Portal:Novels

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology A novel is a long prose narrative written by a novelist that describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. The genre has historical roots in antiquity and the fields of medieval and early modern romance and in 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. Further definition of the genre is historically difficult. The construction of the narrative, the plot, the relation to reality, the characterization, and the use of language are usually discussed to show a novel's artistic merits. Most of these requirements were introduced to literary prose in the 16th and 17th centuries, in order to give fiction a justification outside the field of factual history. More about novels... The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—a "red badge of courage"—to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as standard-bearer. Although Crane was born after the war, and had not at the time experienced battle firsthand, the novel is known for its realism. He began writing what would become his second novel in 1893, using various contemporary and written accounts (such as those published previously by Century Magazine) as inspiration. It is believed that he based the fictional battle on that of Chancellorsville; he may also have interviewed veterans of the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Orange Blossoms. Initially shortened and serialized in newspapers in December 1894, the novel was published in full in October 1895. Several of the themes that the story explores are maturation, heroism, cowardice, and the indifference of nature. Adapted several times for the screen, the novel became a bestseller. It has never been out of print, and is now thought to be Crane's most important work and a major American text. Religion is a solace to many people and it is even conceivable that some religion, somewhere, really is Ultimate Truth. But in many cases, being religious is merely a form of conceit. The Bible Belt faith in which I was brought up encouraged me to think that I was better than the rest of the world; I was 'saved' and they were 'damned' — we were in a state of grace and the rest of the world were 'heathens' and by 'heathen' they meant such people as our brother Mahmoud. It meant that an ignorant, stupid lout who seldom bathed and planted his corn by the phase of the Moon could claim to know the final answers of the Universe. That entitled him to look down his nose at everybody else. Our hymn book was loaded with such arrogance — mindless, conceited, self-congratulation on how cozy we were with the Almighty and what a high opinion he had of us and us alone, and what hell everybody else was going to catch come Judgment Day. Stranger in a Strange Land Main projects Arts • Books • Literature • Novels • Entertainment • Visual arts Related Projects Animation • Anime and manga • Biography • Comics • Film • Fictional characters • Media franchises • Music • Television • Video games What are WikiProjects? ...that author Ken Kesey taught a course at the University of Oregon where he and thirteen students collaboratively wrote Caverns? ...that Beth Groundwater's A Real Basket Case was nominated for the Best First Novel Agatha Award in 2007? ...that the 1919 novel Lad: A Dog (pictured) is a fictionalized account of the life of author Albert Payson Terhune's real life rough collie Lad? Featured articles 2 Featured lists 2 Featured portals 2 Template:/box-footer Add {{Portal|Novels}} to the See also section of related articles. Tag the talk pages of related articles with {{WikiProject Novels}} Join WikiProject Novels and list yourself as a Member in the project. Cleanup: A cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category, the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects. Deletion discussions: listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Literature Rate the Unassessed articles in the Novels WikiProject. Requested articles: Create a requested article on literature Stubs: Help expand Category:Novel stubs Books Literature Children's literature Charles Dickens Jane Austen James Bond Speculative fiction Robert E. Howard Oscar Wilde Harry Potter Narnia What are portals? List of portals Featured portals