Maria Reva's virtuosic novel starts out as a straightforward story about a Ukrainian biologist, but morphs into a comic take on war, the mail-order bride business and the plight of snails.

Books: The Shape of Things. 3 minute read. TIME. May 17, 1948 12:00 AM GMT-4. ... documented, and illustrated the question to the extent of this enormous and fascinating book.

Five books that helped shape our world Close. Books inspire, entertain and help us escape into new worlds - but some have also had profound and lasting impacts on society.