klmama Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 This is the list I have so far for world literature. We covered medieval/renaissance last year and will have another full year of British lit. I do need more poetry, and we'll read essays and autobiographies in history. Is there anything on this list that I should be concerned about? For some of the novels and plays I have only read summaries. Thanks for any input. As You Like It by Shakespeare Don Quixote by Cervantes Les Miserables by Victor Hugo “A Fight with a Cannon” by Victor Hugo “The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller” by Gustave Flaubert A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens “Nutcracker” by E.T.A. Hoffman (or would "The History of Krakatuk" be better, since it leaves out the children?) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (may skip this, if Monte Cristo takes too long) “Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand “The Necklace” by Maupassant “The Piece of Yarn” by Maupassant “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Doll’s House by Ibsen Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevksy “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” by Leo Tolstoy “The Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy “Martin, the Cobbler” by Leo Tolstoy “Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy “A Slander” by Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov “The Passover Guest” by Sholom Aleichem The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy “The Open Window” by Saki “The Metamorphosis” by Kafka “The Hungry Stones” by Rabindranath Tagore The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck Cry, the Beloved Country by Paton The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom The Chosen by Chaim Potok “The Wall” by Jean-Paul Sartre One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn “The Secret Miracle” by Jorge Luis Borges “The House of Asterion” by Jorge Luis Borges “The Very Old Man with Enormous wings" by Garcia Marquez The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (This one probably concerns me the most. Is it good?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Depends on the nature of your concerns. Name of the Rose is excellent. I let my DD read it. However, there are several things that may be of concern for some: gruesome murders, description of torture, reference to homosexual relationship between monks, sexual encounter between the narrator and a girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Thanks! I'll need to read it to decide, I guess. Probably nothing in it that wasn't in the medieval stuff, but somehow the same things described in prose come off more shocking and more graphic than they do in poetry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 If you skip The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas has some great short stories, iirc. You've got some great works on there! I just did The Death of Ivan Ilych with a class, and it was such a great discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Are you going to be doing an abridged or selections from Don Quixote? Otherwise, leave appropriate time as it's 1000 pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 On Quixote I'm not sure. We'll definitely do all of book 1. We may just do selections of book 2, depending on how it's going, but I'd like to read the whole thing. I do recall book 2 getting kind of tedious, though, and I hate to start the year that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 (edited) Les Miserables is a wonderful story but the novel takes FOREVER to read. In my experience, anything by Victor Hugo is a challenging read. He tends to start with one idea and then detail you to death. For example, the hero is walking down the Rue de ____. You are then given a history of the street and every person who has ever lived on the street. Forty pages later you rejoin your hero, still walking down the street. If you are interested in a picture of the French Revolution I'd go with A Tale of Two Cities over Les Mis. Edited August 18, 2012 by rwjx2khsmj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 If you are interested in a picture of the French Revolution I'd go with A Tale of Two Cities over Les Mis. :confused: Les Miserables has nothing to do with the French revolution; it plays in the 1800s, after 1815. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 This is the list I have so far for world literature. We covered medieval/renaissance last year and will have another full year of British lit. I do need more poetry, and we'll read essays and autobiographies in history. Is there anything on this list that I should be concerned about? For some of the novels and plays I have only read summaries. Thanks for any input. As You Like It by Shakespeare Don Quixote by Cervantes Les Miserables by Victor Hugo “A Fight with a Cannon†by Victor Hugo “The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller†by Gustave Flaubert A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens “Nutcracker†by E.T.A. Hoffman (or would "The History of Krakatuk" be better, since it leaves out the children?) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (may skip this, if Monte Cristo takes too long) “Charge of the Light Brigade†by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand “The Necklace†by Maupassant “The Piece of Yarn†by Maupassant “Rime of the Ancient Mariner†by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Doll’s House by Ibsen Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevksy “God Sees the Truth, But Waits†by Leo Tolstoy “The Three Hermits†by Leo Tolstoy “Martin, the Cobbler†by Leo Tolstoy “Death of Ivan Ilyich†by Leo Tolstoy “A Slander†by Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov “The Passover Guest†by Sholom Aleichem The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy “The Open Window†by Saki “The Metamorphosis†by Kafka “The Hungry Stones†by Rabindranath Tagore The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck Cry, the Beloved Country by Paton The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom The Chosen by Chaim Potok “The Wall†by Jean-Paul Sartre One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn “The Secret Miracle†by Jorge Luis Borges “The House of Asterion†by Jorge Luis Borges “The Very Old Man with Enormous wings" by Garcia Marquez The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (This one probably concerns me the most. Is it good?) This looks good, but it does strike me as a bit unusual to have Shakespeare and Dickens in world lit if you are also going to have a year of Brit. Lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 :confused: Les Miserables has nothing to do with the French revolution; it plays in the 1800s, after 1815. France had several revolutions. The revolution of 1830 plays a big part in Les Mis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 This looks good, but it does strike me as a bit unusual to have Shakespeare and Dickens in world lit if you are also going to have a year of Brit. Lit. This student will gladly read multiple works by most authors in the same year, but not these two. So, since I think they are important, they will be included in multiple years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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