What is a Novel"
    The novel has never been clearly defined. Different ages have defined it differently, and centuries of writers and critics of novels have shaped the modern definition.
    Apparently, the word "novel" was first used because of its literal meaning - something new and different. There were two reasons for this. First of all, the novel was the last of the major literary forms to take shape. When it finally solidified in the 18th century, the various types of poetry (epic, ballad, sonnet, lyric), of drama (tragedy, comedy), and of non-fictional prose (essay, biography, autobiography) were well established. Secondly, in their search for material, the earliest novelists turned to the new and the different, the strange and exciting. When they chose material closer to home, they found it in the underworld of pickpockets, pimps and prostitutes who were as "novel...