Looking for something different to read...

[Anonymous]

Not being inspired by any specific book currently, I thought I'd get more acquainted with what kids are reading in school these days. So I thought I'd try something from my high schooler's list of choices for an independent reading project. The few I've read were a very long time ago. Any thoughts or recommendations from this selection?

The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Blindness (Jose Saramago)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The House of Spirits (Isabel Allende)
The Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)
Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard)
JB (Archibald Macleish, drama)
Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Grendel (John Gardner)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
The Plague (Albert Camus)
A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen)
Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)
The Awakening (Kate Chopin, )
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
Anthem (Ayn Rand)

[Anonymous]

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

Maybe a little trite in some places but overall insightful and a good one to reread now and again and think about how it relates to your place in life. Could be interesting to discuss with kids. Also a short, fast read.

[Anonymous]

Haven't read most of the above, but Crime and Punishment is a GREAT read. One of my favorites.

Frankenstein is a curiously structured novel -- a tale told by a side character that's contained within a letter from another side character -- so it takes a bit of patience at first, but there is a moment where the story just takes off, and from that point on it's great. It is a very different sort of story than I thought it was, far richer in themes and emotion than I realized, and I'm very glad I read it.

The Plague is good, and might be interesting in a post-pandemic lookback, but in terms of character/plot it's a looser story, more a descriptive study of society than a traditional tale (I read it in 2020, though).

Ibsen was surprisingly ahead of his time, and plays always make a quick, satisfying read (If you're interested in existential writing and open to plays, I might recommend Sartre's plays -- The Flies is so dramatic and incredible. He wrote it during the Nazi occupation of France about what was happening in real-time, just framed as as Greek tragedy to get through the sensors).

I had trouble getting through Heart of Darkness, tried multiple times, so if you do that, please tell me what I'm missing.

[Anonymous]

I read Frankenstein in college and was shocked by how good it was. I am not a horror fan, but the book wasn’t at all what I expected from the way it’s portrayed in popular culture. There was actually a lot of depth in it.

[Anonymous]

I have read everything on that list.

Given that you are not feeling inspired by any particular book out there, perhaps you are wanting something “different.” given that, I would recommend the following:

109 Years of Solitude. This is magical realism, and if you haven’t read any of that before you are in for an incredible ride and a wonderful treat. This is probably one of the top five books ever written in the Spanish language. Of course you would be reading it in English translation. This is a very long book.

Blindness. This is a very strange and beautiful book that tells us a lot about who we are as people. But it is very dark. End this book everyone goes blind. Well almost everyone. Jose Saramago’s pros is spare and beautiful. This is a challenging read, but it isn’t very long, which makes it a bit easier.

The Bluest Eye. This Toni Morrison novel should be read if you haven’t read it yet. It isn’t “different“ in the way that the others on this list are, but it will tell you a lot about the Black experience in the 20th century. And it’s a beautiful beautiful novel, the kind that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Waiting for Godot. This play by Samuel Beckett is both absurdism and Irish literatureat its best. But it’s definitely described as inaccessible by many, so bear that in mind, especially if you don’t really feel like reading a play.

JB. I have a special fondness for this play by Archiebald MacLeish because I was in it (I’m an actor). It’s an incredible read, and like nothing else that he ever wrote (he is a modernist poet). It is a dramatic and modernist retelling of the story of Job. Which means, of course, that this is a bit of a dark story. But it’s very interesting. You have an angel, and a devil providing commentary throughout the whole thing.

The Alchemist. This book definitely puts the Bill of being “different.” I’m actually not a big fan of it but it’s probably the number one book out there that people say they’ve read it, and it changed their lives.

[Anonymous]

These are all classics - some more challenging than others.

Frankenstein is easy to read, well written, and short - so I'd probably start there, were it me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have read everything on that list.

Given that you are not feeling inspired by any particular book out there, perhaps you are wanting something “different.” given that, I would recommend the following:

109 Years of Solitude. This is magical realism, and if you haven’t read any of that before you are in for an incredible ride and a wonderful treat. This is probably one of the top five books ever written in the Spanish language. Of course you would be reading it in English translation. This is a very long book.

Blindness. This is a very strange and beautiful book that tells us a lot about who we are as people. But it is very dark. End this book everyone goes blind. Well almost everyone. Jose Saramago’s pros is spare and beautiful. This is a challenging read, but it isn’t very long, which makes it a bit easier.

The Bluest Eye. This Toni Morrison novel should be read if you haven’t read it yet. It isn’t “different“ in the way that the others on this list are, but it will tell you a lot about the Black experience in the 20th century. And it’s a beautiful beautiful novel, the kind that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Waiting for Godot. This play by Samuel Beckett is both absurdism and Irish literatureat its best. But it’s definitely described as inaccessible by many, so bear that in mind, especially if you don’t really feel like reading a play.

JB. I have a special fondness for this play by Archiebald MacLeish because I was in it (I’m an actor). It’s an incredible read, and like nothing else that he ever wrote (he is a modernist poet). It is a dramatic and modernist retelling of the story of Job. Which means, of course, that this is a bit of a dark story. But it’s very interesting. You have an angel, and a devil providing commentary throughout the whole thing.

The Alchemist. This book definitely puts the Bill of being “different.” I’m actually not a big fan of it but it’s probably the number one book out there that people say they’ve read it, and it changed their lives.

Thanks so much for this.
I've already read "The Alchemist" and I agree with you. I don't get the hype. Clearly missing something.

[Anonymous]

That list is so stale. I'd read the Ann Patchett I guess.

[Anonymous]

If you want high, dense literature, Pulitzer Prize winners or nominees are a good place to start.

If you want fluffier, looks for the NYT bestsellers and knock out the ones that don't match your style.

You can go years back for each list too.

[Anonymous]

I just read “Grendel.” It is a trip! I really enjoyed it. It’s basically a novella so it can be read quickly. (Some basic familiarity with Beowulf would be useful— like reading the Wikipedia page— but not necessary.)

“Bel Canto” is a favorite of mine.

I didn’t love “Go Set a Watchman” (it’s also deeply depressing if you have any life for “To Kill a Mockingbird.”) I think everyone should read “100 Years of Solitude” but it’s a tricky novel; I’m curious about the series that just came out adapting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have read everything on that list.

Given that you are not feeling inspired by any particular book out there, perhaps you are wanting something “different.” given that, I would recommend the following:

109 Years of Solitude. This is magical realism, and if you haven’t read any of that before you are in for an incredible ride and a wonderful treat. This is probably one of the top five books ever written in the Spanish language. Of course you would be reading it in English translation. This is a very long book.

Blindness. This is a very strange and beautiful book that tells us a lot about who we are as people. But it is very dark. End this book everyone goes blind. Well almost everyone. Jose Saramago’s pros is spare and beautiful. This is a challenging read, but it isn’t very long, which makes it a bit easier.

The Bluest Eye. This Toni Morrison novel should be read if you haven’t read it yet. It isn’t “different“ in the way that the others on this list are, but it will tell you a lot about the Black experience in the 20th century. And it’s a beautiful beautiful novel, the kind that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Waiting for Godot. This play by Samuel Beckett is both absurdism and Irish literatureat its best. But it’s definitely described as inaccessible by many, so bear that in mind, especially if you don’t really feel like reading a play.

JB. I have a special fondness for this play by Archiebald MacLeish because I was in it (I’m an actor). It’s an incredible read, and like nothing else that he ever wrote (he is a modernist poet). It is a dramatic and modernist retelling of the story of Job. Which means, of course, that this is a bit of a dark story. But it’s very interesting. You have an angel, and a devil providing commentary throughout the whole thing.

The Alchemist. This book definitely puts the Bill of being “different.” I’m actually not a big fan of it but it’s probably the number one book out there that people say they’ve read it, and it changed their lives.

Thanks so much for this.
I've already read "The Alchemist" and I agree with you. I don't get the hype. Clearly missing something.

Yeah, I'm missing whatever it is, too lol. I think it is way too obvious and the prose could be better. Full of stuff that should be clear to the average person masquerading as deep wisdom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That list is so stale. I'd read the Ann Patchett I guess.

Curious - what would you put on a list for the students to choose from? (Note, by the time period and purpose of each title the teacher included on the original list, which I deleted in posting here, the teacher seems to be primarily focusing on examples of 19th -20th century absurdism, tragedy, allusion, magical realism, post-modernism, early feminism, gothic, psychological. The students are supposed to choose something that helps round out their reading experiences for the year.)

[Anonymous]

I am 56 and most of those books were on my undergrad reading list. They are not new.

[Anonymous]

I've read all those between late HS and early college. Did not like The Alchemist.
Crime and punishment is my favorite followed by 100 years of solitude. But Top Stoppard is also amazing and I rec reading his play and then watching the movie with Gary Oldman. You have to know Hamlet to enjoy the book.
Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness are very depressing but also worthwhile reads. I think reading them in 10/11th grade was too early for me.

[Anonymous]

Of those I only read the Scarlett Letter, and didn't like it much.