Epics, picaresques, and proto-novels: narrative fiction up to 1700
This list is essentially a continuation of my earlier list of ancient narrative literature. It picks up the thread in the early Middle Ages and cuts it off in the year 1700.
Once again, my intention was to make it a more attractive alternative to assorted “great books” rankings. More often than not, they are a jumble of texts from various genres that is at once confusing and overly selective. At the very least, my own biases when compiling this list were slightly more original than usual. They can be summed up as follows:
- narratives only: this means stories, written either in prose or in verse, but no straight-up lyrical poetry, drama, or philosophy;
- underdogs welcome: while a significant portion of the works included belong to the undisputed canon of world literature, I searched my sources for quirky, lesser-known texts that don’t necessarily qualify as masterpieces, but are nevertheless interesting for one reason or another;
- a premium on the fantastic: because I like literary works that incorporate elements of myth, legend, and fancy, I consulted many sources that deal specifically with the history of fantasy and the earliest examples of science fiction.
After some consideration, I decided to include several of what can be called early “novels of ideas” or treatises embedded within some frame stories. Since these are either utopias or highly symbolic esoteric works, they can be studied and enjoyed for their imaginativeness rather than their abstract content.
Whenever possible, I tried to link to contemporary and highly regarded translations of the texts that were not originally written in English; of course, very often more than one such translation is available, and it’s best to research and compare them before making a choice.
The Tale of Genji
by Murasaki Shikibu
(before 1021)
3.5 figs out of 5
Ocean of the Streams of Stories (Kathasaritsagara)
by Somadeva
(11th century)
3 figs out of 5
Digenes Akritas
(12th century)
3 figs out of 5
Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
(12th century)
3.5 figs out of 5
Roman de Brut
by Wace
(1155)
3 figs out of 5
Poem of my Cid
(c. 1140–1207)
3.5 figs out of 5
The Tale of Igor's Campaign
(late 12th century)
2.5 figs out of 5
Arthurian romances
by Chrétien de Troyes
(c. 1170–1190)
4 figs out of 5
Tristan
by Gottfried von Strassburg
(1210)
3 figs out of 5
Prose Edda
by Snorri Sturluson
(c. 1220)
4 figs out of 5
Lancelot–Grail (Vulgate Cycle)
(c. 1210–1235)
3.5 figs out of 5
The Romance of the Rose
by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun
(c. 1230–1275)
3 figs out of 5
The Tale of the Heike
by Kakuichi
(before 1330)
3.5 figs out of 5
Water Margin
by Shi Nai'an
(mid-14th century)
3.5 figs out of 5
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Luo Guanzhong
(14th century)
3.5 figs out of 5
Grettir's Saga
(13th–14th centuries)
3 figs out of 5
Le Morte d'Arthur
by Thomas Malory
(c. 1470)
4.5 figs out of 5
Orlando Innamorato
by Matteo Boiardo
(1483–1495)
2.5 figs out of 5
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
by Francesco Colonna
(1499)
3.5 figs out of 5
Amadis of Gaul
by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
(before 1508)
4 figs out of 5
Till Eulenspiegel
(1510)
2.5 figs out of 5
Orlando Furioso
by Ludovico Ariosto
(1516–1532)
4.5 figs out of 5
The Pleasant Nights
by Giovanni Francesco Straparola
(1550–1553)
3 figs out of 5
The Lusiads
by Luís de Camões
(1572)
3 figs out of 5
Jerusalem Delivered
by Torquato Tasso
(1581)
3 figs out of 5
Journey to the West
by Wu Cheng'en
(c. 1592)
4 figs out of 5
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia
by Philip Sidney
(1593)
3.5 figs out of 5
The Unfortunate Traveller
by Thomas Nashe
(1594)
3.5 figs out of 5
Guzmán de Alfarache
by Mateo Alemán
(1599–1604)
3.5 figs out of 5
The City of the Sun
by Tommaso Campanella
(1602)
3.5 figs out of 5
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
by Johann Valentin Andreae
(1616)
2.5 figs out of 5
El Buscón
by Francisco de Quevedo
(1626)
3 figs out of 5
L'Astrée
by Honoré d'Urfé
(1606–1627)
2.5 figs out of 5
The Man in the Moone
by Francis Godwin
(late 1620s)
4 figs out of 5
The Dream
by Johannes Kepler
(1634)
4 figs out of 5
The Comic Romance (Le Roman comique)
by Paul Scarron
(1651–1657)
2.5 figs out of 5
Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon
by Cyrano de Bergerac
(1657)
4 figs out of 5
Comte de Gabalis
by Henri de Montfaucon de Villars
(1670)
3 figs out of 5
Stories or Tales from Past Times, with Morals
by Charles Perrault
(1697)
4 figs out of 5
Fairy Tales (Les Contes des Fées)
by Madame d'Aulnoy
(1697)
4 figs out of 5
