What Books May Come

To get started, I've thrown together a list of prose fiction narratives. I expect we'll be beginning with Don Quixote, although antecedant works will turn up, and we can have a discussion about where the novel really begins at any time. My list goes up to the early 20th century, but I'll include only the first part of the list here (through 1750). These are the books we'll select our readings from. I don't intend to real all the books myself. Given the length and a list of almost 200 books written before 1900, it would probably take me 20 years to get through them.

As we progress I'll update the list with more recent titles. Anyone reading this is encouraged to suggest books that may be missing from the list. Just use the comment link. You're also invited to share your thoughts on what should be read and your reactions to any book we choose to discuss.

11th Century

Murasaki Shikibu - The Tale of the Genji (ca. 1021)

16th Century

Anonymous - Lazarillo de Tormes (1554)

17th Century

Cervantes - Don Quixote (1605; 1615)
Quevedo - El Buscon (The Swindler) (1626)
De Lafayette - The Princesse de Cleves (1678)
Behn - Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave (1688)

18th Century (through 1750)

Defoe - Robinson Crusoe (1719)
Montesquieu - The Persian Letters (1721)
Defoe - Moll Flanders (1722)
Defoe - Roxana, The Fortunate Mistress (1724)
Swift - Gulliver's Travels (1726)
Prevost - Manon Lescaut (1731)
Holberg - The Journey of Niels Klim to the World Underground (1741)
Fielding, H - Joseph Andrews (1742)
Fielding, H - The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild, the Great (1743)
De Graffigny - Letters of a Peruvian Woman (1747)
Voltaire - Zadig, or The Book of Fate (1747)
Richardson - Clarissa (1748)
Cleland - Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748)
Fielding, S - The Governess (1749)
Fielding, H - Tom Jones (1749)

Randall