David Bowie Book Club

Madame Bovary has a basic plot: a woman trying to get away from her boring marriage and life, whose romantic ideals of love and life makes her crave money, beauty, and passion. But the beauty of this play lies in the details that Flaubert furnishes the piece with, and the masterful grasp of language that he has shown. Marcel Proust praised the "grammatical purity" of Flaubert's style, while Vladimir Nabokov said that "stylistically it is prose doing what poetry is supposed to do"

Widely regarded as one of the most important poems in the 20th century, The Waste Land is a long form poem that loosely follows the legend of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King. T.S. Eliot's mastery of the language lets you shift between voices, places and time, and is most certainly a journey in itself if you would wholly immerse yourself in it.

Wallace Thurman's novel is a satrical peephole and a powerful insight into the Harlem Renaissance at that time. Written as a retort against an idealised Harlem community, this book can also be viewed as a great historical and cultural lesson of the arts and the changing movement.

First published in 1989, McTeague is a story of a couple's courtship and marriage, and their subsequent descent into poverty, violence and finally murder as the result of jealousy and greed. Frank Norris is a master at using words to evoke emotion, making this one of the best novels to study the ugliness of the human condition.

This book has caused many a controversy and for good reasons. At that time, D.H. Lawrence was accused of using foul language, and this book has been banned and censored time and time again in various countries. This novel is one of sexual revolution, and remains very much a celebrated classic.

Published in 1924, Zanoni is a story of how one man cannot fall in love, lest he loses his powers of immortality. But what is life forever without love? Zanoni eventually falls in love with a opera singer, and he sees the consequences of love. But will an increase in humanity bear any impact on his now-mortal life?

Primarily set in Harlem, Passing fixtures quite squarely on racism and the complex relationship between gender, race and sexuality. It centers around Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, two childhood friends who are fascinated with each other's life, come to realise they're both white-passing — a situation most unfavourable to their circumstance at that time.

Possibly the classic of all classics. The Iliad is one of the greatest pieces of literary history touching on revenge, religion, family, war and pride.

Everyone loves a good American dream, but The Great Gatsby pulls down the veil behind it — making it perhaps one of the best novels in 1920s Americas.

This 14th century epic poem follows the journey of Dante through hell, guided by Roman poet Virgil. The writing is exquisite, and the metaphors of the rejection of sin and a journey to God is excellently laid out. It's not the easiest read, but if it's one of David Bowie's must-read books, you know you have to.

This 1929 novel is considered one of the most important pieces of literature of the Weimar Republic (then Germany). The novel revolves around protaganist Alexanderplatz, an ex-convict who circles life in misery, poverty, crime, lack of opportunities and the imminent loom of Nazisim in the 20s. It's a stark portrayal of Germany at that time and one that will make you recognise the harshness of life.