The Missing Novellas

 Some of the greatest fiction has come to us via very short novels called novellas. Some examples are:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck
• Seize the Day by Saul Bellow
• The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• The Mist by Stephen King
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
• Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London

One common characteristic of these is they were published when the author was well-known and had a following. Large publishing firms often turn down shorter works by unknown writers.

If you've ever read a novel that feels as if it is padded, it may well be.