Help me choose a couple peices of literature for my english class? (1 Viewer)

[Kenneth]

I will also recommend "Heart of Darkness". It is a difficult read, even though it is very short, but very interesting and deep. I recently read it after seeing it on Discovery's Greatest Books. Another not on the list that would make a good read is Machiaveli's "The Prince". Considering the current state of business a very topical read.

Also, another interesting read from the same period is Dante's "Inferno". The first part of Dante's "Divine Comedy" I found it the best part of the trilogy. The Purgetorio and Paradisio are much less interesting, in my opinion.

"Frankenstein" is definitely a classic from the other lists.

Good luck.

Kenneth

 

[Darren H]

How Stella Got Her Groove Back? What kind of horseshit list is that?

A.P. List (I've read all but four of these. Who are Carol Shields, Timothy Findley, Joy Kagawa, and Margaret Lawrence?)

Group A -- I'd go with one of the Brontes (Jane Eyre would be my first choice) or Frankenstein. No wait. I just noticed that you can read any Dickens novel. Read Hard Times -- it's short (by Dickens standards) and occasionally even funny. Hard Times is the only Dickens that I've really enjoyed.

Group B -- Heart of Darkness is an amazing novel, but it's tough. I don't know if I'd recommend reading it now unless you'll have the help of a great teacher leading you through it. I'd suggest either The Great Gatsby or The Sun Also Rises.

Group C -- Read the first ten pages of Catch-22. If you laugh out loud, then you're in for the most enjoyable read of your life. If you don't like those opening pages, then it probably won't get any better. (I've taught this novel before, and it always polarizes the class.) Everyone should probably read The Catcher in the Rye at some point -- especially teenage guys. Michael Ondaatje is one of my favorite novelists, but he'd also probably be a tough read.

 

[John Spencer]

Dude, if you're looking for short, you can't go wrong with "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". It's only a novella, and a very good read at that. It's a little different tonally than the movie, but both are still very enjoyable.

 

[John Chow]

I think you've got a good list so far. I'm actually re-reading the Count of Monte Cristo right now, since I've finally gotten ahold of the 1400+ unabridged edition. The other times I've read it, I kept on mistakenly thinking it was unabridged, until afterwards realizing that it was abridged. I think Frankenstein is an excellent choice as well, brings up some interesting ideas and such.

For the AP list, from list A, I've already mentioned my impression of Frankenstein. I've also read The Scarlet Letter and Wuthering Heights, neither of which impressed me. I'm a pretty big fan of Charles Dickens, but can understand why others don't care for him. When you get paid by the word, you have a bit more incentive for long drawn out sentences. A Tale of Two Cities is fairly short and painless should you choose to go with him.

From List B, I didn't care much for The Great Gatsby or Heart of Darkness. Possibly I didn't 'get' either of them, and didn't put enough effort into understanding them. I don't really recall if we actually read Heart of Darkness or just went through parts of it. The other two on the list that I read and liked were Huck Finn and Farewell to Arms. I would almost liken Huck Finn to LOTR and Tom Sawyer to the Hobbit, as far as tone goes if you were to compare them against each other. For Albert Camus, I read a fairly short novel called The Stranger, but don't remember it real well.

From list C, I've read Catcher in the Rye, but this was when I was very young, so much of it was lost on me. I also read Toni Morrison's Beloved, which was fairly interesting, but I don't know if you would enjoy it or not.

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

If it were my choice, I would go with

A: Frankenstein, or The Scarlet Letter

B: All Quiet on the western front. (Save the Hemingway for College, it'll make more sense then)

C:UGH. Couldn't they have picked some better ones? Go for The Color Purple, or one of the Morrisons.

 

[cafink]

I would definitely go with "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" (it's part of King's Different Seasons, if memory serves). It's very short, very easy, and very good. I'm not much of a reader but I managed to plow through it in a single evening.

 

[Yee-Ming]

im interested in like weird technology gory guts stuff

may I suggest Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers? don't be coloured by the movie (which I'm fond of but recognise isn't exactly AFI Top 100 material...)

the book is quite "deep" in the way it explores concepts of individual rights v. society's rights etc, mainly through the device of the protagonist's classes in philosophy and moral history (or whatever it was called), and his musings when in military training later. (I can't explain it in any more detail, I was a science student in school).

some of the concepts explored are fairly right-wing, even fascist, e.g. full citizenship and the right to vote are only granted upon completion of military service.

 

[Ryan Peter]

If the AP Lit test hasn't changed since I took it in 96, I recommend you find one book you really like and know it backward and forward, read it several times, listen to it on tape several times, read all the cliff's notes on it several times, and do practice essays with it. That will be the book you use for the 3rd question of the test (the one you pick something you've read and answer the question based on it). That is if the essay portion of the test is still the same: one essay on poetry, one essay one prose, and one essay on a piece of literature (book or play) you've read before the test. I know this doesn't relate to what you asked for, but just lending some advice!
Good luck on it!

 

[Bill Slack]

Back from the dead...!
So Nick, I assume you've read or are reading some of this stuff now? Just curious what you ended up choosing and how you're enjoying it.
I'm really curious if you enjoyed 'Slaughterhouse Five'...
I'm reading 'The Great Gatsby' right now which I read in HS and kinda skimmed through, but in retrospect regretted. Giving it a nice re-read seven years later and just about done after three days of bed-time reading. (I'm actually reading the e-book on my Palm Pilot -- a frontlit screen just using one hand to read in bed is great, imo!)
And I FINALLY remembered why the name Daisy Buchanan (the name of a very popular bar in Boston) kept ringing a bell for me. The things books teach ya...

 

[Jason Wilcox]

sphere is probably my second favorite book...first being slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut...blew my mind in a 12 monkeys sorta way...3rd would probably be catcher in the rye

 

[NickSo]

Yeah, i LOVED SlaughterHouse5... The whole time-shifting concept is just so awesome. I cant wait to do my presentation tot he class on it... If only i could figure out how
And how the paragraphs are laid out so we can kinda sense how Trafmaldorian novels are written, very cool.
I tried to start reading FRANKENSTEIN the other night. Im tellin ya, i CANT read old literature, so boring...

 

[Bill Slack]

Hah. Yes, Frankenstein is known as a fairly difficult and painful read I believe. I've never read it myself (I owned it as a kid, but recall being put off by it!) -- And especially after reading Vonnegut which is more simple and flowing than just about anything you'll ever pick up.
I wouldn't even say it's the age of the writing though. There are plenty is plenty of old literature that's pretty easy to read, like Gullivers Travels, anything by Dickens, Candide (albeit translated)... It's just people like Mary Shelley and Herman Melville are masochists, I think.
Cool that you enjoyed Slaughterhouse Five... There's a movie of it's that's supposed to be good, though I'm sure (surprise, surprise) it pales in comparison to the book...
Maybe you know this or it's mentioned in the book, but... The fire bombing of Dresden was a real event, and one that Vonnegut lived through himself (he was a POW.) The time shifting bit, I think, was made up though.
Find a copy of 'Welcome to the Monkey House'... Just a bunch of quick little short stories, some sci-fi-ish, some not. But a great way to read some more Vonnegut without having to delve into full novel (unless you're like me and read a handful of books at the same time [not physically the same time, mind you. That would be a bit silly.])

 

[NickSo]

Yeah I know dresden was real, but i wanst totally sure if vonnegut really was a war veteran.. cool to know