Victorian English Lit

[KAR120C]

It's looking like next year's lit/comp is going to be heavily weighted toward British Lit of the Victorian era... so I thought I'd ask if anyone had suggestions to add to our list...

 

 

We're starting with:

 

• Kim
  
• Three Men in a Boat
  
• Nicholas Nickleby
  
• The Importance of Being Earnest
  
• On the Origin of Species
  

(Those five are pretty much non-negotiable because of various other things they match up to...)

 

 

Then there are some possibilities to add in:

 

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (he's wanted to read it for a while)
  
• Dracula (I've wanted him to read it for a while!)
  
• Some selection of the Sherlock Holmes stories
  
• Possibly Pygmalion, even though it's a little late (1912)
  
• Something by Gilbert and Sullivan (H.M.S. Pinafore seems the obvious choice)
  
• Some poetry (Tennyson, the Brownings)
  
• I might have to throw in Frankenstein although I found it deadly boring when I read it ages ago....
  
• And I probably need to throw in a Bronte (or something) but I don't know which.
  

The themes that come to mind are:

 

• Changing roles of children/ education
  
• Gender and class
  
• Colonialism
  
• Religion and spiritualism, and morality
  
• Science
  
• Travel Writing (as a sort-of-genre)
  
• Satire
  

We've already read (but may need to revisit) some other books that would fit - A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Flatland...

 

 

What would you add?

[Storm Bay]

For a Bronte, I liked Jane Eyre the best of the 2 Bronte's I read. I didn't like Wuthering Heights much.

 

Wilke Collins might be interesting. We read Woman in White in the readers group here. Not in that book, but in another, Wilke Collins invented the detective who became the prototype for many famous literary characters. Also, the prototype of the murder mystery novel. The reason I bring him up is because of your "gender and class" category. He refused to be married on principal and has some interesting insights into marriage in the Victorian era that were apparent in Woman in White, and may have also appeared in other novels of his, although I've read only the one.

[KAR120C]

Wilke Collins might be interesting. We read Woman in White in the readers group here. Not in that book, but in another, Wilke Collins invented the detective who became the prototype for many famous literary characters. Also, the prototype of the murder mystery novel. The reason I bring him up is because of your "gender and class" category. He refused to be married on principal and has some interesting insights into marriage in the Victorian era that were apparent in Woman in White, and may have also appeared in other novels of his, although I've read only the one.

I'll have to look into that -- I have a "thing" about prototypes, especially when it's of something that we now take for granted. Thanks!

[HollyinNNV]

My lit students are doing Frankenstein and we just finished Gullivers Travels. This is part of a survey of West Lit class. I am planning British Lit next year. I'm curious why you want to focus on the Victorians. I'd be interested in your perspective.

[KAR120C]

My lit students are doing Frankenstein and we just finished Gullivers Travels. This is part of a survey of West Lit class. I am planning British Lit next year. I'm curious why you want to focus on the Victorians. I'd be interested in your perspective.

I actually didn't set out to do Victorian Lit, but those first five are all things we decided we'd do because of other things, and it started gaining steam as a topic on its own from there... LOL

 

Nicholas Nickleby and The Importance of Being Earnest are both being presented by one of our favorite theaters next season, so we can't turn down that opportunity, and we're doing Biology for science, so On the Origin of Species lends itself to that. We're going to be doing some traveling next year, and Three Men in a Boat and On the Origin of Species both constitute a form of travel writing, albeit from very very different perspectives... which leads neatly into my major assignment for DS while we're traveling which is TO WRITE. LOTS. :D Kim is included on the strong recommendation (insistence!) of my dad. ;)

 

Then once Kim was on the list I wanted more about colonialism to give it context. And once we had The Importance of Being Earnest, the temptation was too great not to add Gilbert and Sullivan (can't. resist. satire.)... and once I started fleshing things out a bit with some poetry (Tennyson in particular), Pygmalion showed up.. the Shaw version of which I'd been planning to assign one of these days just because I like it.... and by then we had an era pretty neatly staked out!

 

The "token Bronte" (LOL) is mainly because I don't think you're allowed to call a course "British Lit - Victorian Era" without a Bronte. ;) Jane Eyre is in the lead.

 

I like the themes of Frankenstein, and they go well with the rest of the readings... but my gosh that's a long and boring book! LOL I might have to do it though... especially if we're reading Jekyll/Hyde and Dracula... they kind of go together in popular culture, although they diverge in their underlying messages quite a bit...

 

And I really like Karin's suggestion of Wilkie Collins because we've been enjoying later mysteries (Christie and Sayers), and I love the idea of a prototypical mystery (it sounds like The Moonstone would be the one to go with, from what my googling turns up).. and that ties in the Sherlock Holmes, which I was only including because I can't turn down an opportunity to re-read Holmes! :D

 

The shorter answer would have been that I like to focus our reading on something fairly narrow -- not so much as to be repetitive, but enough that we can see the themes emerging in different ways and see that each writer is both an individual and a product of his time and place... so having been more-or-less handed this possibility, I ran with it!

[HollyinNNV]

Erica,

Thanks for the explanation. I think it sounds like a fun year!!! (Are you skipping Dickens?)

Holly

[KAR120C]

Erica,

Thanks for the explanation. I think it sounds like a fun year!!! (Are you skipping Dickens?)

Holly

At 800-something pages I think we can only handle the one! ;) Even the play is split into two nights! He's read A Christmas Carol before, but that's all. :)

[Storm Bay]

I like the themes of Frankenstein, and they go well with the rest of the readings... but my gosh that's a long and boring book! LOL I might have to do it though... especially if we're reading Jekyll/Hyde and Dracula... they kind of go together in popular culture, although they diverge in their underlying messages quite a bit...

 

 

 

Food for thought: Frankenstein was written by the daughter of Mary Woolstonecraft (doggone it I'v forgotten her surname--how do you spell it???) She wrote 2 books, and one was in response to Paine. She was one of the early feminists that helped spark 19th century feminisim, which was building in the Victorian years, albeit sporadically. There were some feminist novelists out there, but I'm rusty on all that, since I mainly studied the history of women in North America and feminism there.

[Kareni]

...

Then there are some possibilities to add in:

 

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (he's wanted to read it for a while)

• Dracula (I've wanted him to read it for a while!)

• Some selection of the Sherlock Holmes stories

• Possibly Pygmalion, even though it's a little late (1912)

• Something by Gilbert and Sullivan (H.M.S. Pinafore seems the obvious choice)

• Some poetry (Tennyson, the Brownings)

• I might have to throw in Frankenstein although I found it deadly boring when I read it ages ago....

• And I probably need to throw in a Bronte (or something) but I don't know which.

 

 

Your list sounds great. I know you mentioned that you found Frankenstein deadly boring; however, your son might surprise you. My teen daughter really enjoyed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Frankenstein.

 

Have fun refining your list!

Regards,

Kareni

[KAR120C]

Your list sounds great. I know you mentioned that you found Frankenstein deadly boring; however, your son might surprise you. My teen daughter really enjoyed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and Frankenstein.

 

Have fun refining your list!

Regards,

Kareni

It might not be genetic! LOL Unfortunately DH hated it too (and he's usually a very enthusiastic reader...), so if it is genetic, DS is doomed... ;)

 

I'll keep it on the list -- both for the early feminist themes and the science/progress themes... but I might put it last and let him take his time. Jekyll and Hyde is SO fast-paced (and short!) and Dracula is SO thick with allegory and metaphor and references to folklore and themes of women's place in society and the whole Mina-Lucy comparison... Maybe I should re-read Frankenstein and see if I can drum up a little more enthusiasm for it...

[Staci in MO]

For a Bronte, I liked Jane Eyre the best of the 2 Bronte's I read. I didn't like Wuthering Heights much.

 

I didn't like Wuthering Heights, either. I thought it was too melodramatic back when I was 17, I can't imagine what a teenage boy would think. :D

Edited March 17, 2009 by Staci in MO
Bah. Typos.

[KAR120C]

I didn't like Wuthering Heights, either. I thought it was too melodramatic back when I was 17, I can't imagine what a teenage boy would think. :D

I'm not a fan of melodrama, so I'll put down one more vote for Jane Eyre... I'm trying very hard to overcome my own bias that the Bronte books are "girl" books, and doing very well keeping my mouth shut about it in any case! He did like Pride and Prejudice... so who knows!

[Storm Bay]

I'm not a fan of melodrama, so I'll put down one more vote for Jane Eyre... I'm trying very hard to overcome my own bias that the Bronte books are "girl" books, and doing very well keeping my mouth shut about it in any case! He did like Pride and Prejudice... so who knows!

 

 

To be honest, I tried to reread Jane Eyre and couldn't, so my opinion was based on me as a teen. And I didn't read only girl books, but still haven't read Frankenstein. But I did read/study both of her mother's books while in university.

[KAR120C]

To be honest, I tried to reread Jane Eyre and couldn't, so my opinion was based on me as a teen. And I didn't read only girl books, but still haven't read Frankenstein. But I did read/study both of her mother's books while in university.

So I shouldn't talk! LOL I did read some Jane Austen, but never the Brontes!

[Reya]

You have to have a Hardy and a Thackeray and a George Eliot to make a Vic Lit course. Also, on the American side, Twain and Hawthorne.

 

Poetry is crucial for this era--drama less important.

 

Conrad, as much as I love him, wasn't a major figure. Way too far ahead of his time.

[Reya]

I didn't like Wuthering Heights, either. I thought it was too melodramatic back when I was 17, I can't imagine what a teenage boy would think. :D

 

And I ADORED it at 13! :-) Not so much on the reread.

[KAR120C]

You have to have a Hardy and a Thackeray and a George Eliot to make a Vic Lit course.

 

I can't STAND Thackeray!! I spent two years trying to slog through Vanity Fair and hated every minute of it. It's still sitting on the shelf over my computer glaring at me. I can see it from here. It's been there since I was pregnant with DS and couldn't read on the bus anymore without getting motion sickness. grrrrrr... If I could get away with something other than Vanity Fair then maybe... but only maybe! LOL (Our local library has a 98 page fairy tale with his name on it... :lol:)

 

Hardy I don't have such a strong reaction to, but on the other hand all his books run together in my head -- tragic story of someone whose [husband/wife/child] [was/wasn't] really [dead/in love with someone else/pregnant] but shows up later and [kills himself/gets killed/dies of natural causes/loses the baby]. Maybe a few poems instead...

 

Eliot I could be talked into. I almost put Middlemarch on the list but like the Brontes, I've never read Eliot... But on the other hand according to IMDB it's coming out as a film next year, and I do like the book-vs-movie comparison possibilities... Okay Middlemarch is on!

 

Conrad, as much as I love him, wasn't a major figure. Way too far ahead of his time.

 

I don't think of Conrad as Victorian at all... or really British... We'll definitely read him at some point but not next year.

[Storm Bay]

Hardy I don't have such a strong reaction to, but on the other hand all his books run together in my head -- tragic story of someone whose [husband/wife/child] [was/wasn't] really [dead/in love with someone else/pregnant] but shows up later and [kills himself/gets killed/dies of natural causes/loses the baby]. Maybe a few poems instead...

 

 

 

The only Hardy I've ever read is Tess..., but it was so tragic I never read another of his.

 

But have taken zero lit courses; I just read literature for fun because it was in the house.

[KAR120C]

The only Hardy I've ever read is Tess..., but it was so tragic I never read another of his.

Okay I'm sure I'm not doing him justice... I'm sure there's some reason we're all forced to read Hardy... I just don't know what it is! ;) Sure there's plenty of social commentary, but all I actually remember is tragedy.

[JennW in SoCal]

I LOVE this thread! I really enjoy it when people start talking books and creating reading lists and debating what to read and why. I'm ready now to dump the ancients next year and do "Vic Lit" instead!

 

I have a book recommendation for Frankenstein. It is an amazing illustrated version by Bernie Wrightson. Not a comic book nor graphic novel but the original text with illustrations. The hand drawn and inked illustrations are incredible, and they look like the block prints of the period. It might be a treat to have this for the text in the middle of the school year. Check it out Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein

[KAR120C]

I have a book recommendation for Frankenstein. It is an amazing illustrated version by Bernie Wrightson. Not a comic book nor graphic novel but the original text with illustrations. The hand drawn and inked illustrations are incredible, and they look like the block prints of the period. It might be a treat to have this for the text in the middle of the school year. Check it out Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein

(Okay not "pretty" but still... oooooh!!) I'm going to have to see that one in person -- it might be just the thing to get me enthusiastic about that book! Thanks!!

[SusanAR]

I can't STAND Thackeray!! I spent two years trying to slog through Vanity Fair and hated every minute of it.

 

:iagree: During my senior year of high school the English teacher assigned each student a book to read. I'll never forget that i had to read Vanity Fair because my last name was Thacker. It was excruciating. I saw my teacher a few years ago and I mentioned that i never forgave her:001_smile: for making me read that book. She mentioned that she thought i was a good enough student to handle it and in her years of teaching had only assigned it to two students. i didn't do so well on my project, so i probably disappointed her. This was is 1976 BTW!!

i should probably try to read it now just to see......

SusanAR

[KAR120C]

:iagree: During my senior year of high school the English teacher assigned each student a book to read. I'll never forget that i had to read Vanity Fair because my last name was Thacker. It was excruciating.

LOL about it being because of your name. (Although to be fair it does sound like she took your abilities into consideration too - quite a compliment!) The closest I come to a similar story is that my 10th grade English teacher assigned me Alice in Wonderland. He said it was because he knew I'd get all the subtleties, but I'm pretty sure he had a Lewis Carroll thing going. :glare:

[TeacherZee]

Food for thought: Frankenstein was written by the daughter of Mary Woolstonecraft (doggone it I'v forgotten her surname--how do you spell it???) She wrote 2 books, and one was in response to Paine. She was one of the early feminists that helped spark 19th century feminisim, which was building in the Victorian years, albeit sporadically. There were some feminist novelists out there, but I'm rusty on all that, since I mainly studied the history of women in North America and feminism there.

 

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women and was way ahead of her time. It is a great text though. She is pre Victorian (she lived (1759-1797) but it could be a good to read parts of it to see what came before, and she is Mary Shellys mother. Norton's Anthology of English Literature has a good chunk of A Vindication in it.

 

For poetry you should also include Christina Rossetti and Mathew Arnold. Rossetti's poems are short but her "In An Artist Studio" deals with the "Woman question" :001_smile:

 

As much as I found Jane Eyre a tad on the boring side it is probably the better choice of the Brontës.

 

It sounds like a really interesting study!

 

Oh and if you are interested by the time you start studying this the new movie The Young Victoria should be out on DVD. It might be interesting for you to watch

[Reya]

I can't STAND Thackeray!! I spent two years trying to slog through Vanity Fair and hated every minute of it. It's still sitting on the shelf over my computer glaring at me. I can see it from here. It's been there since I was pregnant with DS and couldn't read on the bus anymore without getting motion sickness. grrrrrr... If I could get away with something other than Vanity Fair then maybe... but only maybe! LOL (Our local library has a 98 page fairy tale with his name on it... :lol:)

 

Hardy I don't have such a strong reaction to, but on the other hand all his books run together in my head -- tragic story of someone whose [husband/wife/child] [was/wasn't] really [dead/in love with someone else/pregnant] but shows up later and [kills himself/gets killed/dies of natural causes/loses the baby]. Maybe a few poems instead...

 

Eliot I could be talked into. I almost put Middlemarch on the list but like the Brontes, I've never read Eliot... But on the other hand according to IMDB it's coming out as a film next year, and I do like the book-vs-movie comparison possibilities... Okay Middlemarch is on!

 

 

 

I don't think of Conrad as Victorian at all... or really British... We'll definitely read him at some point but not next year.

 

I really liked Vanity Fair! I've read it twice. The author likes Becky much better than Amelia, so their reversals of fortune at the end lack coniction, to say the least! If you don't want VF, tohugh, skip Thackeray entirely!

 

Hardy--I hate Hardy. But he's very important to the age. Choose Jude the Obscure or Far From the Maddening Crowd or Mayor of Casterbridge rather than Tess. Tess is maddeningly dreadful.

 

Eliot is WONDERFUL. She is by far and away the best writer of the British 19th c. She's easily Henry James' equal, and he transformed the novel completely from a psychological point of view. Her works are more thoughtful and sophisticated, except for a very few (Silas Mariner...), so they're less accessible for the average student, but they are a true treat.

 

Henry James is also a giant, but he's funny in how he straddles American and British lit.

[Storm Bay]

!

 

Hardy--I hate Hardy. But he's very important to the age. Choose Jude the Obscure or Far From the Maddening Crowd or Mayor of Casterbridge rather than Tess. Tess is maddeningly dreadful.

.

 

 

Thanks for this tidbit. I chose the worst one, but it was because there was a movie out on it at the time. I didn't end up seeing the movie after reading the book, though. However, if we do Victorian lit as a course all on its own (most likely for ds who will be a natural for lit courses based on how he thinks about books he reads or that we read to him), we'll probably mix some British with Canadian, American and European Victorian lit. My mind is boggling just at the thought of having to teach all this to him.

[Storm Bay]

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women and was way ahead of her time. It is a great text though. She is pre Victorian (she lived (1759-1797) but it could be a good to read parts of it to see what came before, and she is Mary Shellys mother. Norton's Anthology of English Literature has a good chunk of A Vindication in it.

 

 

 

Thanks. My brain went dead on the title of the book and the first 4 letters of her surname. Actually, she wrote two books, and if you were doing a study on the history of feminism or feminist ideas, it's very interesting to read them and compare how her thoughts on this developed over the years. The title you mentioned is the one she wrote in response to Paine's A Vindication of the Rights of Men. (or is it Man?) She was pre-Victorian, but since her dd was Victorian, I thought that looking for gender issues in Frankenstein might help with the OPs gender category. Wollstonecraft died giving birth to Mary Shelly, but her dad was very much a supporter of feminism so I would expect a tie in. But I've never actually read the book nor seen the movie. The closest I ever got was to see Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder et al.

[KAR120C]

But I've never actually read the book nor seen the movie. The closest I ever got was to see Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder et al.

FrahnkenSHTEEEN! We've got the Mel Brooks boxed set.. and DS has seen that one more than once! ;)

[KAR120C]

For poetry you should also include Christina Rossetti and Mathew Arnold. Rossetti's poems are short but her "In An Artist Studio" deals with the "Woman question" :001_smile:

 

As much as I found Jane Eyre a tad on the boring side it is probably the better choice of the Brontës.

 

It sounds like a really interesting study!

 

Oh and if you are interested by the time you start studying this the new movie The Young Victoria should be out on DVD. It might be interesting for you to watch

When I think of Rossetti I always think of that caterpillar poem... LOL But "In An Artists Studio" looks perfect! And that would tie into Pygmalion, too..... yay!

 

I saw a clip of The Young Victoria that looked good, but I can't tell yet if it's all romanced-up (iykwim) or if it has some historical content.... But Miranda Richardson as her mother is fun either way - especially since she played Elizabeth I in Blackadder..... hehehe...

[TeacherZee]

Thanks. My brain went dead on the title of the book and the first 4 letters of her surname. Actually, she wrote two books, and if you were doing a study on the history of feminism or feminist ideas, it's very interesting to read them and compare how her thoughts on this developed over the years. The title you mentioned is the one she wrote in response to Paine's A Vindication of the Rights of Men. (or is it Man?) She was pre-Victorian, but since her dd was Victorian, I thought that looking for gender issues in Frankenstein might help with the OPs gender category. Wollstonecraft died giving birth to Mary Shelly, but her dad was very much a supporter of feminism so I would expect a tie in. But I've never actually read the book nor seen the movie. The closest I ever got was to see Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder et al.

 

You are right. I thought it was a very interesting read. My classmates and I (I read it in grad school) were all amazed by how contemporary it was as well:D It is also interesting because there is quite a bit of satire and wit in it. It is also interesting if you read or watch Pride and Prejudice as she points out the sillyness of the officers which I thought tied in nicely to that story:001_smile:

 

When I think of Rossetti I always think of that caterpillar poem... LOL But "In An Artists Studio" looks perfect! And that would tie into Pygmalion, too..... yay!

 

I saw a clip of The Young Victoria that looked good, but I can't tell yet if it's all romanced-up (iykwim) or if it has some historical content.... But Miranda Richardson as her mother is fun either way - especially since she played Elizabeth I in Blackadder..... hehehe...

 

I'm glad I found one that tied in with many things.

 

Yeah I haven't seen the Young Victoria film and it does look rather fluffy but I think it could be a nice popcorn movie if nothing else:D

[KAR120C]

It is also interesting because there is quite a bit of satire and wit in it. It is also interesting if you read or watch Pride and Prejudice as she points out the sillyness of the officers which I thought tied in nicely to that story:001_smile:

"Satire," that is! I was leaning away from it both for the early date and my assumption that it would be too dense... but satire piques my interest! I'll see if I can track down a copy.... (And we've done Pride and Prejudice, so that would make another connection!)

[KAR120C]

I've been planning to respond, but was waiting until I had time to think carefully about it... but since I haven't done so yet, I'll give you my spur of the moment thoughts instead! :)

 

My goodness! This is an impressive "spur of the moment' list!! :)

 

Middlemarch - check! The more I look at it the more I want to include it, so it's definitely on.

 

Anne Bronte I'll definitely look into (although Jane Eyre is our current default...) - which Bronte poems would you recommend?

 

I agree about Hardy -- I actually do appreciate that I read them, but yeesh they're tragic! Maybe we could just do a short story to get the language without wallowing in the plots...

 

Trollope, Gaskell, Hope and Meredith I've never read! Hmmm.... And "fun" (Hope) sounds like a good addition! :)

 

If we do Frankenstein I think it will be as a third in the "classic monsters" trilogy (Jekyll/Hyde and Dracula) more than as a Victorian book... maybe I'll leave it as an optional extra for that reason...

 

Doyle, Conrad, HG Wells, and even Kipling can be classified as either Victorian or Edwardian - all really have more of an Edwardian flavor (according to some opinions), but did publish some work during the Victorian period. [i've heard similar comments about Stoker as well.]

 

Shaw is definitely Edwardian - though I'd squeeze him in if you won't cover him at some other point! Pygmalion is a classic, but I prefer Major Barbara...

 

Kipling (Kim) we have to do anyway (and it makes it in just under the wire at 1901... LOL) for a long and complicated reason that I won't bore you with ;), Doyle I just enjoy (and we'll probably do short stories, so they don't add a lot of "bulk" to the schedule), and I'm hedging a little on Pygmalion except that it ties in so well with some other things... a Rosetti poem, a Tennyson and a (R.) Browning... and it's another favorite of mine anyway. So I'll bend the rules a bit for them, but only because I like them! We'll definitely do Conrad another time... he's DH's favorite author, but he just doesn't fit here. I was toying with the idea of a Slavic writers course, but then he doesn't exactly fit there either... Maybe nautical writers? LOL Or maybe we'll have a "potluck" year...

 

We ADORE the Pirates of Penzance -- that's the one I have on DVD, too! But Pinafore he's never seen, and there are some lesser works that tie in well with some other things and now of course I can't find my list.... But one was called "A Sensational Novel" or something like that, that sounded like it would be absolutely hysterical if we read Wilkie Collins.

 

Poets: Hardy, Tennyson, the Brownings, Matthew Arnold, AE Housman, GM Hopkins, the Rossettis, Emily Bronte, Swinburne,... and I'd consider Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubayiat. It had a significant influence at the time (as did some of the other translations being done then - though I would *not* recommend Burton's 1001 Arabian Nights!)

Oh THAT was what I was forgetting! The Rubayiat!! Definitely going on the list -- I was going to look for other translations of "imported" works too, but I've not sat down to do so yet... I'm make sure to skip that Burton.

 

Other non-fiction: Ruskin, Carlyle, Macaulay, Disraeli, Huxley, ..perhaps Condition of the Working Classes in England (Engels). (Flatland is a delightful read, btw!)

Flatland is a favorite too -- he's read it twice and I've led it in book group, but we'll definitely revisit it for this run through... and I was thinking about something political... thanks for the speeches link!

 

We have the Viking Portable Victorian Reader... I wouldn't use it heavily, but it could be useful to balance out viewpoints without adding lots of other complete works.

Thank you thank you thank you! The list is getting long, so this might be just the thing...

 

(Once he's read Three Men in a Boat, you should read Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog - she is American and modern, but the book is a treasure and it references Three Men in a Boat in a number of ways (including a trip in the boat down the same river).

I think I heard that it refers quite a bit to Gaudy Night too... so I was going to wait until he'd read that one -- he just finished Have His Carcase and I think he's going to start on Gaudy Night soon... so unless I'm mixing it up with another book I'll leave Willis for after that...

 

Let me put one good word in for Vanity Fair: it is a fabulous satire, and a very early work with an anti-hero. (And there is a very well done video production of it (*avoid* the Reese Witherspoon one at all costs - it is a travesty. Trying to turn the anti-heroine into an actual heroine destorys the story and misses the point.)

 

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! Run away!! (lol...) Okay 300 minutes is better than 2 years... I might (might!) give it a try... but I don't promise anything!!

 

Thank you thank you thank you!! Especially for the poetry and speeches ideas -- just what I'm looking for! You're amazing!!

[Reya]

Thanks for this tidbit. I chose the worst one, but it was because there was a movie out on it at the time. I didn't end up seeing the movie after reading the book, though. However, if we do Victorian lit as a course all on its own (most likely for ds who will be a natural for lit courses based on how he thinks about books he reads or that we read to him), we'll probably mix some British with Canadian, American and European Victorian lit. My mind is boggling just at the thought of having to teach all this to him.

 

Don't sweat it too much! You can't cover everything--if you could, what's grad school for? :-)

 

I get Hardy. I understand what he's going with the language. I get all his layering and references. He uses prose as a baseball bat, and all his characters disgust me. But it's impossible to understand Vic Lit without him.

 

Pah! :001_smile:

[Reya]

>I think Trollope's works would really add something to coverage of the Victorian era - he is *such* a Victorian... and an engaging storyteller too!

 

Try The Warden--it's slim and charming. If you like him, then there's Angela Thirkell, who, though not canonical, is a brilliant 20th c English novelist.

[KAR120C]

Henry James is also a giant, but he's funny in how he straddles American and British lit.

Turn of the Screw is by far my very favorite book ever... and it's on the shelf, just waiting for the right time. It's also the only book I've held DS back from - not because of age-appropriateness or maturity or anything (he's a great re-reader so I'm generally not worried about him getting everything-ever out of a first reading) but because it's one that on fresh reading just completely knocks you off your feet in a way that re-reading doesn't, quite. I want to be sure that the first time he reads it, it's not buried in a mass of anything else, or rushed, or guided too heavily. Basically my plan is to leave it on the shelf and wait for him to sneak it away...

[Storm Bay]

Don't sweat it too much! You can't cover everything--if you could, what's grad school for? :-)

 

I get Hardy. I understand what he's going with the language. I get all his layering and references. He uses prose as a baseball bat, and all his characters disgust me. But it's impossible to understand Vic Lit without him.

 

Pah! :001_smile:

 

 

When I read literature in high school, it was just for fun. And the story. This very much changed what I got from them. It was simply on my parents' shelves and we didn't really have a public library yet. It wasn't until I was writing a novel for a while that I became interested in novels for more than entertainment. I spent my "thinking" time on things other than fiction. Well, not quite--some of the "nonfiction" I read was rather questionable, but it sure made for some hot discussions in the Christian ethics class I took during the semester I went to a Christian school (during the years I was agnostic.)

[Storm Bay]

If he hasn't read Jane Eyre, he really should - though I, personally, much prefer Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (my favorite of the Bronte sisters).

 

I wouldn't recommend Wuthering Heights... it is a masterpiece, but it explores such ugly aspects of the human mind and soul in ways that I don't think are best suited to the high school years. ...but ymmv. I do cover some of Emily Bronte's poetry.

.

 

 

What is it that you like about Anne Bronte that's better than her sisters? I've never read her (it wasn't on my mother's shelf, I suspect.)

 

I was thinking about you yesterday as I still mean to get back to you on your PM question from last year and for some reason the subject came up, which reminded me that I've been remiss.

[amtmcm]

If you'll be discussing travel journal themes, how about 80 Days Around the World? Maybe your DS has already read it? My DD and I each read it this fall and loved it. It would be very light reading in the company of the other books you're planning.

[KAR120C]

If you'll be discussing travel journal themes, how about 80 Days Around the World? Maybe your DS has already read it? My DD and I each read it this fall and loved it. It would be very light reading in the company of the other books you're planning.

But we love re-reading too! I had completely forgotten about that one.. maybe we could add it to the summer reading..... hmmm..... :)