If you like to read, then you will have likely come across at least a few books that are written as a direct conversation. These books rely on the communication between a few characters to drive the overall plot of the story. While they are not rare, they also are not overly popular.
For writers, in order to author a book using an English conversation, you need to be confident in your characters and the storyline. When done correctly, these books can be captivating. They offer glimpses into the human psyche that you rarely get with a normal storyline that features extensive background and description.
The Screwtape Letters
One of the best examples of a book written using an English conversation is the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. The book follows a conversation between Wormwood and his uncle Screwtape, who are both demons. It is a Christian apologetic novel that deals with the concepts of good and evil.
Lewis dedicated to the book to his friend J.R.R. Tolkien and published it in 1942. The book was originally published as a series of letter during WWII and was collected into a book thereafter. While the book is fictional, it deals with religious issues, especially temptation. During the book, Wormwood is constantly seeking advice from his uncle regarding his work on “the Patient.”
Rather than remarking on the human condition from the point of view from Heaven, Lewis uses Hell as his setting to depict the struggles of the human condition dealing with evil. Wormwood is constantly seeking to place doubt in his subject, while the angels are seeking to place enlightenment in the same subject.
Conversations with God
Another English conversation book is Conversations with God. Again, dealing with religion, this book is instead focused on a direct conversation with God. Written by Neale Donald Walsch, this book seeks to humanize God.
The book was based on what Walsch says were his real interactions with a divine presence. The book follows a dialogue between himself and God, in which he asks questions and God provides answers. Unlike a religious text, the book focuses on day-today questions about navigating the complexities of life. In it, God appears as a fatherly figure, providing real answers that can be directly applied to everyday situations. It does not provide anything other than the conversation between the main narrator and God, with no backstory, other than what is mentioned during the English conversation.
Love, Loss and Baseball: Letters from the Hub
This book from Tom Verducci is a series of letters from a sports reporter during the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic while covering the Boston Red Sox. The book is completely true and highlights the emotional toll the pandemic had on people of that era.
While traveling with the Boston Red Sox during the 1918 baseball season, reporter Eddie Martin writes letters detailing his experiences with the team, as well as the pandemic that is sweeping the country. The book also follows the up-and-coming baseball star Babe Ruth as he begins his career as the greatest baseball player of all time.
The book is renowned for not only its accurate reporting, but also its coverage of the period, including barnstorming trips across the country on a train. The books reads simply as letters Martin writes, providing a one-person English conversation.