Classics reading glossary

Shortened from the full work by cutting parts of the text.

Supplied with explanatory notes to help the reader understand the text.

A collection of selected works or extracts, often arranged around a theme, period or course.

Supplementary material placed after a book's main text.

A spoken recording of a book.

An audiobook narrated by the author of its text.

An account of a person's life written by that person, sometimes with a collaborator.

The Party's leader figure in 1984, presented as watching over the population.

The body of works widely studied or treated as important within a literary tradition.

Bound with a cloth-covered case rather than a plain paper cover.

In 1984, accepting two contradictory beliefs at the same time.

A book in a digital reading format.

A particular published version of a work, which may differ in text, notes or presentation.

A portion taken from a longer work.

Writing that presents invented characters or events rather than claiming to be a factual account.

Notes at the foot of a page explaining or commenting on the text.

Fiction grouped by conventions such as crime, romance or horror; it can also have literary importance.

A publishing name used for a particular line or group of books.

Successive published parts of a work released over time.

An opening essay that gives background or interpretation before the main work.

Writing valued for its style, ideas and lasting interest; it can include fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction.

A personal account focusing on selected experiences, a period or a theme from the writer's life.

The historical form of English used in works such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

An influential or lasting work from the more recent literary past, with boundaries varying by publisher and reader.

The performer who reads an audiobook aloud.

The Party's restricted official language in George Orwell's 1984, designed to narrow what people can express.

A short novel, longer than a short story but more compact than a typical full-length novel.

The super-state containing the novel's London in George Orwell's 1984.

The early form of English used in works such as Beowulf, distinct from modern English.

A book bound in flexible paper or card covers.

A translation presented in sentences and paragraphs rather than verse.

How quickly you read, expressed here as words per minute and used to estimate reading time.

The length of time a recording takes to play at its stated normal speed.

A protective open-sided box made to hold a book or set.

Devices in 1984 that both broadcast Party messages and watch the population.

In 1984, a thought against the Party treated as a punishable offence.

A version of a work rendered from one language into another.

Presented without shortening the main text for that recording or edition.

Literature associated with Queen Victoria's reign in nineteenth-century Britain.

One physical book in a larger published work or set.