Books that ask what makes us human

Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life but soon becomes restless and discards it for pleasures of the flesh. He is quickly bored and sickened by the unending lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, he comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life – the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace and, finally, wisdom Hermann Hesse’s beautiful rendition of the journey of a young man during the times of the great Gautam Buddha is not just an evocative piece of art but also a work of mystery offered to the reader to solve for himself. Hermann Karl Hesse was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual’s search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946.

The world’s most famous work of horror fiction: a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity.  Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel presents the epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror. Based on the third edition of 1831, this Penguin Classics edition, with an introduction and notes by Maurice Hindle, contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story, as well as her 1831 introduction and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s preface to the first edition. It also includes as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 and 1831 together with "A Fragment" by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori’s "The Vampyre: A Tale." For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021 The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller Featured in Barack Obama's Summer Reading List 2021 'This is a novel for fans of Never Let Me Go . . . tender, touching and true.' The Times 'The Sun always has ways to reach us.' From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In Klara and the Sun, his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly-changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love? 'Beautiful' Guardian 'Flawless' The Times 'Devastating' FT 'Another masterpiece' Observer