University Reads

[Lee]

Okay, so I'm back in school, several years after I began. I have about a year and a half left until my degree (Literature).

Needless to say, this year I will be reading a lot of novels for class. This semester alone, I think I'm reading 12 books.

So here a few that I've just started. And I'm curious if anyone else has read any of them. Not to cheat obviously, but for discussion purposes.

Here are a few:

McTeague
American Psycho
Moby Dick
An American Tragedy
The Scarlet Letter

[Liz]

I read Scarlet Letter...but that was about 8 years ago during my freshman year of high school. And I was bored a lot by it, so I won't be much good for discussion.

[Lee]

thanks liz. i am not a hawthorne fan, to be honest. he (and many of his contemporaries) are much too formal for my taste. i prefer later turn of the century and 20th century american lit. that will be my concentration when i get started on my masters.

but i decided to take a course that is nothing but Hawthorne and Melville. i will learn to appreciate it.

thanks for the thoughts though.

[mike]

i've read american psycho and the scarlet letter.

i tell you that american psycho is a very disturbing novel on many levels. there is a calmness and matter-of-fact sort of demeanor that bateman displays which serves to underscore his disregard for other humans. it's not for the faint of heart to be sure.

[Lee]

mike thanks man. i'm actually covering that book for my "Violence In Literature" course. But we don't get to it until a bit later in the semester. The class is gonna be awesome.

We're studying all different facets of the role of violence in 20th century american Lit. We're looking at it's reflection OF and ON american society.

we're looking at the different kinds of violence and it's effect on the reader.

and we're also talking a lot about sociology and politics as well.

amazing class.

[Angela]

That does sounds like an awesome class Lee!

I haven't read any of the books, but i want to read Scarlett Letter becuase it's a "classic."

[Lee]

Okay, so "An American Tragedy" was pretty good. Great story, but it was told in extreme long-hand, and got quite monotonous at times. Really profound last 1/3 of the story though.

I'm now currently halfway through "Native Son" by Richard Wright and it is absolutely incredible so far. Absolutely incredible.