The Best Novels Compendium (Featuring The Great Gatsby, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Sound and the Fury, and A Farewell to Arms)
ByPublisher Description
These four novels remain must-reads 100 years after they were published. They not only shaped the literature of the 20th century, but they altered our views of life and reality—and what can and cannot be written about.
When people talk about the Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby often comes to mind. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic brings us back to the Jazz Age of the 1920s, which combined wealth, frivolity, and happiness wrung from pleasure and self-indulgence. Gatsby, the enigmatic hero, is incredibly rich yet pines away for the one thing he cannot have: the love of the frivolous Daisy Buchanan.
In 1928—only 10 years after the end of World War I—Erich Maria Remarque’s classic war novel All Quiet on the Western Front was published in Germany. The book, which went on to sell millions of copies in over 22 languages, centers on the experience of young Paul Baümer, who is coaxed into joining the German army. We follow him as the years of the war wear on—with horror, tragedy, and boredom, sprinkled with brief moments of enjoyment.
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms has been called the premier American novel of World War I. It also focuses on the experiences of one participant: Frederic Henry, an American who volunteers for the Italian ambulance corps. Although he behaves heroically, the novel tells of his progressive disillusionment. Convalescing after a wound, he meets the English nurse Catherine Barkley. Their haunting and tragic love story takes place as Frederic deserts from the Italian army, taking Catherine with him to Switzerland.
The Sound and the Fury, first published in 1928, focuses on the haunted Compson family, faded Southern aristocrats who fall into financial ruin, lose their dignity, and end in tragedy. The novel remains bold and experimental in its narrative, combining the perspectives of various characters, including the mentally retarded Benjy; Quentin, a suicidal Harvard graduate; and Dilsey, a black family servant. The stream of consciousness narrative reflects the progressive dissolution of the Compson family.
These novels—all written a century ago—remain gripping and unforgettable.
When people talk about the Great American Novel, The Great Gatsby often comes to mind. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic brings us back to the Jazz Age of the 1920s, which combined wealth, frivolity, and happiness wrung from pleasure and self-indulgence. Gatsby, the enigmatic hero, is incredibly rich yet pines away for the one thing he cannot have: the love of the frivolous Daisy Buchanan.
In 1928—only 10 years after the end of World War I—Erich Maria Remarque’s classic war novel All Quiet on the Western Front was published in Germany. The book, which went on to sell millions of copies in over 22 languages, centers on the experience of young Paul Baümer, who is coaxed into joining the German army. We follow him as the years of the war wear on—with horror, tragedy, and boredom, sprinkled with brief moments of enjoyment.
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms has been called the premier American novel of World War I. It also focuses on the experiences of one participant: Frederic Henry, an American who volunteers for the Italian ambulance corps. Although he behaves heroically, the novel tells of his progressive disillusionment. Convalescing after a wound, he meets the English nurse Catherine Barkley. Their haunting and tragic love story takes place as Frederic deserts from the Italian army, taking Catherine with him to Switzerland.
The Sound and the Fury, first published in 1928, focuses on the haunted Compson family, faded Southern aristocrats who fall into financial ruin, lose their dignity, and end in tragedy. The novel remains bold and experimental in its narrative, combining the perspectives of various characters, including the mentally retarded Benjy; Quentin, a suicidal Harvard graduate; and Dilsey, a black family servant. The stream of consciousness narrative reflects the progressive dissolution of the Compson family.
These novels—all written a century ago—remain gripping and unforgettable.
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About F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and short-story writer. He was best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term which he popularized. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four collections of short stories, and 164 short stories. Although he temporarily achieved popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald only received wide critical and popular acclaim after his death. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Other books by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel All Quiet on the Western Front, based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World War I, an international bestseller which created a new literary genre of veterans writing about conflict. The book was adapted to film several times
Other books by Erich Maria Remarque
William Faulkner
A Nobel laureate, William Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers of American literature and often is considered the greatest writer of Southern literature.
Other books by William Faulkner
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Other books by Ernest Hemingway
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