10 Novellas

One of my sons famously thought novella was a posh word for a novel. It just refers to a short novel - about 150 pages or less. Here is a list of ten. These are ones I have actually read.

1. Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville 1853
2. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson 1885
3. Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 1899
4. Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911
5. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937
6. Animal Farm George Orwell 1945
7. The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952
8. Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote 1958
9. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Alexander Solzhenitsyn 1962
10. A Month in the Country J L Carr 1960

Of Mice and Men

I took opportunity while I was away to do some reading, of course. I wanted to read Steinbeck's Of men and mice because kids read it in school these days and I was curious. So I now know why it has the title it has (not just the Burns reference) and I'm familiar with the basic story. It's a good story, well written but as it is only a novella it works at a fairly superficial level - great for kids starting on serious literature. I've never seen any of the movie versions. I started The grapes of wrath once may be I'll have another go.