10 Classic Campus Novels

Sad to be going home for the summer? Worried you might miss the dining hall? Don't fret! You can read novels set at college to cure your nostalgia.

Check out our slide show of ten classic campus novels replete with small summaries of their plots, and then tell us, did we miss anything? What is your favorite book set at college?

 

Did we miss any books? Send in your nomination for the best campus novel!

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Six students form an exclusive Classics clique which eventually becomes a hotbed of murder and revenge.

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Six students form an exclusive Classics clique which eventually becomes a hotbed of murder and revenge.

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Comments

[StephenS]

04:42 PM on 05/10/2011

"Gaudy Night" stars not only detective Lord Peter Wimsey, but also Harriet Vane - a complex woman who Lord Wimsey started wooing in "Strong Poison". Great book.

[ameslima]

07:12 PM on 05/09/2011

My favorite is Lucky Jim
Second favorite: Been down so long it looks like up to me - Richard Farina

[c-tom]

11:55 PM on 05/08/2011

'Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me' by Richard Fariña.

[ESerafina42]

09:37 AM on 05/08/2011

Thank you for finally putting something about the plot underneath the photo!

[bessielil]

05:46 PM on 05/06/2011

Blue Angel--Francine Prose
A Mother's Kisses--Bruce J. Friedman
A New Life, Bernard Malamud

Third recommendation for Russo's The Straight Man

[doglove]

10:20 PM on 05/05/2011

The Human Stain

[TooKrunk]

03:09 PM on 05/05/2011

For real, The Rules of Attraction is good one.

[boudin]

01:23 PM on 05/05/2011

The Paper Chase, John Jay Osborne, Jr.
The Lords of Discipline, Pat Conroy
Love Story, Erich Segal (yeah, I know, it's Love Story, but, I'm just sayin')

[Mahi Joe]

07:44 AM on 05/18/2011

To add a few more to your list:

The Cornish Trilogy by Robertston Davies
Most of the Inspector Morse novels (Oxford) by Colin Dexter

[Erewhon7]

01:19 PM on 05/05/2011

I suppose Hesse's Magister Ludi would also qualify.

Waldzell was a graduate school of sorts :-)

[Kat Urice]

01:13 PM on 05/05/2011

So, why no Bret Easton Ellis?

[Lit Nerd]

12:23 PM on 05/05/2011

I loved Dorothy Sayers, and Gaudy Night is absolutely fantastic. But, there's not one murder in it, let alone murders. There's reference to a suicide, and an attempted murder/assault with intent to murder, but there's nary a murder to be found.

[donviejo]

11:54 AM on 05/05/2011

But the funniest campus/college novel is "Straight Man" by Richard Russo.

[colonelsun68]

01:46 PM on 05/06/2011

Fan #1. An excellent and hilarious choice!

[Belgian Beer]

11:51 AM on 05/05/2011

There's nothing on this list by David Lodge. His novels are classics...and f'n hilarious.

[pat2 718]

11:46 AM on 05/05/2011

Not well known as his other work, but an insane romp...
Neal Stephenson, "The Big U"

Glad to see Dorothy Sayers' "Gaudy Night" on the list.

[too young but old enough]

12:30 PM on 05/05/2011

The Big U is definitely a fun book, but it falls apart towards the end...Not really a 'classic'. That wouldn't stop me from seconding your recommendation that people read it.

[Deleuzian Nomad]

11:42 AM on 05/05/2011

No Tom Sharpe's Wilt?