Second Reading Selection (August)
In addition to Flatland, choose one (or more!) readings from this list.
How to Choose: Choose a reading you have never done before. Many of these are taught in earlier classes, but for a reason: you should know them. My goal here is to broaden your reading experience, not repeat it. Try to choose an author who is new to you or a type of story that is different from your previous reading experiences.
Note on film versions: There are several film versions of these readings. The AP test does not recognize film adaptations as valid sources and viewing the films without doing the reading will not aid your work at all--many AP questions are based upon the writing techniques of the author, not the plot! Nevertheless, I also recognize that films can enhance or destroy the reading experience. I've offered recommendations should you wish to watch a film in addition to the reading!
1. Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace. Contemporary Canadian novel about a woman who is imprisoned for murder but doesn't recall the crime. Insightful character development and a bit of a mystery, the story of 19th century asylums is based on a true account. Though written in 1996, Atwood adopts the style of a Victorian writer! No film version exists.
2. Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Evil vs. innocence in this modern fantasy, an American novel written with Bradbury's famous poetic narration, sampling the temptation of mankind. A 1983 Disney film version is "semi-okay."
3. Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights. This Bronte sister’s only work is a powerful British novel, a Victorian love story of thwarted love and destruction, rejection and love triangles. Several film versions, none of which I’ve seen! Heathcliff is one of Britain’s all-time most famous characters. Online text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/768
4. Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange. The most disturbing reading on this list, a British novel, is a futuristic morality tale of a battle between society and socio-paths. If we could win, should we? Caution: extreme violence, rape, language, and disturbing images (Don't read these warnings as encouragement to choose this one, okay?). The 1971 film, rated R, is equally distressing; the anti-hero lead is played by a young Malcolm McDowell.
5. Albert Camus, The Stranger. [Recommended if you have not read a Kafka novel.] French existentialist novel of a man who attends his mother’s funeral, is arrested for murder, and is persecuted for not crying. Absurdism and darkness prevail. I know only of a 1967 Italian film version, no subtitles.
6. Kate Chopin, The Awakening. One of the first American novels of feminism, the story is of extra-marital love and miscegenation (another good vocabulary word!)—it was criticized and essentially buried for years, but was rediscovered in the 1960s. Note, just to understand Chopin’s nuance, how the protagonist is dressed throughout the work. The 1980 film of this title is about a mummy that possesses an archaeologist’s daughter—don’t rent it by mistake!J Online text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/160
7. Joseph Heller, Catch-22. Contemporary American novel of humorous absurdism. Yossarian is a WW2 pilot and anti-hero, seeking to avoid combat and death at all costs: “Everybody wants to kill me.” Amoral but principled, Yossarian reveals the horror of war through comedy. The film version is a classic, but not remotely as successful as the novel.
8. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Hispanic novel of a village trapped in guilt for allowing murder. Multiple versions of the story are uncovered, none satisfying the questions posed by the narrator. Film versions are slow, slow, slow, but the novel is fascinating.
9. Toni Morrison, Sula. [Recommended if you did not read The Bluest Eye.] This is an American novel by one of the most important African-American writers. It follows the friendship of two girls from childhood to death, one taking a road of conformity, the other of rebellion. But when black conformity means remaining disempowered, where can one find dignity? The novel covers topics of sex, race, and love, and contains some graphic sections. There is no film version that I know of.
10. Chaim Potok, The Chosen. Jewish American story of two boys in 1940s New York who are friends but then divided in faith and reason over the founding of Israel. Fine writing, good story, and wonderful exploration of the scholarship of Judaism. The 1987 film version fails to reveal the depth of the characters and skirts over the beautiful nuances of the Jewish faith.
11. Shakespeare, Hamlet. [Recommended if you’ve read only Romeo & Juliet from Shakespeare.] The Bard’s great work of fathers, incest, power, and revenge. Dig mostly at Hamlet’s complex motivations for his acts. Film versions abound, and most agree that the 1948 Olivier version is best, the 1990 Mel Gibson version is overwrought, and the 1964 Christopher Plummer version is potent with indecision. with Online text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1524
12. Sophocles, Oedipus Rex and Antigone. [Recommended if you did not take LWW.] These two Greek plays by Sophocles, the first and third of a trilogy, trace the tragedies of Thebes, from a fated king who ironically pushes to find a murderer to a daughter who stands by the gods even if it means her death. Tragedy, thy name is Greece. Bad film versions abound. For Oedipus, consider the 1967 Christopher Plummer version or the 1984 TV film. Antigone is harder, but look at the 1984 TV film. Online text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/31
13. Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five. Written in 1969, this is one of the American sci-fi writer’s masterworks about a the WWII fire-bombing of Dresden and a time-traveling man who encounters aliens and attempts to change the world. The characters struggle to be human in the face of powerful forces. The British film version is marginally okay, but can hardly capture the power of Vonnegut’s broken plotlines and alienation and absurdity.
14. Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray. [Recommended if you did not take LWW.] British novel of 1890. Grisly and witty story of a man whose evil is buried beneath beauty. Philosophical horror, enjoy the underlying themes of Faust and homosexuality, as well! A 1945 film version won an Oscar or two, and there are several TV series which played on its themes. Online text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/174