Dark Academia Books

While dark academia isn’t a literary genre in its own right (yet), the terms “campus novel” and “varsity novel” have been around for many generations, and I think the following books, while not altogether “dark”, can yet admit you into the close and cosy academic atmosphere you might be craving.

*This is a very idiosyncratic reading list – I make no apologies.

1. The Glittering Prizes by Frederick Raphael – the lives and loves of a group of Cambridge students. Listen to the original Radio4 series if you can get hold of it.
2. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm – the comical tale of a beautiful young woman who drives Oxford undergraduates to suicide.
3. Possession by A.S. Byatt – about a fictional Victorian poet and the scholars who try to put together the pieces of his life. Byatt includes many of the poet’s “original” poems, which I always thought very impressive.
4. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh – evocative descriptions of Oxford, however brief.
5. Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov – the misadventures of a Russian academic in America.
6. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis – a rare contender for what may be a sci-fi dark academia novel?
7. His Dark Materials (& its “equals”) by Philip Pullman – most of the story may be set away from Oxford, but it still has the most evocative descriptions of academic life, for me.
8. The Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard – a play about the life of A.E. Housman — now best known for A Shropshire Lad, and as an eminent classicist. Stoppard is just marvellous!

Chamberlain: Alfred Housman? – I know him!
Harris: I think he stayed with the wrong people in SHROPSHIRE. I never read such a book for telling you you’re better off dead.
Chamberlain: That’s him!
Harris: No one gets off; if you’re not shot, hanged or stabbed, you kill yourself. Life’s a curse, love’s a blight, God’s a blaggard, cherry blossom is quite nice.

Murder Mysteries

A murder mystery set in academic surroundings might be the closest thing to a literary dark academia genre. I’m sure there must be heaps more than I’ve been able to recall…

1. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
2. The Book and the Brotherhood by Iris Murdoch
3. Murder at St. Oswald’s by Michael Underwood – you can find this short story in the collection, ‘Whodunit? – detective stories chosen by Philip Pullman’.
4. Oxford Blood by Antonia Fraser
5. Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay
6. Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes

Schoolgirl fiction

Usually far from “dark”, but I do have a penchant for schoolgirl fiction, and you, too, might find that these books spur you in your studies. Colette and Angela Brazil are the only ones I’ve read, but perhaps you’ll find something you fancy in this list:

1. The Claudine books by Colette
2. Angela Brazil‘s schoolgirl books
3. The Naughtiest Girl series by Enid Blyton
4. The Trebizon series by Anne Digby
5. Olivia by Dorothy Bussy
6. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Convent school

I also had to mention the few books I’ve read that involve girls at convent schools. Often the portion of the story set at school is quite short, but I find them strangely captivating and memorable nonetheless.

1. Frost in May by Antonia White
2. Consequences by E.M. Delafield
3. The Wren by Reşat Nuri Güntekin
4. A Drama in Muslin by George Moore

Short Fiction

1. Old Love by Jeffrey Archer – just so bittersweet – a must read!
2. Confusion of Sentiments (Verwirrung der Gefühle) by Stefan Zweig – Zweig is an amazing storyteller. Confusion is about the obsessive relationship of a young undergraduate and his literature professor.
3. The Mezzotint by M.R. James – many of James’ ghost stories are set in Cambridge University, so take your pick.
4. On Murder, Considered as One of the Fine Arts by Thomas De Quincey – a mock lecture on the aesthetics of murder.
5. The Three Students by Ellery Queen – a quick whodunnit you can test your wits against.

Classics

1. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer – there are many translations to choose from, and part of the fun is finding your favourites. You might enjoy Edith Hall’s Return of Ulysses as a companion.
2. The Nature of Things by Lucretius – to understand it better, I recommend reading The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt.
3. Hamlet by William Shakespeare – no explanation necessary. Again, I would recommend a Stephen Greenblatt book on the subject: Hamlet in Purgatory.
4. Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe – Goethe’s Faust may be a better starting point, but I just think Marlowe deserves more love than he gets.
5. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – this novel is one of my absolute favourites; Mr. Thornton is my favourite self-made man, and I maintain that the BBC Series is the best adaptation of any classic ever.
6. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – I recommend reading both the 1818 and the 1831 editions for comparison.
7. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte – a quite suitably depressing novel about a young man driven to teaching.
8. New Grub Street by George Gissing – a realist, Victorian classic about writers trying to make a living in London.

Philosophy

A while back, the Swedish radio programme Stil had an episode on books as accessories, and I took some notes because I found it so amusing. Since DA is an “aesthetic” first and foremost, I thought I would pass along these insights on which philosophers to pose with in order to give off the right intellectual message.

1. Leibniz – acceptable, but on the whole difficult to understand.
2. Adorno – left-wing radical, perhaps somewhat detached.
3. Hegel – cool; says hard rock, cigarettes, life or death.
4. Kant – too dry, academic and pedantic (perhaps best for older chaps).
5. Plato – yea; brings to mind Platonic love, gives off an impression of a romantic thinker.
6. Aristotle – nay; work, gravity and strain, too academic.
7. Montaigne – a good choice for a bedside table; speaks to someone educated, tasteful, stylish, with an appreciation for good literature.
8. Nietzsche – more youthful and naïve, appropriate to one’s rebellious teenage years (to be supplanted by Hegel, Beauvoir and Butler when more “mature”).
9. Derrida – do you come from the 80s? :'(
10. Sartre – to look like an “existentialist” is the worst — like you’ve learnt to pose from your parents (ouch!) — unless you want to appear as if you don’t care about the trends, of course…
11. Deleuze – popular to “wave about” these days. He’s in all the footnotes.
12. Wittgenstein – out! Nothing to do with the subject matter, but just the fact that it’s become known as “poser material”, and one must find something new to pose with in order to appear “exclusive”.

Note: You can also consider secondary texts, such as biographies, diaries, or letters.

Studying Dark Academia

If you’d like some company while you work, might I invite you to a Dark Academia Study With Me at my desk?

Signum University offers an online course on Dark Academia literature. I haven’t taken it myself, but it looks fun!

Dead Languages

Whether it’s because they’re more theoretical and literary, or whether it’s because of the word “dead”, dead languages have a special allure for dark academics. Here are a few popular archaic languages you may try:

Ancient Greek – I believe Athenaze is still the most popular textbook for learning Ancient Greek, and the Italian edition is especially beloved.
Learn Latin – I have a list of Latin learning resources for you to consult.
Old Norse – Dr. Jackson Crawford is an Old Norse specialist who has many excellent resources available online. Gordon’s Introduction to Old Norse still seems to be the go-to text.
Old English – I have the Leslie Blakeley copy of Teach Yourself Old English, which is nice because it includes an answer key, but Henry Sweet‘s readers & dictionary are still widely used in classes. Colin Gorrie has compiled a great list of Old English learning resources.
Sanskrit – The Cambridge Introduction To Sanskrit is often recommended as a good beginner text. It’s widely available, and there are some excellent video guides for each chapter.
Coptic / Egyptian Hieroglyphs – Not a language I’ve attempted (yet), but this Coursera course from UPenn could be a good place to start.
Biblical Hebrew – I haven’t attempted Hebrew, so I don’t know what texts to recommend, but you can take a look at the Youtube channel, Aleph with Beth, or consider enrolling in a class at the Ancient Language Institute.

Additionally, the book, How Dead Languages Work by Coulter H. George can serve as a good primer.

Knowing a living language that’s similar to your dead target language might help you gain more headway. Here is a list of language learning methods that you can pick among.

Literary Theory & Literary Criticism

1. Beginning Theory by Peter Barry – this was our set text at uni, and I still find that it’s an excellent introduction, now in its 4th edition.
2. The Art of Memory by Frances Yates – not only is the ars memoriae an important concept from antiquity onwards, but the mnemonic techniques described in this book can also help you with your own studies.
3. Faculty Towers: The Academic Novel and Its Discontents by Elaine Showalter – there are other books of criticism on the campus novel, but Showalter provides a good (shortish) overview, and coins (?) the rather pleasing umbrella term, Professorroman.
4. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell – a seminal work on comparative mythology, and in my opinion, an absolute essential starting point for understanding your place in the world and in literature.
5. Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola-Estés – another vital work on how to read, understand, and live out myth and folklore.
6. Dreaming by the Book by Elaine Scarry – I found this book so fascinating that I dedicated a whole chapter to it in my worldbuilding course.

Note-taking & Annotating

1. I have an article on the Zettelkasten method, which is especially enjoyable if you like paper.
2. For studying vocabulary, you might be interested in creating a Leitner box which helps you review your flashcards at spaced intervals.
3. I also offer some free DA-themed traveller’s notebook inserts in my Coterie.
4. Obviously you also need some fancy stationery.