Do I have a diverse bookshelf? Pt 9: Socioeconomic Books
Reading books about people outside of the middle class can increase tolerance! So for this category I’m looking at books about people who’s lives are framed by their class and wealth.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
A story written about the “redneck” Bundren family and how all the family members cope differently with the death of the matriarch, Addie. Truly a literary masterpiece, this is my favorite Faulkner work. Each chapter is based on a different character’s perspective, and he makes each voice unique.
The Works of Jane Austen
I’ve reread these books so many times, and the stories are framed by the needs and distinctions of class. In the famous Pride and Prejudice, Austen opens the book with the famous lines, “a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of wife.” In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters are disinherited by their brother and must move in with relations. In Persuasion, the heroine had to reject her love because he wasn’t rich, but she lives in a noble family who has no money. Characters do so many things because of how they are entitled or not by money!
Fences by August Wilson
This is a contemporary play about a Black family in PittsburghTroy struggles with his two sons and his wife over issues of race, class and generational struggles. I saw this on stage, too. It was a great production!
Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey
I used to own all of Anne McCaffrey’s books. Then I got rid of them, and now I own a few. This book is set in a future where X-men type people exist and because of overpopulation, the disparities between class are more acute. One of the main characters, Tirla, lives in a slum and navigates her way between multiple social classes and ethnic groups. As an adult, I appreciate how much the privileges Talents (X-men type people) can section themselves off from the chaos of Tirla’s world.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The quintessential American book about the pursuit of the American dream, class inequality and the Jazz Age. Gatsby was poor. Now he’s rich. Does that make him happy? Read to find out.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
A story written about the “redneck” Bundren family and how all the family members cope differently with the death of the matriarch, Addie. Truly a literary masterpiece, this is my favorite Faulkner work. Each chapter is based on a different character’s perspective, and he makes each voice unique.
The Works of Jane Austen
I’ve reread these books so many times, and the stories are framed by the needs and distinctions of class. In the famous Pride and Prejudice, Austen opens the book with the famous lines, “a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of wife.” In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters are disinherited by their brother and must move in with relations. In Persuasion, the heroine had to reject her love because he wasn’t rich, but she lives in a noble family who has no money. Characters do so many things because of how they are entitled or not by money!
Fences by August Wilson
This is a contemporary play about a Black family in PittsburghTroy struggles with his two sons and his wife over issues of race, class and generational struggles. I saw this on stage, too. It was a great production!
Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey
I used to own all of Anne McCaffrey’s books. Then I got rid of them, and now I own a few. This book is set in a future where X-men type people exist and because of overpopulation, the disparities between class are more acute. One of the main characters, Tirla, lives in a slum and navigates her way between multiple social classes and ethnic groups. As an adult, I appreciate how much the privileges Talents (X-men type people) can section themselves off from the chaos of Tirla’s world.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The quintessential American book about the pursuit of the American dream, class inequality and the Jazz Age. Gatsby was poor. Now he’s rich. Does that make him happy? Read to find out.
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