klmama Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 As another thread made clear, many people have an American classic (or two or three) that they despise. What modern 20th century US literature have you loved? Which American novels, stories, poetry, or plays did you enjoy most or are you looking forward to reading with your high school dc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 I need a definition on what you mean. All US literature is modern (after the Renaissance), but I'm thinking maybe you mean 20th Century??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 LOL! Sorry. Yes, I meant 20th century American literature. What do you think are the real treasures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 As another thread made clear, many people have an American classic (or two or three) that they despise. What modern US literature have you loved? Which American novels, stories, poetry, or plays did you enjoy most or are you looking forward to reading with your high school dc? Well, this IS a tough question! :) First, lit. that we have loved tends to be NOT by American authors... Second, sometimes one particular work by an author may not click with us, but a different work by the same author will. I can tell you which works DSs and myself enjoyed out of our American Lit. year, but I know there are a lot of people who will cry out in horror "You liked THAT?! I HATED that book!" :tongue_smilie: I also find that as I have gotten older, I can really appreciate works that I was only so-so about when I read them originally back in high school or college, so that's not so helpful either... All that to say, I'm happy to share the list of American Lit. works our DSs enjoyed, but I'm not sure how much it will help you, esp. as it will probably be in conflict with other people's dislike lists... :tongue_smilie: ETA: I see you edited from "Modern" to "20th Century", so I'm adding a note as to time frame for my suggestions: Novels / Novellas that DSs really enjoyed: - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain) -- pub. 1876; set in 1830s - Call of the Wild (London) -- 1903 - The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) -- 1925 - Farenheit 451 (Bradbury) -- 1953 - To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) -- pub. 1960; set in 1930s - A Canticle for Leibowitz (Miller) (sci-fi) -- 1960 - the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula LeGuin (fantasy) -- pub. 1960s-70s And while DSs were fine with either doing/not doing Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (pub. 1885; set in 1830s), they REALLY enjoyed the go-along book we did with Huck Finn, due to all the arguments back and forth on censorship brought up in The Day They Came to Arrest the Book (Hentoff; pub. 1983). It's a young adult work set in modern times, exploring all the reasons people want to censor or keep Huck Finn in the local high school curriculum. Short Stories that DSs really enjoyed: - "The Raven" (Poe) -- poem; 1845 - "The Fall of the House of Usher" (Poe) -- 1839 - "Luck of Roaring Camp" (Harte) -- 1868 - "Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" (Crane) -- 1898 - various short stories by O. Henry -- late 1890s, early 1900s - "The Most Dangerous Game" (Connell) -- 1924 - "Thank You Ma'am" (Hughes) -- 1958 - "The Catbird Seat" (Thurber) -- 1942 - "There Will Come Soft Rains" (Bradbury) -- 1950; part of Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles - various short stories by Flannery O'Connor -- 1960s Works DSs were unexpectedly pleasantly surprised by or provided good discussion: - The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) -- 1951 - "The Lottery" (Jackson) -- 1948; good discussion - "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (LeGuin) -- 1973; a bit preachy/heavy-handed, but DSs had good discussion DSs don't care for poetry; of the poetry we've done, I think they preferred the British poets. But there were a few poems they didn't mind from our Amer. Lit year: - "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" (Dickenson) -- 1870s - "Paul Revere's Ride" (Longfellow) -- 1860s-1880s - "Village Blacksmith" (Longfellow) -- 1860s-1880s; enjoyed by DSs, BUT it's probably because we then watched the ;) Works that *I* enjoyed: - I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Craven) -- 1967; I thought it was lovely, but DSs were "ho-hum" about this one - Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston) -- 1937; DSs didn't read this one, just me - The Left Hand of Darkness (LeGuin) -- 1969; DSs didn't read this one, just me; some mature topics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 24, 2013 Author Share Posted June 24, 2013 Thanks, Lori! There are a few there I've not read. Off to research.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerenlynne Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Yep-not a huge American Lit fan but I do like a few. Willa Cather- O Pioneers and My Antonia- I read My Antonia in HS and loved it. Pearl Buck-The Good Earth(not an American story but an American writer). Most things Twain Thornton Wilder-Our Town Arthur Miller-The Crucible and All My Sons O Henry for Short Stories-Ransom of Red Chief, Gift of the Magi Robert Frost-Poetry I remember reading Edna St Vincent Millay in HS but all I remember is her name:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Aren't Twain, Crane, Longfellow, Dickinson, and Poe pre-20th century?? Well, Twain died in 1910, but his best-known works were all written in the 19th... It's hard to have a 'classics' list for the 2nd half of the 20th century when it's still so recent... is it just a good book, or is it Literature? For more recent 20th century stuff, I'll second the LeGuin. How about something by Barbara Kingsolver or Kurt Vonnegut? That may say more about my taste in books than whether they are the Best Literature, though... In school (with 1/4 of the century still to go) some 20th century lit we read that hasn't been mentioned yet was Catcher in the Rye ( on my worst lit ever list). Native Son, Invisible Man, Coming of Age in Mississippi, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, A Separate Peace, I Am the Cheese .. well, those are the ones that spring to mind right off the bat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop O'Neill, Mourning Becomes Electra Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five (or pretty much anything) Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Aren't Twain, Crane, Longfellow, Dickinson, and Poe pre-20th century?? Well, Twain died in 1910, but his best-known works were all written in the 19th... Yes, I was going to point that out too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Some poetry would be in order. Definitely Frost, but Robinson, Cummings, Stevens, Hughes, and Williams. My favorite later poet is Anne Sexton, she has two short volumes which would work with high school students, Transformations (fairy tales remade) and The Awful Rowing Towards God, which looks to have fallen out of print, but if you are a Christian household it might be worth tracking down because it so NOT like anything else your student will read about God. Like it or not Hemmingway should be read, try a short story. Maybe "The Short Happy LIfe of Francis Macomber." I hated Steinbeck until I read The Pearl. Yes, Fitzgerald, I am okay with Gatsby. Faulkner, find a short story. Same with Wolfe. Some folks would also suggest Dos Passos. Later on try Baldwin and Kerouac maybe Ginsberg, probably go ahead and read Catcher in the Rye, some students do love it. From later still Updike and Pychon. Also the US had great, great drama in this time period. You can start with high school favorites The Glass Menagerie, Our Town, The Crucible, and Death of a Salesman, but try to move onto some other works as well Try Mourning Become Electra (absolute must in my book if you have already covered Greek tragedies) Following up on classics reinvented Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a great sequel to Hamlet (okay not a sequel, a parallel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 In addition to some of what others have mentioned. Edith Wharton (The Age of Innocence was one I liked when I read it after college. But I also think her short stories are amazing. Roman Holiday is a good anthology. Don't miss the short story Xingu which is in other collections.) Amy Tan is interesting. I like The Joy Luck Club because it presents so many different viewpoints. It essentially has four parallel stories of three generations of women. So a total of 12 life stories, all of which are quite different. I will probably have my kids read something by Toni Morrison (whom I'm not fond of, but don't want them to encounter for the first time in college). Heinlein (Starship Troopers or maybe The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, both of which have angles about politics, the role of government, honor and what it is to be human or a citizen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Two personal favorites that have not yet been mentioned: Flannery O'Conner and Eudora Welty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Two personal favorites that have not yet been mentioned: Flannery O'Conner and Eudora Welty. Yes, I meant to mention o'Conner with Faulkner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 I will probably have my kids read something by Toni Morrison (whom I'm not fond of, but don't want them to encounter for the first time in college). I doubt my kids will be in any classes reading Morrison in college, or I might do what you suggested. Maya Angelou is a much more uplifting but still real portrayer of the poor and angry black story, IMO. (Alice Walker's The Color Purple is another example, but it's been a long time since I read that.) These authors are fairly depressing, usually including family rape, and a fairly two-dimensional view of white folks, but for older students heading into college literature, I agree that reading one might be useful for discussion/exposure at home first. Just for something about the black experience, maybe some of MLK's writings. I think it might depend on your purpose. Just exposure to famous American authors? History through literature? Prep for college literature? Fun/interest? Or do you want to discuss trends and passions of different parts of the 20th century? A couple which haven't been mentioned and I consider important and easily done in high school: To Kill A Mockingbird Animal Farm (modern kids usually need help seeing the allusions) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Some poetry would be in order. Definitely Frost, but Robinson, Cummings, Stevens, Hughes, and Williams. My favorite later poet is Anne Sexton, she has two short volumes which would work with high school students, Transformations (fairy tales remade) and The Awful Rowing Towards God, which looks to have fallen out of print, but if you are a Christian household it might be worth tracking down because it so NOT like anything else your student will read about God. Like it or not Hemmingway should be read, try a short story. Maybe "The Short Happy LIfe of Francis Macomber." I hated Steinbeck until I read The Pearl. Yes, Fitzgerald, I am okay with Gatsby. Faulkner, find a short story. Same with Wolfe. Some folks would also suggest Dos Passos. Later on try Baldwin and Kerouac maybe Ginsberg, probably go ahead and read Catcher in the Rye, some students do love it. From later still Updike and Pychon. Also the US had great, great drama in this time period. You can start with high school favorites The Glass Menagerie, Our Town, The Crucible, and Death of a Salesman, but try to move onto some other works as well Try Mourning Become Electra (absolute must in my book if you have already covered Greek tragedies) Following up on classics reinvented Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a great sequel to Hamlet (okay not a sequel, a parallel). Candid, I totally agree with you that these are important authors and works to cover, and we did so in our American Lit. year. But original poster (OP) asked for American works that were LOVED. Sadly, while we did a lot of the works and/or authors you listed here, they were not LOVED. For DSs, most of the works were just "tolerated" (even the plays), and so most of the works/authors you mentioned, while great classics and not to be missed, were about "checking off boxes" to DSs... :( For general list of ideas for creating an American Lit. list, OP might find these past threads helpful: 20th century classics I should read What are your must reads for American Literature Nine essential American novels: what's on your list? Top 15 selections for American Lit. survey course... What would be your top 5-7 choices in American literature Suggestions for 9th grade American Literature books, please Need North American novels that are not depressing! Please help with a book list for an African American Literature course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Actually for drama and poetry, I really love all those folks. and I'm okay with all the prose people excerpt Hemingway, but I still think you need to do him and some folks do like him, boys I would think in particular, part of what I hate is certain aspects of his masculine culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Hated both Steinbeck and Faulkner. Loved: Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston O Pioneers, by Willa Cather Huck Finn, by Mark Twain The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee O. Henry stories Robert Frost poetry Langston Hughes poetry Stephen Crane short stories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Just wanted to suggest that you also check for these authors on youtube, because for some of them you'll be able to find the authors themselves reading their works or discussing their works. Maya Angelou is a lot more amazing if you SEE her and HEAR her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 Thank you for all these wonderful book ideas! Some were already on my list, and I'm glad to know so many others liked them, too. Others are new to me, so I get to check out a new pile from the library. Oh Elizabeth, watching authors on youtube is a great suggestion, too! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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