, but begs them not to tell ... (Wikipedia)
The Book of Imaginary Beings
by Jorge Luis Borges
A compendium of mythical creatures from various cultures, exploring the power of imagination and the human desire for the fantastical.
In a perfect pairing of talent, this volume blends twenty illustrations by Peter S.' with Jorge Luis Borges' 1957 compilation of 116 "strange creatures conceived through time and space by the human ... (Goodreads)
The Fifty Year Sword
by Mark Z. Danielewski
A haunting tale of a group of orphans and their encounter with a mysterious seamstress and her fifty-year-old sword.
The Fifty Year Sword is essentially a mature-audience ghost story, in the disguised form of a children's book. The events of the book take place at Belinda Kite's 50th birthday party in an orphan's ... (Wikipedia)
The Great God Pan
by Arthur Machen
A horror story of a sinister experiment that unleashes a terrifying supernatural creature.
The Great God Pan" is a novella written by Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together ... (Goodreads)
Myths to Live By
by Joseph Campbell
A collection of essays exploring the role of mythology in human life and how it can provide meaning and guidance in modern times.
What is a properly functioning mythology and what are its functions? Can we use myths to help relieve our modern anxiety, or do they help foster it? In Myths to Live By, Joseph Campbell explores the ... (Goodreads)
Alcools
by Guillaume Apollinaire
A collection of poems exploring love, nature, and the modern world through vivid imagery and experimental forms.
Alcools, first published in 1913 and one of the few indispensable books of twentieth- century poetry, provides a key to the century's history and consciousness. Champion of "cubism," Guillaume ... (Goodreads)
The Journey to the East
by Hermann Hesse
A spiritual quest in search of truth, enlightenment and community.
Journey to the East is written from the point of view of a man (called "H. H." in the book) who becomes a member of "The League", a timeless religious sect whose members include famous fictional and ... (Wikipedia)
Beatrice and Virgil
by Yann Martel
An exploration of the Holocaust through allegory, with a taxidermist and a howler monkey.
This is the story of a donkey named Beatrice and a monkey named Virgil. It is also the story of an extraordinary journey undertaken by a man named Henry. It begins with a mysterious parcel, and it ... (Goodreads)
The Hellbound Heart
by Clive Barker
A man's obsession with a mysterious puzzle box leads him to a world of sadomasochistic demons and eternal suffering.
In a quiet house on a quiet street Frank and Julia are having an affair. Not your ordinary affair. For Frank it began with his own insatiable sexual appetite, a mysterious lacquered box- and then an ... (Goodreads)
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
by Vladimir Nabokov
A biographical novel about the life of a Russian writer, told through the eyes of his half-brother.
The narrator, V., is absorbed in the composition of his first literary work, a biography of his half-brother, the Russian-born English novelist Sebastian Knight (1899–1936). In the course of his ... (Wikipedia)
Omon Ra
by Victor Pelevin
A satirical novel about a Soviet astronaut's journey to the moon, exploring themes of propaganda, identity, and the absurdity of the Soviet system.
The book is narrated in the first person. It is a coming-of-age story, or, Bildungsroman, . The protagonist is Omon Krivomazov, who was born in Moscow post- World War II . The plot traces his life ... (Wikipedia)
Clay's Ark
by Octavia E. Butler
A family is kidnapped by a group infected with an extraterrestrial disease that alters their DNA and gives them dangerous powers.
The novel is set in a near-future dystopia in which most people must live in gated communities or in armed nomadic groups called "car families." The novel traces the experiences of Blake Maslin, a ... (Wikipedia)
Luka and the Fire of Life
by Salman Rushdie
Luka embarks on a magical journey to save his father's life, encountering mythical creatures and overcoming obstacles.
With the same dazzling imagination and love of language that have made Salman Rushdie one of the great storytellers of our time, Luka and the Fire of Life revisits the magic-infused, intricate world ... (Goodreads)
The Sandman
by E.T.A. Hoffmann
A dark fantasy tale exploring the boundaries between reality and fantasy.
The story is told by a narrator who claims to have known Lothar. It begins by quoting three letters: 1. A letter from Nathanael to Lothar, the brother of his fiancée, Clara. Nathanael recalls his ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Poetry and Prose
by William Blake
A collection of works exploring the power of imagination, religion, and revolution.
Since its first publication in 1965, this edition has been widely hailed as the best available text of Blake's poetry and prose. Now revised, it includes up-to-date work on variants, chronology of ... (Goodreads)
The Eye
by Vladimir Nabokov
A man becomes obsessed with a young girl's eye and spirals into madness.
Nabokov's fourth novel, The Eye is as much a farcical detective story as it is a profoundly refractive tale about the vicissitudes of identities and appearances. Nabokov's protagonist, Smurov, is a ... (Goodreads)
The Holy Terrors
by Jean Cocteau
A tale of two mischievous brothers and their antics in a small French town.
Les Enfants Terribles holds an undisputed place among the classics of modern fiction. Written in a French style that long defied successful translation - Cocteau was always a poet no matter what he ... (Goodreads)
The Interpretation Of Dreams
by Sigmund Freud
Analysis of dreams, exploring their unconscious meanings and implications for the psyche.
Freud's discovery that the dream is the means by which the unconscious can be explored is undoubtedly the most revolutionary step forward in the entire history of psychology. Dreams, according to his ... (Goodreads)
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