Milieu Stories

In some stories the milieu is sketchy, while in others it is presented in great detail. A milieu story is a story about its milieu.

Examples of milieu stories are:

• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through a Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
  The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Canyon Walls by Zane Grey
• Bullet Park by Jonathan Cheever
• The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

A milieu story could focus on the moral sphere of action within that milieu. Some literary fiction does so. Such a story might explore the inner landscapes of suburban life. But most milieu stories are set in a strange world. Then again, some milieu stories are pure milieu stories, and some emphasize milieu but develop other elements of the story as well. In the latter there's also a strong story line, and the reader absorbs the milieu indirectly through it.