Top 10 Books to Read Before You Study Abroad in the UK

If you don’t have a reading list as long as your arm already, here’s a list of top 10 books to read for those planning to study abroad in the UK who want to get to know more about British literature, culture, identity and history.

You may already be familiar with the classic authors such as Dickens and Austen, whose representations of Britain are hard to beat for their gritty precision, in Dickens’ case, and their remarkable depictions of middle England, in Austen’s. But for study abroad students wanting to broaden their literary library, modern authors from the 20^th and 21^st centuries provide analytical, satirical and relevant depictions of Britain, influenced by differing personal experiences and interests, literary predecessors and influential literary movements including existentialism, modernism, postmodernism and post-colonialism.

That’s the vocabulary for today. Now on with the list of top 10 books to read while preparing to study abroad in the UK…

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

British literature owes a lot to George Orwell, not only for the likes of 1984 and Animal Farm, but also for Down and Out in Paris and London, generally agreed to be his most moving and autobiographical novel. Published in 1933, the story follows Orwell the writer as he lives in near poverty in Paris before travelling to London and living among other “down and outs”. The novel, unlike many other stories of its kind, traces the path of the protagonist without pity or shame, creating a world of diverse, sometimes aberrant, characters, and portraying the various faces of life on the streets of a city. Even the most empathetic are likely to find themselves struck anew by the darker, poverty-stricken sides of urban life, allowing contemporary readers to see their city in a whole new light, both historically and socially.

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

The Buddha of Suburbia centers around Karim, a mixed-race teenager who wishes to leave the suburbs of South London to experience the excitement of 1970s central London. When given the surprising opportunity to work within theater, Karim jumps at the chance, starting out in London and then moving to New York before once again returning to London. A funny and moving British-Asian novel, written in 1990, The Buddha of Suburbia brings up questions of identity along with issues of prejudice and racism in 1970s Britain. Those planning to study abroad in the UK may be able to relate to themes of moving away, the comedies and tragedies of growing up, and the confusion of learning about new cultures.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway is just one of Virginia Woolf’s great modernist contributions to 20^th century British literature. A hugely significant figure in the London literary scene in the time between the first and second world wars, Woolf explores key themes of feminism and sexuality in many of her novels and nonfiction works. Mrs. Dalloway is a fine example of this, depicting the story of Clarissa Dalloway, a Londoner of high-society, who is preparing for a party. The novel travels through the minds and internal narratives of its characters, jumping back and forth to give a full image of a day in the life of Mrs. Dalloway and those around her. Not only does the story present issues of class, sexuality and female oppression, it also addresses the theme of mental illness and the effects all of these issues have on the mind. Today’s readers are also able to approach the novel in the valuable context of Woolf’s own narrative; a bi-polar sufferer (although at the time this remained undiagnosed and unrecognized), she went on to commit suicide in later life.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Published in 1899, Heart of Darkness is another novel often thought to contain many autobiographical elements, and has become an established part of the British literary canon due to its captivating exploration of the country’s murky colonial past. Conrad (actually Polish by birth) uses a frame narrative – a story within a story – to tell the tale of Charles Marlow, an ivory transporter sailing through Central Africa’s Congo River. While the novel is told from viewpoints divergent from modern society, a contemporary analysis can explore the historical attitudes towards “otherness” and the question of what constitutes a “civilized” society and what constitutes a “barbarian” one. Students looking to know more about British imperialism and the complex attitudes prevalent at the time will find enough in this densely packed novella to merit several readings.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys is a Dominica-born British novelist who wrote Wide Sargasso Sea in 1966 as a postcolonial prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Rhys tells the story of Antoinette Cosway, a white Creole heiress from the Caribbean, who is sold into marriage to a greedy and lusty Englishman. As a prisoner in the man’s cold English home, Rhys portrays the sad story of Eyre’s madwoman in the attic, covering themes of racial inequality in 19^th century Britain, the oppressive nature of a patriarchal society, and the nature of displacement for Creole women at that time. For those who have read Jane Eyre, this novel provides important further critique on the sub-textual issues present in the book, and, for those who haven’t, Wide Sargasso Sea will allow you to approach Brontë’s classic novel with a more analytical mindset.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

A truly terrifying post-apocalyptic novel, published in 1951, John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids depicts an imagined future London, in a world that has seen a plague of blindness befall it, allowing the “triffids”, an aggressive plant species, to slowly begin to take over the world. Wyndham’s narrative follows Bill Mason, as he wakes up in hospital and gradually realizes he may be the only person left in London with his eyesight intact. Mason makes his way through the city, discovering that fear and darkness have turned many of his fellow Londoners into blind, opportunistic savages. Influenced heavily by H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, Wyndham’s novel delves further into the question of civilization in the context of war, conflict and fear. Students new to London will be able to recognize many of the landmarks referenced in the novel, making the tale all the more resonant. (If you scare easily, this may be one to save until after you’ve got to know your way around!)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Two-time Man Booker prize winner Hilary Mantel is hailed by many as British literature’s best current historical author. Wolf Hall depicts Tudor England with stunning accuracy and clarity, telling the story of an ambitious and political Thomas Cromwell during Henry VIII’s reign. Cromwell, a historical figure who has not been portrayed all that kindly throughout the centuries, is presented by Mantel more intimately as a pragmatic man wanting to serve his king and country amidst shifting political and religious structures. For study abroad students wanting to learn more about the murky past of British politics, Mantel offers a narrative both gripping and eye-opening. Mantel’s sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, also won the Man Booker prize.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

David Mitchell, one of the shining stars of 21^st century postmodern British literature, is perhaps best known for the genre-defying Cloud Atlas – a 2004 novel made into a Hollywood movie in 2013. Spanning six incongruent stories, beginning on a remote South Pacific archipelago during the California Gold Rush of the 19^th century, and ending in a post-apocalyptic distant future, Mitchell links each narrative by depicting the same soul in each character throughout the novel’s time span. In doing this, Cloud Atlas conveys the universality of human nature and the reality that as long as humans exist there will be conflict and battle between individuals, nations and groups. A novel about morals, about reliving history and learning from it, Mitchell also offers fans of post-modernist, anachronistic literature a beast of a story to delve into.

Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman

Depicting a modern-day collector of Nazi memorabilia, a 20^th century entomologist with an interest in eugenics, a nine-toed, gay Jewish boxer and an aggressive Welsh hitman, Boxer, Beetle is a very recent example of great postmodern British literature. Boxer, Beetle travels through time and space from a smelly post-millennium East London flat, to the angry streets filled with Mosley’s black shirts, and to the laboratory of a high-society doctor submerged in a culture of 1930s British fascism, before the beginnings of World War Two.  Beauman weaves his story across 70 years of history, as his characters unravel a murder mystery and discover the story behind one particular genus of beetle; the Anopthalmus Hitleri. The novel covers historic narratives of riots, sex, love and murder through themes of Darwinism, fascism and insects. Boxer, Beetle is recommended for study abroad students heading for the UK capital, for its portrayal of London in all its past and present grimy glory.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Another London-based novel, Zadie Smith’s White Teeth takes inspiration from many great London novels and novelists throughout history, from Dickens to Ballard, producing an epic story with themes of immigration, family life, love and betrayal all set to the backdrop of the capital in the 1970s. Told from the viewpoints of different family members, including Archie Jones, a working-class Londoner married to a beautiful, toothless Jamaican woman, and his war-time friend, Samad Iqbal, a devout Muslim who finds himself corrupted by British society, drinking and committing adultery with his sons’ school teacher. Through its series of interconnected characters, the novel explores the struggle of assimilation for migrant families, as well as societal attitudes towards race and religion in 1970s Britain. Study abroad students will enjoy this novel not only for its humor and sharp satire, but also for its relevance to British society today.

Image source: Goodreads.com

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