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What Book Should Every Person Entering College Read?
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I usually give
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac OR
The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset Maughm OR
Siddhartha
by Herman Hesse OR
Spoon River Anthology
by Edgar Lee Masters as a graduation gift.I don't think they should be required reading, necessarily. They are relevant and thought-provoking, though.
Actually, I think it's the Bible. I say this not as a religious person,which I'm not, but as a literature person. I don't think you could even count the number of Biblical references in Western Humanities.
i have bought alice in wonderland for two of my sisters. one is turning 17 on sunday, i gave it to the other for her 18th birthday.
The complete works of Hunter S. Thompson and Lester Bangs and "A Child's Garden of Grass: the Official Handbook for Marijuana Users."
Thompson on the passing of Richard M. Nixon:
"Nixon's spirit will be with us for the rest of our lives--whether you're me or Bill Clinton or you or Kurt Cobain or Bishop Tutu or Keith Richards or Amy Fisher or Boris Yeltsin's daughter or your fiancee's 16-year-old beer-drunk brother with his braided goatee and his whole life like a thundercloud out in front of him. This is not a generational thing. You don't even have to know who Richard Nixon was to be a victim of his ugly, Nazi spirit.
He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream."
Thompson on the passing of Richard M. Nixon:
"Nixon's spirit will be with us for the rest of our lives--whether you're me or Bill Clinton or you or Kurt Cobain or Bishop Tutu or Keith Richards or Amy Fisher or Boris Yeltsin's daughter or your fiancee's 16-year-old beer-drunk brother with his braided goatee and his whole life like a thundercloud out in front of him. This is not a generational thing. You don't even have to know who Richard Nixon was to be a victim of his ugly, Nazi spirit.
He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream."
You see, the tough part about the Bible, Rebecca, is that they might not read it. You know what I mean? That's a tough call. I guess you have to have contingencies...e.g., assume the person will read what you give them or assume you have to give them something they'll read.I like the idea of Alice in Wonderland, but I'm biased. Also, I'd go with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from the Hunter Thompson works, Clark. That's one of the only books I can pick up anytime, anywhere, open to any page, and love.
Books as graduation gifts are good ideas, but I always wanted money.
I think 1491 would be a very good book for this.
i think reading their parents checkBOOK should be required so they know this is not a free four more yrs until they get out in the real world
I made an agreement with my daughter that as long as she keeps her grades at a certain level I will pay for her room and board. She is responsible for her tuition. That way when she is mulling over skipping a class there is a better chance that she will go when it is on her dime as compared to our dime. It appears to be working.
That list at Slate suggests The Magicians, but I wouldn't give that to a graduating teen. It's too jaded, and shows that the joys of a great college experience are fleeting. Which is true, but it's not fair to tell that to an 18 year old.I'd go for inspiring or incendiary. Maybe Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela or The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope for non fiction and The Arrival for fiction.
for many high school graduates i buy the book Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. btw - for newlyweds i buy a nice gift and a Scrabble game for them. spending time playing a board game will do much more for your marriage than any TV show will
Wow, so far I've only read Siddhartha. Of my own accord.For my "summer reading" as they called it, we were supposed to read...damn, I cannot remember the name of the book. It was written by one of the professors, and it was something how soccer helped him overcome.. A Home on the Field, that's it.
On the first day of classes, we were supposed to go to reading groups and discuss the book. I didn't read the book (fuck that. It wasn't required, and I did not want to read a book about a boy playing soccer), so I didn't go. This year Picking Cotton was chosen for the summer reading, and I probably would have read that if it was chosen for my year.
I haven't read a lot of the books that "everyone" should have read by now. The first one that comes to mind is 1984. It was never assigned me; I own the book, but I just haven't...felt like reading it? I think I've made up for that by falling in love with Kurt Vonnegut and reading and understanding The Stranger.
I've never read 1984 either. I've been slowly working my way through the books I think I should have read, and both 1984 and Animal Farm are in the top five. I think we had a thread on that a while back.
I'm not particularly fond of George Orwell's stuff (I've read both 1984 and Animal Farm).
I just don't like to feel like I'm missing important books. Anna Karenina and Lolita are the other two in my top five that I can think of. I think the fifth was Gatsby, which I have since read.
Hey, don't knock The Magicians, Sarah. I went to college with the author. A good guy and a good book.A nice gift for college student would be a volume of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges. There are a few different collections, mostly of the same stories, but the classic volume "Ficciones" is available as Collected Fictions in English.
Borges's stories remind me of the M.C. Escher posters that college kids used to (and maybe still do) hang on their dorm-room walls--worlds within worlds, mind-blowing puzzles, things weird and wonderful. Amazing stuff.
Jonathan - I loved the Magicians. I just think it's better left til post-college.
Every student entering college should read everything they can find about securing financial aid.
Jonathan wrote: "Hey, don't knock The Magicians, Sarah. I went to college with the author. A good guy and a good book.A nice gift for college student would be a volume of short stories by [author:Jorge Luis Borge..."
love borges, don't really like escher.
Oh, and to answer the question: Native Son by Richard Wright.
janine wrote: "love borges, don't really like escher..."I guess I kind of agree, Janine, although I do love the Escher Museum in The Hague, in part because of the beautiful old palace in which it's housed. I mentioned Escher mostly as a reference to stereotypical stuff that college kids like, or at least that they liked when I was in college.
I will say that if you're interested in drawing, you can learn a lot about perspective and design from Escher because he manipulated conventions in such skillful and funny ways. Borges is much more profound.
Phil wrote: "Every student entering college should read everything they can find about securing financial aid."If we can make students do this, can we make the general population read material on how to live within their means financially?
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Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "for many high school graduates i buy the book Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. btw - for newlyweds i buy a nice gift and a Scrabble game for them. spending time playing a board game will do m..."One can learn a lot about a person by playing a board game or cards together. It is recognizing and making sense of what we learn that is the hard part. :)
Jonathan wrote: "janine wrote: "love borges, don't really like escher..."I guess I kind of agree, Janine, although I do love the Escher Museum in The Hague, in part because of the beautiful old palace in which it..."
skillful is a good way to describe escher. i have decorated my walls with picasso and dali, movie posters, free postcards and photos and drawings from magazines and newspapers, and these guys:
i might be stereotypical too, but in another way.
Lobstergirl, are they actually mailing free books? We had to pay for our "common experience".
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::diligently taking notes for my girl:: how about
Everything I needed to know I learned in Kindergarden
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Seven HAbits of HIghly Effective People
Misha wrote: "I think the students are typically required to buy the book at the campus bookstore during orientation, before classes start."Either that or they build them into fees. I wouldn't be surprised if some FYE programs build them into fees so they make sure everyone has them.
You know, I take that back. Now schools usually have to post their reading lists ahead of time...federal law, so students can get their books cheaper...but then again, because this is FYE, there may be a loophole.
The Crucible should be read by all young people. It details how easy it is for unfounded hysteria to permeate a small community, breed fear and then manifest itself in unbridled prejudice against selected people. Although set in latter day Salem, its main message: that people are intrinsically weak and care only about saving themselves, still holds true today.
Rebecca wrote: "Actually, I think it's the Bible. I say this not as a religious person,which I'm not, but as a literature person. I don't think you could even count the number of Biblical references in Western H..."After taking a "Bible as Literature" course, I have to agree wholeheartedly.
I've thought for years that every 18-year-old should read, and do all the worksheets from What Color is Your Parachute. It's been said that most people spend more time analyzing vacation spots than analyzing their lives, and I think that's pretty accurate, not to mention a crying shame. This book forces you to look, from every angle, at what you'd be happiest doing for a living. It's been updated yearly for over a quarter of a century, because it's brilliant. I've given copies away to numerous young folk.
@ Doni. How ironic. I gave that book, the workbook, and several other books to my sister a couple of years back because she was really struggling with some stuff. Yesterday she and my daughter had a yard sale. As I was helping them set up before I went to work, there were the books and it didn't even look like they had ever been opened. I wonder how often that happens?
Yes, me too. Pretty often, I suspect. I give a big old sales pitch when I hand the book over, offer help with the worksheets, and leave it in the hands of God. No one has asked my help with the worksheets, if that's any indicator.
They should read a book on proper budgeting.
Doni wrote: "I've thought for years that every 18-year-old should read, and do all the worksheets from What Color is Your Parachute. It's been said that most people spend more time analyzing vacation spo..."I personally founds these books to be very unhelpful (if thats a word).
it assumes there is no gap between what you like to do and what you are good at, or what skills are marketable.
Clark wrote, The complete works of Hunter S. Thompson...
I worship the ground HST walked on, but The Curse of Lono and much of his output from the 1980s was pretty unreadable, especially for someone with his gift for words and insanity.
I worship the ground HST walked on, but The Curse of Lono and much of his output from the 1980s was pretty unreadable, especially for someone with his gift for words and insanity.
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Terminalcoffee
Books mentioned in this topic
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (other topics)How to Win Friends & Influence People (other topics)
I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World (other topics)
Survival in Auschwitz (other topics)
Collected Fictions (other topics)
More...
Anyway, Slate has a list of their recommendations for a pre-college reading list and mentions a few institutions' picks:
http://www.slate.com/id/2262070/
What are you one or two books that you think every person entering college (let's say their traditional eighteen year olds) should read? Maybe even if the eighteen year old isn't even going to college...what should he/she read, and why?