Realism Texts
Primary and Secondary Resources for all your Realism Needs
Primary Resources
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In this novel, a young law student works hard to climb up the social ladder in cutthroat Parisian society.
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Cousin Bette is one angry lady: get a load of how she gets revenge on her arrogant relatives.
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Dickens's novel may be full bureaucracy, but it's still a fun read.
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What does a bored housewife living in a small town in the French provinces do with her time? She has affairs, of course.
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Pip's journey from childhood to adulthood is full of obstacles, but he does well for himself and lives up to some of his great expectations.
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This story of a girl and her brother growing up in a small provincial English town is a classic coming-of-age tale.
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The narrator of this short novel by Dostoevsky is one twisted dude. How twisted? See for yourself.
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Raskolnikov, the protagonist of this novel, commits a murder and faces the unexpected consequences.
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A young man falls in love with an older woman. It's a classic study of 19th-century French society.
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Yup, this baby one of the longest novels ever written, and it's 1000+ pages of sheer awesome.
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Tolstoy's famous heroine just can't figure out a way to be with her handsome lover.
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This novel about a group of characters living in the town of Middlemarch is so intricate it's practically a soap opera.
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Check out Twain's classic novel about Huck and his friend the escaped slave Jim as they paddle down the Mississippi River.
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In this story, a married man meets a lady with a lapdog, and all kinds of subtle things start to happen.
Secondary Resources
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This collection of essays is a great (and short!) introduction to Realism.
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Since the novel is such an important medium for Realist writers, you can't do without this collection of essays.
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If you want to get all theoretical about your Realism, then this is the book to go to.
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This one's got everything you ever wanted to know about 19th-century Realism but were afraid to ask.
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A handy discussion of realistic techniques in contemporary literature. Just goes to show you that the style is still popular.