browse our selection of top quality general and literary fiction

Quality fiction books and literary works.

Literary fiction books are concerned with considering and discussing society, politics and people. They are not so focused with plot and can follow a wide variety of themes. They are intended to provoke thinking and contain many metaphors to explore ideas and issues in the characters or surroundings.

If you studied English literature at school or university then you certainly studied literary fiction. It forms a core part of studies due to the important messages and the in depth styles of writing. Much of the books are spent developing complex and deep characters and are trying to get you to understand and be emotionally involved. 

There are many well known classics in the literary fiction genre and the following give you an idea of the the kind books in this category. Some of the most important literary fiction books have also been made into movies or television series so you may be familiar with them – just not the original work. It’s highly recommended to read the book as you will get far more out of it.

Lord of the Flies (William Golding) is about a group of young boys stranded on an island after a plane crash. There are no adults and the boys have to group together to survive until rescue. As you can expect this is not so straightforward as rivalry becomes enhanced in very difficult circumstances. The novel looks at their struggles with power and the eventual descent into savagery. Despite them being boys there is a direct parallel with general human nature.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) is a classic piece of literary fiction. It was published in 1960 and the story takes place in 1930s Alabama. The book deals with issues of racial hatred and inequality in a small town after a young woman is raped. The author provokes our thinking about a time when racial inequality was commonplace.

The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger) is another literary classic. Written in 1951, it tells the story of a 17 year old boy struggling with school and exploring his place and purpose in the world. Like many other literary fiction books there is no obvious plot as the author draws us into the thoughts and desires of a single character.

The classic 1984 (George Orwell) explores society under an all seeing Big Brother that controls the population through oppressive measures and management of information. The author focuses on one small character in this futuristic world and how they deal with their environment. The book takes some of the themes of the day (written in 1949) and extrapolates to a nightmare vision of the future

Downloading a literary fiction book from obooko is guaranteed to make you think about important themes through the characters and situations written about. Whether you are studying a literary fiction course or just wanting to try reading a different kind of novel, we have a large collection available.