It’s the start of a new academic year. Leavy Greave Road is bustling once again with the footfall of thousands, and the IC walls glisten green in the late September sun. Love it or hate it, before long we’ll all be back in those hallowed silent study rooms, every student’s second home (if you can find a seat, that is).
And if you’re a new student, the wonders of freshers week, sports and society fairs, and the beloved West Street bar crawl all remain gems yet to be uncovered.
Whether returning or new, extrovert or introvert, nervous or excited, all students deserve a bit of alone time during this busy period. What better way to spend it than curled up with a good book about university itself?
Dating back to the mid 20th century, the campus novel is a literary genre which features university as a setting, plot point or theme. Here are my top 5 campus novel recommendations to keep you company this autumn:
Normal People by Sally Rooney
A cult classic for contemporary literature lovers, Rooney’s 2018 novel follows the lives of Connell and Marianne as they fall in and out of love. They meet at school and eventually both end up studying at Trinity College Dublin. Both the book and subsequent BBC miniseries starring Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones became so popular that fans have travelled far and wide to visit the Irish university.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
First published in 1992, the Secret History has seen an unprecedented revival in recent years thanks to TikTok users’ unquenchable thirst for a ‘dark academia aesthetic.’ They want to see characters read Plato in the original Greek by candlelight, spy on each other through gaps in dark wood bookcases, and stop at nothing to live a life true to the arts. Tartt’s narrative following an elite group of mysterious classics students and a shared secret that comes to haunt them delivers all this and more.
The Rainbow by D H Lawrence
Admittedly, the topic of university does not arise until near the end of this 1915 work following three generations of the Brangwen family, whose lives are changed by the Industrial Revolution. Surprisingly feminist for a male-authored book of its time, The Rainbow features a female character, Ursula Brangwen, whose university studies make her a pioneer for burgeoning gender equality in education.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
One of the most well-known examples of the campus novel, Amis’ 1954 work is a masterful satire of what the closed-off nature of academia can do to a person trapped by its conventions. Unlike the above campus novels, this book follows not students, but disgruntled history professor Jim Dixon, loosely modelled on poet Philip Larkin. Amis’ characteristic caustic humour makes for an entertaining read, even if this book does offer quite a pessimistic view of university life.
One Day by David Nicholls
This 2009 novel often compared to Normal People (although published earlier) introduces readers to Emma and Dexter as they meet for the first time on the night of their graduation, 15th July 1988. With each passing chapter, we re-enter their lives for just one day a year, always 15th July. Although the ‘campus’ content of this novel happens before the narrative has even begun, the two friends’ graduation night is both structurally and thematically central to the book, providing the context that defines their relationship for 20 years.
