A novel is a genre of literature, as a rule, a prose work that tells about the fate of an individual who is the main character of the novel. The works of this genre most often describe the crisis, non-standard periods of the fate of the protagonist, his attitude to the world, the formation and development of self-awareness and personality.
It is almost impossible to give an exact and absolutely complete classification of such a genre as a novel, since in general such works are always in conflict with accepted literary conventions. Elements of modern drama, journalism, mass culture and cinema are always closely intertwined in this literary genre at all stages of its development. The only constant element of the novel is the way of storytelling in the form of reportage. Thanks to this, the main types of the novel can still be distinguished and described.
Initially, in the 12-13th centuries, the word roman denoted any written text in Old French, and only in the second half of the 17th century. partially acquired its modern semantic content.
Social novel
The basis of such works is a description of various behaviors adopted in any particular society, and the actions of the heroes that contradict or correspond to these values. The social novel has 2 varieties: cultural-historical and moral-descriptive.
A moralistic novel is a chamber social story that focuses on the standards and moral nuances of social behavior. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a prime example of this kind of work.
A cultural history novel usually describes the history of a family against the background of the cultural and moral standards of its time. In contrast to the moralistic, this type of novel touches on history, subjects individuals to deep study and offers its own social psychology. Tolstoy's War and Peace is a classic example of a cultural-historical novel. It is noteworthy that this form of the novel is very often imitated by the so-called blockbusters. For example, the popular work of M. Mitchell "Gone with the Wind", at first glance, has all the signs of a cultural-historical novel. But the abundance of melodramatic episodes, stereotypical characters and superficial social psychology suggests that this novel is just an imitation of a serious work.
Psychological novel
In this type of novels, all the attention of the reader is focused on the inner world of a person. A work in the genre of a psychological novel is full of internal monologues, the stream of consciousness of the protagonist, analytical commentaries and symbolism. Dickens's Great Expectations and Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground are vivid representatives of the psychological form of the novel.
A novel of ideas
A novel of ideas or a "philosophical" novel uses its heroes as carriers of various intellectual theories. In works of this type, a lot of space is always devoted to various kinds of ideas and opinions about everything in the world, from the moral values of society to the cosmos. An example of such a novel is the work of the famous philosopher Plato "Dialogues", in which the participants and heroes are the mouthpiece of Plato himself.
Adventure novel
Quest romance, romance with intrigue, chivalric romance, spy thriller also belong to this type of romance. As a rule, such works are full of action, intricacies of the plot, brave and strong heroes, love and passion. The main purpose of adventure novels is the entertainment of the reader, comparable, for example, to cinema.
The longest novel, People of Goodwill, by Louis Henri Jean Farigoule, aka Jules Romain (France), was published in 27 volumes in 1932-1946. The novel has 4,959 pages and approximately 2,070,000 words (not including a 100-page index).
Experimental novel
The main feature of experimental novels is that they are quite difficult to read. In contrast to the classical types of the novel, in these works the logic of cause and effect is torn. In an experimental novel, for example, there may be no plot as such, it is also not necessary to know who the main character is, all attention here is paid to the style, structure and form of reproduction.
