BBC Book List Continued (Again)
Sep. 25th, 2019 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
potentiality_26Better late than never, eh?
Here's my list of books I read in school that weren't on the BBC's list but were important/influential/enjoyable for me.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Look, I can't in good conscience say that I liked The Awakening, but it is beautifully written and I had to read it three separate times in school so I think everyone else should suffer with me. Other "everyone else should suffer with me" books that surprised me by not being on the list include The Scarlett Letter, Doctor Zhivago, and The Canterbury Tales.
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville
Nothing can really recapture the experience of having read this in high school- joking with your classmates about whether any of you would have the guts to answer an essay question with Bartleby's catchphrase, then getting older and looking back and thinking, "Hey, remember that time in school when we read that story about a depressed guy who slowly stopped working and then died? That was wild."
The Book of John Mandeville
There are books you read in school that you love, there are books you read in school that you hate, and there are books you read in school that make you want to stay in school forever because you figure it's your only chance to figure out what the hell that even was. The Book of John Mandeville was that last one for me. I did wrote a term paper on it and I still have questions that no one can answer for me. Please ask me to scream at you about this book some time.
Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses by Mark Twain
Oh, Twain. He's kind of a local boy where I come from, and it's a little hard for me to get my head around any list that doesn't have The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and/or Tom Sawyer on it. But obviously Twain also has issues, and at this point either you've read those or you haven't. You've also either read The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper or you haven't. I have and I loathed it. Now, I don't remember if I read this essay of Twain's for a class or if I just happened to stumble on it in one of my textbooks, but either way I loved it. Great lampooning of an annoying author, and also an excellent lesson on what does and doesn't make for a good story.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I am astounded that this isn't on the list. Great book, important book, there's not really much else to say.
I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell
Probably not common assigned reading but a really good book and my benchmark for magical realism outside Latin America. The last line gets me every time.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
I can't really say that I enjoyed this book either, but it's another book I can't believe wasn't on that list, though as with Twain (and probably Cooper too, God help us) I'm gonna go ahead and assume it's not there because the list isn't American. Because in America this book is a really big deal.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
A Christmas Carol was on the list, which means that short fiction counts and The Lottery is basically the most important short story ever written.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Okay, so technically this book was assigned reading when I was in elementary school, not high school or college, but The Secret Garden and Charlotte's Web were assigned reading when I was in elementary school too, so it counts. In terms of formative children's fiction it's way up there for me, and the movie is one of those childhood favorites that linger into adulthood because it's just so good.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
This is another case of me just being really confused that it wasn't on the list. Great piece of Bible fanfiction. IDK.
Personal Memoirs by Ulysses S. Grant
Technically this wasn't assigned reading so much as something I read on my own for a term paper on Grant, but it's really worth reading if you want to get most questions about the American Civil War right on Jeopardy. Seriously this book is 80% battle strategy.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The absence of Toni Morrison on that list is baffling to me. Again I'm assuming it's because the list wasn't American. Probably not her most famous book, but it's the one I read in school, so I'm mentioning it here. A lot of it really stuck with me, too.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Love this book. I had a bit of a weird experience in college where I was reading it for a literature class at the same time I watched the movie for a theory of film class, and though I thought the movie was great I was pretty annoyed at it for being so different.
Year of the King by Antony Sher
This was assigned reading for a classical acting class I took, so it should come as a surprise to no one that I'm the only one who read it, and it's a shame because it's so good. Wonderful look at the craft of acting, and- on a more personal level- at the difficulties of living and working with mental illness.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The second most important short story ever written, IMO. I read it for school at least twice and I looove it.
What books did you read in school that you enjoyed or otherwise got a lot out of?
Here's my list of books I read in school that weren't on the BBC's list but were important/influential/enjoyable for me.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Look, I can't in good conscience say that I liked The Awakening, but it is beautifully written and I had to read it three separate times in school so I think everyone else should suffer with me. Other "everyone else should suffer with me" books that surprised me by not being on the list include The Scarlett Letter, Doctor Zhivago, and The Canterbury Tales.
Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville
Nothing can really recapture the experience of having read this in high school- joking with your classmates about whether any of you would have the guts to answer an essay question with Bartleby's catchphrase, then getting older and looking back and thinking, "Hey, remember that time in school when we read that story about a depressed guy who slowly stopped working and then died? That was wild."
The Book of John Mandeville
There are books you read in school that you love, there are books you read in school that you hate, and there are books you read in school that make you want to stay in school forever because you figure it's your only chance to figure out what the hell that even was. The Book of John Mandeville was that last one for me. I did wrote a term paper on it and I still have questions that no one can answer for me. Please ask me to scream at you about this book some time.
Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses by Mark Twain
Oh, Twain. He's kind of a local boy where I come from, and it's a little hard for me to get my head around any list that doesn't have The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and/or Tom Sawyer on it. But obviously Twain also has issues, and at this point either you've read those or you haven't. You've also either read The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper or you haven't. I have and I loathed it. Now, I don't remember if I read this essay of Twain's for a class or if I just happened to stumble on it in one of my textbooks, but either way I loved it. Great lampooning of an annoying author, and also an excellent lesson on what does and doesn't make for a good story.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I am astounded that this isn't on the list. Great book, important book, there's not really much else to say.
I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell
Probably not common assigned reading but a really good book and my benchmark for magical realism outside Latin America. The last line gets me every time.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
I can't really say that I enjoyed this book either, but it's another book I can't believe wasn't on that list, though as with Twain (and probably Cooper too, God help us) I'm gonna go ahead and assume it's not there because the list isn't American. Because in America this book is a really big deal.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
A Christmas Carol was on the list, which means that short fiction counts and The Lottery is basically the most important short story ever written.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Okay, so technically this book was assigned reading when I was in elementary school, not high school or college, but The Secret Garden and Charlotte's Web were assigned reading when I was in elementary school too, so it counts. In terms of formative children's fiction it's way up there for me, and the movie is one of those childhood favorites that linger into adulthood because it's just so good.
Paradise Lost by John Milton
This is another case of me just being really confused that it wasn't on the list. Great piece of Bible fanfiction. IDK.
Personal Memoirs by Ulysses S. Grant
Technically this wasn't assigned reading so much as something I read on my own for a term paper on Grant, but it's really worth reading if you want to get most questions about the American Civil War right on Jeopardy. Seriously this book is 80% battle strategy.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The absence of Toni Morrison on that list is baffling to me. Again I'm assuming it's because the list wasn't American. Probably not her most famous book, but it's the one I read in school, so I'm mentioning it here. A lot of it really stuck with me, too.
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Love this book. I had a bit of a weird experience in college where I was reading it for a literature class at the same time I watched the movie for a theory of film class, and though I thought the movie was great I was pretty annoyed at it for being so different.
Year of the King by Antony Sher
This was assigned reading for a classical acting class I took, so it should come as a surprise to no one that I'm the only one who read it, and it's a shame because it's so good. Wonderful look at the craft of acting, and- on a more personal level- at the difficulties of living and working with mental illness.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The second most important short story ever written, IMO. I read it for school at least twice and I looove it.
What books did you read in school that you enjoyed or otherwise got a lot out of?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-27 09:42 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think all these choices (except Frankenstein) is because it's a BBC list.
When Toni Morrison died, I requested an audiobook version of Beloved read by the author. I'm still waiting, but I'm looking forward to it.
I empathise too much with The Yellow Wallpaper so I try to read it too often but someone on the Corsets & Lemons kink meme did ask for narrator/wallpaper so I may re-visit it at some point.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 02:27 am (UTC)I would definitely be interested if you gave narrator/wallpaper a try lol!