My 11th grade "Modern Literature" book list....opinions?

[Guest Katia]

Thanks so much for all the responses via my post about more books lightly vs. less books in depths post. It was good reading although the opinions were very split :001_smile:

 

My dd has done the LL courses of British Lit and American Lit, along with reading a ton more of both British and American lit books....so......what to do for next year? I think we've decided on a course called "Modern Literature" and here is my first list of books.

 

Please let me know if there are any here that are NOT suitable for an 11th grade, 16yo female to read.

 

The Chosen

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Metamorphosis

A Picture of Dorian Gray

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

The Brothers Karamozov

1984

Brave New World

As I Lay Dying

Madame Bovary

Wuthering Heights

The Mill on the Floss

Tess of the d'Ubervilles

Their Eyes Were Watching God

 

We plan to use a mix of the Glencoe study guides and Sparknotes, along with an essay every two books. I've tried to arrange them in pairs.

 

So...what do you think?

[Liza Q]

I skipped Brave New World - just too much sex, imho, for my 16yo daughter.

[Chris in VA]

You can definitely skip Brave New World. I substituted Alas, Babylon.

You might want to add in Cry, The Beloved Country for a wonderful and honest look at apartheid.

And maybe Grapes of Wrath, if you haven't done it yet.

Maybe 2 weeks of short stories?

[Guest Katia]

Any ideas of titles for short stories?

 

And, perhaps we'll trade in Brave New World and something else for C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy series. My dd thought that sounded good. So....what to cut?

 

I'd definitely like to add Grapes of Wrath. Ohhhh, too many good books and so short of time.

 

And, I know Wuthering Heights is Victorian, but we thought that might be good. However, after reading the Jane Eyre thread perhaps we'll go for Anne Bronte's book? Yes or no?

[Carol in Cal.]

Except for his space trilogy. I think that the last book is outstanding, but that the first two are pretty boring. I would say, read his last book as a standalone novel--you don't NEED to have read the others to follow and enjoy it.

 

Have you considered Animal Farm? It is one of those 'modern classics' on a lot of lists. It parallels the Russian revolution and subsequent power struggles. It is one of the most bald examples of an extended metaphor that I can think of.

 

And how about "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denesovitch"? (sp) Pairing that with "Animal Farm" would be really interesting, I think.

[Guest Katia]

That's good to know about the space trilogy, thanks!

 

She has read Animal Farm, but not really "studied" it, so that would be a terrific idea!

 

Now, what do I pair Grapes of Wrath with? Surely not the Lewis space book, lol! Maybe CS Lewis with Metamorphosis?

 

Oh, this is fun! I don't know why I never tried to make my own literature course before :001_smile:

[DollyM]

Ugh. Read it in French. Hated it. Firgured I'd only "gotten" less than half so, read it in English. Hated it more. I wouldn't bother.

 

Choose the translation of Ivan D carefully. Some use the f-bomb wayyy too liberally. It isn't necessary and makes a moving book into a trashy one, if the translation is bad. Alas, I don't have my copy any more - it was the trashy one.

[Lori D.]

Hey Katia!

I'm trying to do the same thing -- my 16yo will be doing 10th grade next year and wants to do Modern History, so I've been trying to pull together some modern lit. to go along. Wow, is everything heavy and depressing, or what for modern lit?! Below are a few ideas I was thinking of to lighten it up a little.

 

How fun that a bunch of us will be "on the same page" next year! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

- Life With Jeeves (Wodehouse)

(This is actually three books in one, so maybe just do one section? Hilarious look at the useless 1920s British upperclass dandy Bertie Wooster saved from disasters of his own making by the ultimate valet, Jeeves)

 

- Screwtape Letters (Lewis)

Great spiritual themes/truths, but in a little bit lighter guise, from the tempters' point of view.

 

 

Not necessarily "great" or "classic" lit, but would lighten things a little:

- Christy (Marshall) -- heartwarming; ennobling character

- Cheaper by the Dozen -- humorous; American; 19teens-1920s

- Three Men in a Boat (Jerome) -- British; humorous; 1920s

- My Family and Other Animals (Durrell) -- British; humorous; 1930s

 

 

How about a play?

- The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde) -- British; comedy

- Pygmalion (Shaw) -- British; comedy of wit and wisdom

- Our Town (Wilder) -- American; drama; philosophical/realistic reflection of the stages of life

 

 

Short Stories:

- something by O. Henry (1862-1910) -- humorous with a twist; 1890s

- A Scandal in Bohemia (Doyle) -- Sherlock Holmes mystery; 1890s

- The Open Window (Saki, 1870-1916) -- humorous with a twist; 1890s

- The Open Boat (Crane, 1871-1900) -- realistic; existential; 1890s

- The Monkey's Paw (Jacobs) -- horror/gothic; 1902

- some Father Brown short stories (Chesterton) -- detective mystery; 1900s

- The Most Dangerous Game (Connell, 1893-1949) -- adventure/thriller with an ironic twist; 1924

 

 

Humorous poetry

- some Ogden Nash

- "Opposites" or "More Opposites" by Richard Wilbur (former poet laurette)

 

 

Not necessarily light, but at least a little different -- classic modern lit. from non-British or American authors:

 

- A Day of Pleasure (Singer, 1902-1991)

Novel that is a series of autobiographic sketches of life in pre-WW1 Poland.

 

- Father's Last Escape (Schultz, 1892-1942) -- short story

Polish Jew, son of a merchant who wrote short stories that begin somewhat realistically and end in imaginative, mystical fantasy.

 

- (Calvino, 1923-1985) -- short stories

Italian existentialist; some of his stuff gets luridly sexual, but as far as I can remember, all of the short stories in his collection Cosmicomics are clean, and do a good job of representing his existential view.

 

- Lightning Literature & Composition

Has 2 semesters worth of study guides for Asian and African works. Don't know how "heavy" these are:

 

World Lit 1 - Africa and Asia

- An Artist of the Floating World (Ishiguro)

- This Same Sky (poems) (Nye)

- Things Fall Apart (Achebe)

- Fountain and Tomb (Mahfouz)

 

World Lit 2 - Latin America, Africa, Asia

- Malgudi Days (Narayan)

- My Invented Country (Allende)

- A Thousand Pieces of Gold (Mah)

- In the Name of Identity (Maalouf)

- Other Voices, Other Vistas (poetry collection)

[Guest Katia]

Lori, you aren't going to believe this, but she has read most of these already. Really! Except for the last two or three you mentioned.

 

And, we have the LL World Lit. My older dd used it this year, but she didn't recommend it. She said the books were ok, but the guides weren't all that insightful and the lessons were blah, whatever that translates to from "teenage". She did the LL Shakespeare last year and loved it! Actually, I think she said the books would have been good to read just to read, but that they weren't much for a 'study'.

 

So......keep the titles coming. It is hard to find good 'modern' literature that younger dd hasn't already read and that is still appropriate!

 

Thanks, Dolly, for the heads-up on Madame Bovary. We'll scratch that one as well.

 

Any other suggestions/revisions?

[Lori D.]

>>> Lori, you aren't going to believe this, but she has read most of these already. Really! Except for the last two or three you mentioned. <<<

 

 

LOL! Okay, let's see what else I can come up with...

 

 

How about something lighter:

- Farmer Giles of Ham; Smith of Wooten Major; Leaf by Niggle (Tolkien) -- short stories

- Till We Have Faces (Lewis)

- The Tombs of Atuan (LeGuin) -- middle book of the Earthsea trilogy

- a Lord Wimsey detective mystery (Sayers)

 

 

Or something realistic:

- The Good Earth (Buck)

- Diary of Anne Frank

- The Hiding Place (Ten Boom)

- Hiroshima (Hersey)

Biography following a dozen or so survivors of the A-bomb explosion at Hiroshima; does not flinch in describing the realities of some of the injuries and the extent of death -- but while graphic, it is not gratuitous; not for the faint of heart -- but a worthwhile read.

 

Or something expressing cultural differences in modern times:

- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith) -- coming of age story of immigrant Irish girl in early 1900s

- Black Like Me (Griffin) -- autobiographic sketches of the white journalist who disguised himself as a black and traveled through the Deep South in the 1950s

- I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Craven) -- young, dying vicar learns meaning of life from the village of Kwakiutl tribespeople

- The Invisible Man (Ellison) -- novel addressing social and intellectual issues facing post-civil-war American Black identity

 

 

 

Or something really tough:

 

- something by Flannery O'Connor

"Southern grotesque" -- written in somewhat of physical and outward extremes to highlight inner conflicts and spiritual lack. (I still find it mindboggling that a conservative Southern Catholic invalid spinster could write this stuff!)

 

- something by Charles Williams

Pretty deep stuff! Williams was a friend of CS Lewis. His works are "supernatural thrillers"; I first read these in my 20s; don't know whether to recommend them or not to a teen -- guess it depends on the teen. My favorites are "Descent into Hell", and "All Hallow's Eve". Probably the most accessible is "War in Heaven", though it is one of the weaker novels, in my opinion.

 

The Samurai (Endu)

Set in the 1500s, incredibly well-written, very tragic. Based on a true man, a minor samurai who converted to Catholocism during the short period of time the Jesuits were allowed in Japan during Samurai times, and who endures an amazing journey halfway around the world to visit the Pope, and survives the return trip -- only to be executed by the ruling powers of Japan who are closing down Japan to foreign influence.

 

 

 

re: CS Lewis' Space Trilogy

I (respectfully) disagree with Carol in CA about Lewis' space trilogy. I believe all three are interesting and worthwhile, and each is incredibly different, though the character of Ransom appears in all three. However, if you only want to read one out of the three, here's a sum up of each to help you decide:

 

- book 1 = Out of the Silent Planet -- the most "standard" sci-fi of the 3 books; the science aspects of it definitely feel dated, but the aspect of a man forceably removed from his own culture and placed into an alien one and how it handles it, as well as the spiritual awakening and growth of the main character are quite worthwhile

 

- book 2 = Perelandra -- less of a sci-fi and more of a fantasy feel, this book is an amazing retelling of the temptation of Eve and has some really deep theological discussions throughout.

 

- book 3 = That Hideous Strength -- the most "modern" in feel of setting and politics of the three, and most revealing of the postmodern worldview; also the book most influenced by Lewis' friendship with Charles Williams; this book really reveals the heart of sin and evil, man's choice, and ends with God's judgement

 

 

Anything there you can use, Katia??? Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Kathy in MD]

I skipped Brave New World - just too much sex, imho, for my 16yo daughter.

 

My girlfriend and I loved it when we read it in the 9th gradeon our own. There is so much more to it than the sex.

[Karenciavo]

There is so much more to it [brave New World] than the sex.

 

I agree. I can't wait to discuss this with my oldest son. Very relevant today. Maybe you could pre-read it before you decide?

[Chris in VA]

We're going to do some Poe--I love The Cask of Amontillado, and Murders in the Rue Morgue is the first detective story--we are pairing it with some Sherlock Holmes (and we read Sayer's 9 Tailors, so it fits right in). Also, a friend recommended we read Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, along with several short stories of his, then read Ray Bradbury's Usher 2000--it's apparently about a man who is "being murdered slowly" as in Cask; if he had been well-read (had read Poe) he would have been aware of what was happening. Sounded intriguing!

Oh, and you might pair Grapes of W with a very quick read I think called Out of the Dust (it's a My America series diary-type story--really good! Also there's a light read about kids (brothers) that jump on trains during the Depression--can't think of it)

 

Just some musings!

[Liza Q]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathy in MD

There is so much more to it [brave New World] than the sex.

 

I agree. I can't wait to discuss this with my oldest son. Very relevant today. Maybe you could pre-read it before you decide?

__________________

Oh - I agree that there is a lot more in this book than sex. I reread it before I decided not to have my daughter read it in 10th grade, but I plan to give it to her next year, even though we will be in year 2. She will be nearly 2 years older at that point and I am quite sure that she will roll her eyes at me over my squeamishness!

 

Maybe it was just too orgy-ish at the end for my tastes :001_huh:

[Liza Q]

OH - I saw that your daughter has read Three Men in a Boat. If she likes science fiction as well as goofy British books like that (and anything by Wodehouse), she would probably love To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis.

 

And - maybe you should have her read Doomsday Book by Connie Wills. It is a modern SF classic (won both the Hugo and Nebula awards) and my daughters and I still talk about it.

[cajun.classical]

That's good to know about the space trilogy, thanks!

 

She has read Animal Farm, but not really "studied" it, so that would be a terrific idea!

 

Now, what do I pair Grapes of Wrath with? Surely not the Lewis space book, lol! Maybe CS Lewis with Metamorphosis?

 

Oh, this is fun! I don't know why I never tried to make my own literature course before :001_smile:

 

If you are looking to pair Lewis's space trilogy with anything, it needs to be 1984. Lewis loved that book and wrote the last book in his trilogy, That Hideous Strength, modeled after 1984. He was very influenced by it. They deal with some of the same themes but from a different perspective. They would fit nicely together.

[cajun.classical]

I agree. I can't wait to discuss this with my oldest son. Very relevant today. Maybe you could pre-read it before you decide?

 

I would be hesitant to dismiss Brave New World as well. Huxley brilliantly anticipated the way of our culture: a consumer-driven, entertainment/pleasure-oriented society that cares about nothing but the here and now. Sound familiar?

 

If you preread it and find that it won't work in your situation, consider Fahrenheit 451. This is another favorites of mine and would also provide some great opportunities for discussing many of the same themes.

[cajun.classical]

Okay, one more suggestion. It would be completely remiss of me not to recommend some Flannery O'Connor short stories. (She is after all, the picture on my avatar :D) She is a master and her themes are stongly and deliberately Christian. I did some graduate work on O'Connor too. I love her.

[Merry]

I recommend some short stories by James Joyce. They're an interesting example of the stream of consciousness style and have nothing questionable for your dd -not like his novels, and they show a lot of insight into the human condition in the 20th century. A brilliant writer from Ireland, he did a great job of showing how people are paralyzed by too many choices offered by industrialization and changes in society and then they experience a moment of epiphany and then make the choice they need to make.

[Guest Katia]

Ah, I love all this help just a click away. :001_smile:

 

Sorry I've been out being a taxi driver to music lessons, so I've just put all the responses into this one long post. Thanks to everyone! I really appreciate all the help.

 

- She hasn't read anything by Charles Williams, but perhaps I should check him out first, from what was said about him. That sounds good.

 

She has read The Samurai - Farmer Giles of Ham - 'Til We Have Faces - Diary of Anne Frank - The Hiding Place.......The others look good. I'd forgotten about The Good Earth. I'll write that one down.

 

I'll definitely look at The Tombs of Atuan and Lord Wimsy - they sound right up her ally.

 

- I will pre-read Brave New World and not drop it off my list for now. Thanks for the help on that one. It sounds so good.

 

-She has read Fahrenheit 451, so that will not work as a pairing.

 

- Flannery O'Connor was a featured writer in the AO American Literature Lifepacs that we read through (for fun in her spare time - she reads really quickly) and the piece they had in AO was very good. Is there a title you could suggest?

 

- I've never heard of James Joyce. I'll look him up. Thanks.

 

- The #3 CS Lewis Space Trilogy paired with 1984 - Great!

 

- She's read Three Men in a Boat and To Say Nothing of the Dog, but I'll look into Doomsday Book. She loves SF

 

- We did a lot of Poe this year and she has read all of the Sherlock Holmes books several times. She studies them. One of her Christmas presents this year was The Complete Sherlock Holmes Treasury and she keeps it by her bed and reaches for it all the time. She is enjoying the Mary Russell spin-offs right now.

 

- She has also read Out of the Dust. Any other ideas for a pairing with Grapes of Wrath?

 

I know this is hard to work with since she's read so much already. Makes me wonder if I even need to have her "do" a "literature class". I could just find all these neat new books for her to read, right?

 

Honestly, does a child that reads this much ( and yes, comprehends, understands and looks into the books she really likes more deeply online, etc.), does she really need a literature course? My elementary CM days coming through here. I wonder about this a lot. Is it a waste of time to have a 'class', or should I just, as I've done since she was in elementary grades, just make a stack of books that she needs to read and let her work through them. She loves doing this! Thoughts?

[cajun.classical]

Flannery O'Connor was a featured writer in the AO American Literature Lifepacs that we read through (for fun in her spare time - she reads really quickly) and the piece they had in AO was very good. Is there a title you could suggest?

 

Well... if you only want ONE title :D, then I'd recommend "Revelation." I taught this in my AP English class and also in my College Freshman Lit class. It is often found in anthologies and has some great themes. The thing to remember about O'Connor is that she sets up her stories all the same way: two characters, one who initially seems to be the bad one and one who seems to be good (at least in his own eyes), the she points out that the true person in need of redemption is the self-righteous one. She deliberately sets up the story to offer the character a moment of grace, which the character either chooses or rejects. If you keep this in mind, her stories will make sense. They are not necessarily easy to read; she's gritty. But they are so worth the effort.

 

Enjoy!

[clwcain]

Honestly, does a child that reads this much ( and yes, comprehends, understands and looks into the books she really likes more deeply online, etc.), does she really need a literature course? My elementary CM days coming through here. I wonder about this a lot. Is it a waste of time to have a 'class', or should I just, as I've done since she was in elementary grades, just make a stack of books that she needs to read and let her work through them. She loves doing this! Thoughts?

 

I suspect the answer to that question is one only you can answer. Why do you need a Lit course? State requirement, College Prep, nagging suspicion of failing her education if you don't have one?

 

If she's reading, comprehending, etc., then she might only need more practice and experience with analysis and criticism, along with practice writing essays and formulating discourse on the book.

 

The main reason we had "lit" classes in High School was because no one would have read anything otherwise, except for weirdos like me, and in our college prep program these books needed to be read before college. *shrug*

 

Figure out why you need a lit program, to what end you're reading literature, and you'll have your answer. :)

[Kareni]

One more title in the light category is The Mouse That Roared, a 1955 novel by Irish writer Leonard Wibberley. You can read more about it at:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouse_that_Roared

 

There was also a movie made a few years later starring Peter Sellers.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[LilyK]

IMHO, Wuthering Heights is a story about sadistic and soulless characters,presented in that dramatic gothic style that is so appealing to many teenagers. I remember reading it in high school. My friends and I just "loved" Heathcliff. Looking back, I shudder to think of young girls swooning over such a dark and frightening figure.

I'm not opposed to my daughter reading it, just not in high school.