Books Recommended by Famous Writers
Great taste recognises great taste. From George Orwell to Toni Morrison, find out what some of the most significant voices in literature enjoyed reading themselves.
Joan Didion: Victory by Joseph Conrad
A psychological adventure novel set in the Malay Archipelago, following Axel Heyst, a detached, reclusive Swedish philosopher who abandons his solitary life on Samburan island to rescue a woman named Lena
Buy at: www.amazon.co.uk/Victory-Island-Tale-Penguin-Classics/
George Orwell: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The novel follows three brothers - sensualist Dmitri, rationalist Ivan, and spiritual Alyosha - as they navigate faith, morality, and guilt following the murder of their despicable father, Fyodor.
Buy at: shop.penguin.co.uk/products/the-brothers-karamazov-by-fyodor-dostoyevsky
Zadie Smith: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
A classic American novel following Janie Crawford’s journey from a voiceless teenager to an independent woman. The novel delves into the power struggles that often exist in love and marriage.
Buy at: www.virago.co.uk/titles/zora-neale-hurston/their-eyes-were-watching-god
Haruki Murakami: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
When Marlowe befriends Terry Lennox, a damaged war veteran married to a wealthy woman, he is drawn into a complex mystery involving murder, suicide, and corruption in 1950s Los Angeles.
Buy at: www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Good-bye-Phillip-Marlowe
James Baldwin: Native Son by Richard Wright
A classic novel that explores the life of Bigger Thomas, a young African American man living in poverty in Chicago during the 1930s.
Buy at: www.penguin.co.uk/books/355211/native-son-by-richard-wright
Toni Morrison: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
A landmark American novel exploring identity, race, and social alienation through an unnamed Black narrator who hides in a Harlem basement, invisible to society.
Buy at: shop.penguin.co.uk/products/invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison
Credits
Victory Cover Image: Penguin Books
The Brothers Karamazov Cover Image: Penguin Books
Their Eyes Were Watching God Cover Image: Virago Books
The Long Goodbye Cover Image: Penguin Books
Native Son Cover Image: Vintage
Invisible Man Cover Image: Penguin Books
