Plot/characters driven books and .... the rest

[J_BlueFlower]

Inspired by reading The Dispossessed:

Most books seems to be plot driven. Lots of plot, but characters are sometimes stereotypes/one dimensional. Example: Agatha Christie.

Some books are character driven. Little plot, but rich characters that develop through interaction and grow older. Example: Middlemarch

Some books are not in these two categories. Ideas driven? Like for example The Dispossessed. What is it? Philosophy of society driven?

What other 1001-book are mostly something other than plot and character driven?

I would also say that Solaris falls in this “other” category.

[Melanti]

A lot of classic sci-fi are idea-driven.

So, I'd add:
Foundation
I, Robot
Brave New World
Journey to the Center of the Earth


For a non-sci-fi inclusion:
The Purloined Letter

Not to say that these don't have any plot, but IMO, the plot is mostly there to give an excuse to talk about the ideas.

[J_BlueFlower]

Melanti wrote: " the plot is mostly there to give an excuse to talk about the ideas. "

Exactly. Seems I have a tendency to read ideas-books. I have read all the suggested except If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and The Body Artist respite have read only 134 read from the list. Here are some more:
Walden
Exercices de style (rather extreme)
Der Prozess
Les reveries du promeneur solitaire
Animal Farm
The Iron Heel
Lord of the Flies

[Mercedes]

Although a man and his family are followed throughout in The Jungle, this novel really falls into that philosophy of society driven work. The reader develops an interest in the main character, because society places such an unfair burden on him, but the novel really aims to expose the cruel industry and the corrupt system which encourages the abuse of workers. At one point, the character is pretty much lost to the narrative proposing a fix, and I was disappointed with the path the novel took. Reading your initial post though, I see that this was the only way for Sinclair to make his point.