What are some good fictional books to read if I want to improve my vocabulary?

[dratsab]

I really love learning new words, so does anyone have any good recommendations? One of my favorite things about reading Marquis de Sade was all of the new words I learned, haha.

[Lykren]

Ulysses will give you more than enough.

[chrisvia]

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco and everything written by Vladimir Nabokov are my first thoughts. The aforementioned Ulysses and especially Joyce's Finnegans Wake (you don't necessarily mean real words, right?) are good choices, too.

[Lykren]

Oh yeah, Nabokov! Ada, or Ardor probably has the most 'vocabulary' words of any of his books. Conrad in general, also Middlemarch, Tristram Shandy, and To The Lighthouse could all be good options too.

[dratsab]

Ulysses will give you more than enough.

I'm always told that Ulysses is difficult to read. Is this strictly because of the vocabulary words or is it more than that?

And thanks to everyone else for the recommendations. I shall add them to my list.

[Lykren]

No, it's not just the vocabulary. There are constant references to other works and events, both obscure and famous, the syntax is often extremely difficult to follow, and the shifting styles of the narration also make it difficult to read.

That said it's a truly gratifying and rich piece of literature, though some people hate it and think Joyce was a fraud.

[R.F. Schiller]

As others have said, many of Nabokov's works. I think the English novels, particularly Lolita & Ada, are better purely for vocabulary. Swann's Way, despite being in translation is also excellent in this regard. Also should mention the works of David Foster Wallace, particularly Infinite Jest.

[RetsixArp]

Certainly Nabakov (the great story The Vane Sisters, w/ its unreliable narrator & the ending acrostic). Delillo also good for vocabulary, especially White Noise. See also Donald Barthelme, especially City Life or any of the collections (Forty Stories), & anything by Grace Paley.

[AuntShecky]

Novels and essays by Anthony Burgess are good sources for fresh words.

[Poetaster]

Lovecraft, Joyce, and reading the Classics can't hurt.

[kev67]

Try Tess of the d'Urbervilles if you need to expand your vocabulary in 19th century, West Country, rural terminology. I now know what bartons, purlieus, ostlers and postillions are.

[Whosis]

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann should help improve your butler vocabulary if it's possible to penetrate.

[English reader]

I really love learning new words, so does anyone have any good recommendations? One of my favorite things about reading Marquis de Sade was all of the new words I learned, haha.

Henry James can often be difficult, but more in terms of complex sentences than with vocabulary. It is still enriching to read his works.

[dratsab]

No, it's not just the vocabulary. There are constant references to other works and events, both obscure and famous, the syntax is often extremely difficult to follow, and the shifting styles of the narration also make it difficult to read.

That said it's a truly gratifying and rich piece of literature, though some people hate it and think Joyce was a fraud.

Hmm, anything in particular I should study before I take that piece of literature on, or is it stuff I can just google?


As others have said, many of Nabokov's works. I think the English novels, particularly Lolita & Ada, are better purely for vocabulary. Swann's Way, despite being in translation is also excellent in this regard. Also should mention the works of David Foster Wallace, particularly Infinite Jest.

I've read Lolita. I've been meaning to listen to Infinite Jest on audiobook, but if it's difficult, I may prefer to read it manually.


The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann should help improve your butler vocabulary if it's possible to penetrate.

I've heard Magic Mountain was very philosophical, so I really want to check it out.

[Lykren]

I read it straight through without annotations or Google, but of course I missed all or most of the references that way. There is a book called Ulysses Annotated by Gifford which is very comprehensive in dealing with all the subtleties. In terms of literature you should be familiar with the Odyssey, which Ulysses is patterned after.

EDIT: Oh, and no, you can't just rely on Google, because it isn't usually obvious when he is referencing something.

[millwallbill]

Novels and essays by Anthony Burgess are good sources for fresh words.

Burgess` essays & criticism is also quite useful for leading you to other works that you might not stumble across otherwise.

I would also suggest the short stories of Faulkner for new words.

[mal4mac]

Anything by Will Self! He's King of the Sesquipedalians:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17777556

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