Adventure Novels

Looking for excitement and adventure? Look no further than this board. Full of plane crashes, motorcycle adventures, daring criminals and even a visit to…
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Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. University Library / PR 3724 G8 1943 "The adventure novel as social satire. Swift uses the inherited tropes and conventions of the contemporary travel narrative to mock religion, politics, science and human nature in general. Gulliver’s inner journey is from optimism to embittered misanthropy—the more adventures he has the less sanguine he becomes." Ian McGuire Best Adventure Books, Adventure Novels, Adventure Story, Top Adventures, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, Free Books Online, Free Online, Penguin Classics
Gulliver’s Travels
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. University Library / PR 3724 G8 1943 "The adventure novel as social satire. Swift uses the inherited tropes and conventions of the contemporary travel narrative to mock religion, politics, science and human nature in general. Gulliver’s inner journey is from optimism to embittered misanthropy—the more adventures he has the less sanguine he becomes." Ian McGuire
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. University Library / 	PS 2384 M62 H47 1998 "Melville started off writing more straightforward adventure novels set in exotic South Sea locations and featuring alluring and dangerous natives, but then he wrote Moby-Dick...The basic framework of the adventure novel is still there, but for most of the novel the hazards Ishmael wrestles with are philosophical rather than physical." Ian McGuire I Love Books, Great Books, Books To Read, Moby Dick, Great Novels, American Literature, Thing 1
The 10 Best Adventure Novels
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. University Library / PS 2384 M62 H47 1998 "Melville started off writing more straightforward adventure novels set in exotic South Sea locations and featuring alluring and dangerous natives, but then he wrote Moby-Dick...The basic framework of the adventure novel is still there, but for most of the novel the hazards Ishmael wrestles with are philosophical rather than physical." Ian McGuire
The Odyssey by Homer. University Library / PA 4025 A5 J67 2014 "I could start this list with Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe or possibly Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but The Odyssey, although it’s an epic poem rather than a novel of course, strikes me as the most fitting way to begin. As an archetype of the adventurer, Odysseus is hard to beat, and his adventures–like all the best adventures–are both literally thrilling, and metaphorically and symbolically full of implication."  Ian McGuire Joyce, Shakespeare, Reading Lists, Book Worth Reading, Book Club Books, Good Books, Book 1, 007 Casino Royale, Trojan War
The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Homer. University Library / PA 4025 A5 J67 2014 "I could start this list with Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe or possibly Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but The Odyssey, although it’s an epic poem rather than a novel of course, strikes me as the most fitting way to begin. As an archetype of the adventurer, Odysseus is hard to beat, and his adventures–like all the best adventures–are both literally thrilling, and metaphorically and symbolically full of implication." Ian McGuire
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. University Library / PR 6005 O4 A6  "...In the context of this list, it’s the perfect counterweight to the more imperialistic adventure stories of the late Victorian era. Conrad’s framing device is brilliant, as is Marlow’s first person narration, and, as a vision of what civilised man can become, Kurtz remains extraordinarily prescient." Ian McGuire Joseph Conrad, Christian School, Free Books Download, Dark Heart
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. University Library / PR 6005 O4 A6 "...In the context of this list, it’s the perfect counterweight to the more imperialistic adventure stories of the late Victorian era. Conrad’s framing device is brilliant, as is Marlow’s first person narration, and, as a vision of what civilised man can become, Kurtz remains extraordinarily prescient." Ian McGuire
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. University Library / PS 3563 C337 R63 2006 "..The Road [is] a grim post-apocalyptic adventure story complete with cannibals and babies on spits. The home is destroyed and the mother is dead well before the novel begins, but there is a definite glimmer of hope at the end..." Ian McGuire John Baldessari, Book Lists, Summer Reading, Reading Rainbow, School Reading, This Is A Book, The Book
The Road
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. University Library / PS 3563 C337 R63 2006 "..The Road [is] a grim post-apocalyptic adventure story complete with cannibals and babies on spits. The home is destroyed and the mother is dead well before the novel begins, but there is a definite glimmer of hope at the end..." Ian McGuire
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. University Library / 	PS 3503 O83 S4 "I lived in Egypt for several years in my twenties, and when I read this novel shortly afterwards it struck a chord. It’s about the lure of the exotic, and the unappealing realities which ideas of the exotic can conceal. It’s a highly self-conscious, very modern adventure story in that it explores what we might mean by adventure, and asks why the notion of adventure is so appealing." Ian McGuire Reading Boards, Favorite Novels, Self Conscious, Got Books, Play
The Sheltering Sky
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. University Library / PS 3503 O83 S4 "I lived in Egypt for several years in my twenties, and when I read this novel shortly afterwards it struck a chord. It’s about the lure of the exotic, and the unappealing realities which ideas of the exotic can conceal. It’s a highly self-conscious, very modern adventure story in that it explores what we might mean by adventure, and asks why the notion of adventure is so appealing." Ian McGuire
High-Rise: A Novel by J. G. Ballard. Storage / PR 6052 A46 H54X (request at Science Library, circulation desk, 1st floor) "...An ultra-modern apartment block in London populated by well-to-do yuppies who rarely leave the premises gradually becomes a self-sustaining vertical city...they stratify into three castes...A new social order emerges...“all life within the high-rise revolved around three obsessions—security, food and sex.”http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Reading Online, Books Online, J G Ballard, Best Sci Fi Books, The Times London, Law Of The Jungle, New Statesman
High-Rise: A Novel by J. G. Ballard. Storage / PR 6052 A46 H54X (request at Science Library, circulation desk, 1st floor) "...An ultra-modern apartment block in London populated by well-to-do yuppies who rarely leave the premises gradually becomes a self-sustaining vertical city...they stratify into three castes...A new social order emerges...“all life within the high-rise revolved around three obsessions—security, food and sex.”http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Storage / 	PS 3562 E42 L44X (request at Science Library, circulation desk, 1st floor) "A much-admired novel set on a frozen planet whose denizens are neither female nor male: they have gender identities and sexual urges only once a month. When a Terran envoy, Genly Ai, and an exiled native politician, Estraven, escape from a prison together, they battle snow and ice together;..." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ E42, Guin, Adventure Motorcycling, Snow And Ice, Gender Identity, Ursula, Left Handed, Science Fiction
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Storage / PS 3562 E42 L44X (request at Science Library, circulation desk, 1st floor) "A much-admired novel set on a frozen planet whose denizens are neither female nor male: they have gender identities and sexual urges only once a month. When a Terran envoy, Genly Ai, and an exiled native politician, Estraven, escape from a prison together, they battle snow and ice together;..." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
True Grit: A Novel by Charles Portis. University Library / PS 3566 O645X T7 "Charles Portis’s satirical Western adventure True Grit, which is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl seeking retribution for the murder of her father. Considered one of the great American novels. John Wayne would win a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 movie adaptation; the 2010 Coen Brothers adaptation is also excellent." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Westerns, Best Actor Oscar, Coen Brothers, 14 Year Old Girl, Movie Adaptation, True Grit, English
True Grit: A Novel by Charles Portis. University Library / PS 3566 O645X T7 "Charles Portis’s satirical Western adventure True Grit, which is told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl seeking retribution for the murder of her father. Considered one of the great American novels. John Wayne would win a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 movie adaptation; the 2010 Coen Brothers adaptation is also excellent." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene  University Library / PR 6013 R44 O8 "Graham Greene’s espionage adventure Our Man in Havana, a sardonic inversion of the genre. In this black comedy, which Greene considered an “entertainment” rather than a “novel,” Greene mocks intelligence services, especially the British MI6 (for whom he’d worked during WWII), and their willingness to believe reports from local informants..." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Espionage Books, Our Man In Havana, New Books, Christopher Hitchens, Graham Greene, Apps, Impatience, Penguin Publishing
Our Man in Havana
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene University Library / PR 6013 R44 O8 "Graham Greene’s espionage adventure Our Man in Havana, a sardonic inversion of the genre. In this black comedy, which Greene considered an “entertainment” rather than a “novel,” Greene mocks intelligence services, especially the British MI6 (for whom he’d worked during WWII), and their willingness to believe reports from local informants..." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
Where Eagles Dare; H. M. S. Ulysses; Ice Station Zebra; When Eight Bells Toll; Guns Of Navarone by Alistair MacLean University Library / 	PR 6063 A248 A15 1980 "...MacLean’s WWII commando adventure The Guns of Navarone. New Zealand mountaineer-turned-commando Keith Mallory, American demolitions expert Dusty Miller, and Greek resistance fighter Andrea are sent on a mission impossible: to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress ...." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Literary Adventure, Pdf Books, Paperback Books, Ice Station Zebra, Alistair Maclean, Book And Magazine, Magazine Art, Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare; H. M. S. Ulysses; Ice Station Zebra; When Eight Bells Toll; Guns Of Navarone by Alistair MacLean University Library / PR 6063 A248 A15 1980 "...MacLean’s WWII commando adventure The Guns of Navarone. New Zealand mountaineer-turned-commando Keith Mallory, American demolitions expert Dusty Miller, and Greek resistance fighter Andrea are sent on a mission impossible: to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress ...." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
The Thirty-Nine Steps And The Power House by John Buchan  University Library / PR 6003 U13 T5 1966  "Thirty-nine Steps: The best hunted-man thriller...ever, at least until Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. When mining engineer Richard Hannay discovers the existence of a ring of German spies who have stolen British plans for the outbreak of war, he is framed for murder. Fleeing to Scotland, he must elude not only spies but the police."http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Murder Mystery, Young John, English Novels, Modern Edition, Adult Education, Light Music, Lectures, Autobiography, Father And Son
The Thirty-Nine Steps And The Power House by John Buchan University Library / PR 6003 U13 T5 1966 "Thirty-nine Steps: The best hunted-man thriller...ever, at least until Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. When mining engineer Richard Hannay discovers the existence of a ring of German spies who have stolen British plans for the outbreak of war, he is framed for murder. Fleeing to Scotland, he must elude not only spies but the police."http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle University Library / PR 4622 H6 1986 "Mystery adventures don’t have a large place on these lists of mine… because although they’re fun exercises in ratiocination and puzzle-solving, they’re often not particularly thrilling. Conan Doyle, however, is a great adventure writer. And this novel is not your typical Sherlock Holmes story; it is jam-packed with thrills and chills." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/ Sherlock Holmes Stories, Fun Workouts, Fun Exercises, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Greatest Adventure, Young Reader, Film Music Books
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle University Library / PR 4622 H6 1986 "Mystery adventures don’t have a large place on these lists of mine… because although they’re fun exercises in ratiocination and puzzle-solving, they’re often not particularly thrilling. Conan Doyle, however, is a great adventure writer. And this novel is not your typical Sherlock Holmes story; it is jam-packed with thrills and chills." http://hilobrow.com/adventure/
The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) by Rudyard Kipling, University Library / PR 4854 M16 1999 Arcade, Hopper Artist, Indian Caste System, Triumph, Medieval, Walter Gropius, Edward Hopper, Journey, If Rudyard Kipling
The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) by Rudyard Kipling, University Library / PR 4854 M16 1999
The Alexandria Link: A Novel  by Steve Berry. University Library / PS 3602 E764 A79 2007 "Too bad former secret agent Cotton Malone knows how to unearth the lost contents of the Library of Alexandria; now his bookstore has been ransacked and his son kidnapped." Random House, Date, Favorite Authors, Favorite Books, Favorite Places, Reading Room
The Alexandria Link: A Novel by Steve Berry. University Library / PS 3602 E764 A79 2007 "Too bad former secret agent Cotton Malone knows how to unearth the lost contents of the Library of Alexandria; now his bookstore has been ransacked and his son kidnapped."