Three Must Read Literary Fiction Novels

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Literary Fiction novels are known to be challenging reads. Focusing primarily on the development of characters and away from the plot which most books focus on. For many (myself included) you often fail the first time reading the novel, putting it down after a few short chapters...or pages. 

 However, Literary fiction is some of the most thought provoking and relevant pieces of literature even decades later. Many of the classics are considered timeless due to their themes and how they relate strongly to our current world. Today we will be looking at 3 must read books in the Literary Fiction category and why you should read them! 

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

Cover art by Shirley Smith

To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless coming-of-age story set in the deep South during the 1930s, where navigating childhood crosses over with harsh societal truths. Through the eyes of young Scout Finch, we experience a world shaped by racial injustice, small-town secrets, and quiet courage. When her father, Atticus takes on a dangerous case defending an innocent Black man in a deeply prejudiced town, she begins to learn what is morally right and how societies perspectives shape those around her.  

 This story teaches you the innocence of a child and the prejudice/racism that can be (or cannot be) bestowed onto them if you choose to. As well as the need to change your own perspective to view the world in a different light. The title itself displays meaning of innocence, as killing a mockingbird is to kill one of their innocence. To Kill a Mockingbird is truly a life changing book with messages crucial for the time it was written and again right now. Works like this need to be read due to how it accurately depicts our society today and makes us view things we may have never thought of before. It leaves me (and many others) with an impact on how to change societal ‘norms’ and behaviours for the better. 

2. 1984 by George Orwell

Cover Art by Shepard fairey

In a dystopian future, revolving around a man named Winston Smith that lives in a totalitarian regime controlled by Big Brother. He as well as the rest of the citizens in Oceania are under constant surveillance, unable to speak out against the government or disobey the rules they must follow. Winston, who works for the Ministry of Truth, a branch of the government responsible for rewriting history from fact to fiction, to follow the ideologies of the party, tries to retaliate against the government. The real question is whether he will succeed in his retaliation? 

1984 discusses themes of propaganda and thought control displayed through the government. It shows how one’s own freedom can be taken away from them and how history can be wiped if the government says to do so. It is a timeless piece of writing that makes you think about what is being presented to us in the media and how we are to believe in the story we are being told. 1984 is a crucial read, especially right now, as it lets you reflect on current events going on in the world and the impact they can have on society.  

3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

cover art by renée Nault

The Handmaid’s Tale is a chilling vision of a near-future theocracy where women are stripped of autonomy and reduced to their biological function. In the oppressive Republic of Gilead, Offred, a handmaid forced into reproductive servitude, navigates a world ruled by surveillance, ritualized violence, and twisted religious dogma. Told through her inner monologue, the novel blends psychological depth with dystopian dread as she clings to memories of freedom and quietly resists erasure.  

Another story that accurately describes the realities of our world before we knew it would happen. The Handmaid’s Tale shows us the control the government has over women’s bodies and the unjust use of them. Stripping anyone of their rights is morally wrong, however it is already happening in our own world today. 

Sometimes reading literary fiction can be hard as it hits close to home. Accurately depicting our lives, leaving us with a more sinister feeling than horror book ever can. These stories hide truths and bring these matters to our attention so we can stop them from happening before they happen. If there is any takeaway from this, is to read these stories, learn their lessons, and keep them with you as you go about your daily lives.  

 

photo by Brayden Seguin

Emily Viola-Rae is an Ottawa writer, who graduated high school in 2023 at St. Mary’s Secondary School, Cobourg, ON. She is currently enrolled at Algonquin College for Professional Writing. Aspiring to become a well-known author you can often find her writing away on her computer or lost in her own world of books and music! As she learns to find her own voice in writing, join her on an adventure through literary fiction and the connections they have in our lives that we might not have ever noticed before.

The Gory Glorification of Misery Media

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(TW: Mentions of murder and lynching)

Fiction. Is it a tool for readers to escape from real life trauma, or to face it through characters in gratuitous pieces of literature? Today, I will be exploring the phenomenon of “trauma porn” in literary fiction: What is it? And importantly, why can’t we look away?

To start, what is trauma porn? It refers to any media that aims to depict suffering of one or more people for entertainment, or to evoke emotional responses into viewers. Not all media that puts a spotlight onto trauma is classified as trauma porn, it depends on impact, how it’s consumed, and audience.

Image courtesy of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

A notorious example is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara which was shortlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize and is a modern cult classic. However, it is used when discussing trauma porn. Nearing 800 pages, A Little Life tells the story of Jude St Francis, a wise man with a horrific past and found family being as vital as blood.

However, this novel doesn’t just mention the traumatic past, it starts to document pages of St Francis’ past in unflinching detail from Yanagihara, leaving readers in emotional despair or question the purpose of brutality.

Many reviewers express how it is important to showcase trauma, but in tasteful manners. Expressing that the way Yanagihara relentlessly zones in on St Francis risks the desensitization of readers due to the repetition of scenes. This creates a cycle of pain where any hope is shattered for “one-dimensional” shock rather than exploration.

The Real World

Outside of literature, black communities have expressed their discontent for trauma porn, stating that while content consumption of black pain isn’t new, it draws comparison to the early 1800s when lynchings in America were public events.

Ashlee Marie Preston, a black activist and journalist states, "the extreme discomfort you may have felt [reading] the details of last century's lynchings is similar to the discomfort many Black people feel when viral videos of us being publicly murdered are shared.”

I mentioned this because while consuming trauma porn can enact change, it’s not what often happens. Awareness ends after a repost of another’s efforts, because of what the definition of porn is. “Porn is by its very nature, passive, whether you enjoy watching it or not. Comparing real oppression to porn suggests it can or, worse, should be watched passively.”

Appraisal

Despite this many praise A Little Life or the memoir Five Star White Trash by Georgiann Davis. An article written by Priyanka Chakrabarty, uses an argument by Stella Young, a disability activist, saying trauma porn is “Inspiration porn” and countering the “overarching narrative that differently-abled people exist to inspire and motivate the able-bodied.” Chakrabarty adds that marginalized groups reduced to their wounds cause “physical, emotional [and] intergenerational injury.”

Victoria Abbott, production therapist for the stage adaptation of A Little Life, expresses fondness, “what Hanya depicts is this gloriously nuanced, beautiful, difficult but meaningful connection between four men. [T]he theme of never quite feeling like you’ve made those ‘friends for life’ is a familiar one in my therapy room. Perhaps A Little Life reveals that it is possible to create a loving chosen family even amidst adversity.”

Image Courtesy of New york university (nyu) press

Abbott later elaborates that the novel would reflect trauma that a reader might resonate with. Five Star White Trash is interesting because, Davis has studied the human behaviour and sprinkles her knowledge throughout her memoir, justifying her actions about the people who inflicted trauma onto her; however, this means her debut is not for shock, everything has syntactical tightness that many argue Yanagihara lacks.

This could be because of what I call the “slam poetry” effect. Slam poetry frequently attracts trauma poems with judges scoring them higher, because no one wants to give a 7/10. This leaves poets or fiction writers feeling competitive, which makes us question if it’s written to process pain, or to score points in the literary sphere.

Ultimately, whether we agree with trauma porn or enjoy works about it, it does not erase issues that become interwoven into our lives and binds us as the humans that we are. Things are sad, messy and traumatic, making it, fiction or not, life.

Cheyenne Marks is a local Ottawa Mohawk writer with a knack for scrapping and redoing every idea that sparks her mind, except for opinion pieces. Currently a student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College, Cheyenne has a goal to be an Indigenous author and essayist, and a voice for Indigenous communities when they feel the least heard. She enjoys sweet treats and has a belief that taking photos of the books she reads with her daily coffee in it makes her seem cool. So, join her as she expresses her thoughts over the literary community and shares her sweet treats.