English Literature

[HollyinNNV]

I am going to try and restrain myself. I'll be picking only 4-5 novels for the next year of English literature. What are your favorite must-reads? I'm looking for books that require lots of analysis since we are going to be reading them closely and slowly. (We are also going to use a textbook that has many poems, short stories & two plays, including MacBeth.)

This year we've been reading quickly as a survey. From the English lit. genre we've already read:

Julius Caesar
Richard III
Hamlet
Faerie Queene
Gullivers Travels
Frankenstein
Animal Farm
Childhood's End

I don't want to include Sense & Sensibility or Pride & Prejudice. Too many of the kids have read those novels.
All of your suggestions are welcome!!

Bonus Question: Should we read Heart of Darkness? Why or why not?
TIA!!!
Holly

[Eliana]

I am going to try and restrain myself. I'll be picking only 4-5 novels for the next year of English literature. What are your favorite must-reads? I'm looking for books that require lots of analysis since we are going to be reading them closely and slowly. (We are also going to use a textbook that has many poems, short stories & two plays, including MacBeth.)

This year we've been reading quickly as a survey. From the English lit. genre we've already read:

Julius Caesar
Richard III
Hamlet
Faerie Queene
Gullivers Travels
Frankenstein
Animal Farm
Childhood's End

I don't want to include Sense & Sensibility or Pride & Prejudice. Too many of the kids have read those novels.
All of your suggestions are welcome!!

Just novels... I guess that makes it easier...

1) Middlemarch by George Eliot

2) Remains of the Day - Ishiguro

3) a Dickens novel - Great Expectations, perhaps, or Tale of Two Cities - possible Hard Times?

4) If they've done a lot of Austen, perhaps Tenant of Wildfell Hall (screen)

The last one on the list is always the hardest... because it has to be instead of everything else I can think of.... 5) Perhaps something by Forster? Room With a View is cheerier than his other works; Passage to India the most successful (but screen it first, my kids aren't reading it yet); Howard's End might be the most interesting one to do - the kind of exploration of social... stuff could yield some neat comparisons with Middlemarch, with some Dickens... perhaps Hard Times or Bleak House... and even, perhaps with Remains of the Day. In which case, perhaps I should replace the Anne Bronte with Gaskell's North and South.... or do away with the self-indulgence of so many writers from my favorite period and replace it with Woolf's To the Lighthouse

... it feels weird to leave off so much!

[quote]Bonus Question: Should we read Heart of Darkness? Why or why not?
TIA!!!
I prefer Lord Jim... by rather a lot, but it's purely personal preference...

I wouldn't do Conrad as one of your five, no, absolutely not - there's too much else that is more worth doing

[Michelle in AL]

These may not be advanced enough or true classics, but the two I've read recently and loved are The Once and Future King by T.H. White and Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.

Till We Have Faces has allusions to Greek gods and Dante's Inferno along with tons of symbolism. It's also a great example of how the narrator influences point of view.

The Once and Future King was a slow start, but after finishing it is one of my favorite books. The main theme to me was "How shall we live," along with a minor theme of government's influence on man. It has many opportunities for character analysis, symbolism and teaching elements of the quest.

[Lori D.]

Well, here are several ways I thought of to break it down, with ideas for each. You might also peruse the Sonlight British Lit. list of books for ideas, too. BEST of luck in keeping it to just a handful! Warmest regards, Lori D.


Chronological:
1. dark ages = Beowulf
2. middle ages = Canterbury Tales
3. renaissance = something by Shakespeare
4. restoration = something by Dickens
5. modern = something by CS Lewis or George Orwell


Genre:
1. gothic = Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde, Picture of Dorian Gray, or something by a Bronte
2. humor = Life With Jeeves, My Family and Other Animals, Three Men in a Boat, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. fantasy or sci-fi = Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Peter Pan; Lord of the Rings; or Brave New World, 1984, or something by HG Wells
4. non-fiction or biography = something by Darwin, Swift; or a biography
5. adventure or realistic = Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Ivanhoe, something by Kipling; or Lord of the Flies, something by Forester or Hardy



Types of Works:
1. novel = something by Bronte, Stevenson, Eliot, Hardy, Forester,
2. novella = a Christmas Carol
3. short story = Sherlock Holmes, or Father Brown mysteries
4. play = something by Shakespeare, Importance of Being Earnest, or Pygmalion

[asta]

Well, here are several ways I thought of to break it down, with ideas for each. You might also peruse the Sonlight British Lit. list of books for ideas, too. BEST of luck in keeping it to just a handful! Warmest regards, Lori D.


Chronological:
1. dark ages = Beowulf
2. middle ages = Canterbury Tales
3. renaissance = something by Shakespeare
4. restoration = something by Dickens
5. modern = something by CS Lewis or George Orwell


Genre:
1. gothic = Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde, Picture of Dorian Gray, or something by a Bronte
2. humor = Life With Jeeves, My Family and Other Animals, Three Men in a Boat, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. fantasy or sci-fi = Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Peter Pan; Lord of the Rings; or Brave New World, 1984, or something by HG Wells
4. non-fiction or biography = something by Darwin, Swift; or a biography
5. adventure or realistic = Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Ivanhoe, something by Kipling; or Lord of the Flies, something by Forester or Hardy



Types of Works:
1. novel = something by Bronte, Stevenson, Eliot, Hardy, Forester,
2. novella = a Christmas Carol
3. short story = Sherlock Holmes, or Father Brown mysteries
4. play = something by Shakespeare, Importance of Being Earnest, or Pygmalion

Yippee!

I've been looking for a list exactly like this!


asta

[Jane in NC]

What seems to be missing from the lists is a picaresque novel. Tom Jones is my favorite, but that may not be appropriate for your high school group. It has been a while since I have read any of Fielding's other works, so I am unable to say whether they would be more appropriate or whether another author (Smollett?) is a better choice.

I second Howard's End for your consideration.

And now for the bonus question: a yes vote for Heart of Darkness, particularly because of your stated objective. Mr. Kurtz is the sort of figure that can be analyzed and dissected at several levels.

The OP was not asking for input on plays. Nonetheless for the sake of wherever this discussion goes, I'd like to mention She Stoops to Conquer, a comedy of manners that is accessible to high schoolers.

[HollyinNNV]

Thanks Jane, Eliana, Michelle and Lori,
Those are great suggestions! I'm making out my library list!!! I know that it sounds weird to choose only a few novels. However, we will be reading widely using a textbook that includes all of Macbeth and The Importance of Being Earnest. It also has portions of Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Morte Darthur, Sir Gawain, Paradise Lost, (and more) plus a ton of poetry. The text covers time periods and authors quite nicely. So, I'd just like to add a very close reading of the very best novels, showcasing as much literary "stuff" as possible.

Because we read widely and quickly this year, I'd like to read slowly and more carefully next year. I like to change things up yearly. So, I'm looking specifically for books that will cause everyone to think, reflect and analyze. Some books are better for this purpose than others. Thanks for heading me in the right direction.

Holly