Book vs Novel
As a matter of fact, there is some difference between book and novel. However, the two terms, book and novel, are used interchangeably since people do not appreciate the difference between them when it comes to their meanings. All books are not novels, but all novels are indeed books. This is one of the main differences between book and novel. The best way to understanding the difference between book and novel is clarifying the terms individually. Therefore, in this article, a general description of both book and novel is given. In these descriptions, the definition, purpose, writers of each will be discussed.
What is a Book?
A book can be anything ranging from non-fiction to fiction. A book is a broad term used to talk about any written work pertaining to the subjects studied by the students, a non-fiction work, a work of poetry, a novel, or a written work on any discipline for that matter. Moreover, a writer of books is simply called an author or a writer. Then, the purpose of writing a book is to explore the subject upon which the book is being written. It deals with the rudiments of the subject, explains the various principles underlying the rudiments, and finally, it aims at the successful completion. This is the way how a book is written.
Exercise Book
Book is also used to speak of a set of blank sheets that are bound together for someone to write in. For example, exercise books. These books come with blank sheets so that people can use them for writing.
What is a Novel?
Novel, on the other hand, is necessarily a book on fiction. Moreover, novel is a term that refers only to a written work that contains a story described very elaborately. Thus, it can be said that novel is a subset of book. A writer of novels is necessarily called a novelist. It is interesting to note that a novelist too is sometimes called a writer. The purpose of writing a novel is to tell a story successfully.
It is interesting to note that autobiographies are also considered novels when they tell the story of the celebrity who writes it. Usually, an autobiography is considered non-fiction because a real-life story of someone’s life is told. However, sometimes authors tend to use fictive elements with the autobiographical elements. That is when autobiographies are considered novels. In fact, they have a special category called autobiographical novel.
What is the difference between Book and Novel?
• A book can be anything ranging from non-fiction to fiction.
• Novel, on the other hand, is necessarily a book on fiction.
• All novels are books, but not all books are novels.
• Novels are only those books that contain stories while books can be stories, poetry, workbooks, etc.
• Novel can be called a subset of book, but vice versa is not a possibility.
• A writer of a novel is known as a novelist. A writer of a book is called an author or writer. Sometimes, novelists are also known as writers.
• A novel is written to tell a story from the beginning to the end. A book is written to discuss a subject matter. Thus, it can be said that a book and a novel differ from each other in terms of their purposes too.
• Book is also used to speak of a set of blank sheets that are bound together for someone to write in. For example, exercise books.
Images Courtesy:
- Exercise book by SergeantBolt (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- James Bond Novels via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
