The other day on Twitter I stumbled across the #NovNov hashtag and discovered I have been missing out on an incredible reading event. 'Novellas in November' is a reading challenge designed to promote this form of prose fiction.
Novellas are longer than short stories and shorter than novels. Because of their length, novellas are generally fast-paced, character-driven and lack the various sub-plots of more complex novels.
When thinking about novellas, there are plenty of famous examples, including:
- Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
- Thomas Mann - Death in Venice
- Herman Melville - Billy Budd
- Henry James - Turn of the Screw
- Albert Camus - The Outsider
- Franza Kafka - The Metamorphosis
- Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome
I really enjoy novellas. Some of my favourites are:
- Kate Chopin - The Awakening
- Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
- Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
- Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
- John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
- George Orwell - Animal Farm
- Edith Wharton - Bunner Sisters
I love the idea of Novellas in November. Not only does it draw attention to this form of literature and introduce readers to new authors, but it can also assist those of us with annual reading targets to get a few more books under our belt as we head to the end of the year!
Blogger Reading in Bed has written a brief history of Novellas in November which details how this challenge began and was amplified. Another post I recommend is by 746 Books this week 'For Translation Week: An Interview with Stella Sabin of Peirene Press' - which looks at the publisher's criteria for novellas (under 200 pages/50,000 words) and why they specialise in translations of contemporary novellas.
In combing through my bookcases I realise I have loads of novellas just waiting to be read. Time to make a cup of tea and curl up with a good book!