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I just finished the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It was published in the 1940's. I recommend it.

itchy mcgoo wrote:Okay then, Uncle Tom's Cabin

This is a really intriguing choice.

Culturally speaking, it was an incredibly important book in 19th century America. It's impact was almost unimaginably huge. And now, it goes virtually unread.

Also- It is good to see Thomas Hardy get some love on this thread.

Thanks everyone. I'm still unsure of my picks.

Keep us posted. I'm curious to see how it ends up!

If you want a U.S. writer:

James Branch Cabell- Jurgen

...subjected to a tremendous obscenity lawsuit in it's time. Refers to a lot of classic mythology (although he takes a lot of liberties with them). His defense in court by Mark Twain was priceless.

If you aren't against a French writer popular in English literary circles:

Anatole France- Penguin Island

...interesting metaphor on christianity and human nature. Translated, but attacks a complex subject with simple imagery. Bound to spark interest in the rebels.

if i were a college instructor?


dear penthouse...

20th Century: Libra by Don DeLillo. It's billed as "a novel," and rightly so, though it depicts the contested life history of Lee Harvey Oswald. Bursting with invention, in the best sense of the word.

19th Century: Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane. Probably DQ'd because Fontane was born in Prussia and wrote it in German. Still, it's an essential piece of historical literature. A beautiful, free-spirited girl is literally destroyed by the prudish, authoritarian society in which she comes of age.

I'm going with Frankenstein and Lolita. This latter will piss off the department because the unwritten rule is that the 20th-cent author should be Canadian. I considered going with Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion, but fuck it.

Reading Frank and Lolita with and against each other will be good.

The students I teach are at a college instead of the research University for a few good reasons: entrance requirements are much lower and admission is easier at the college, tuition is cheaper, and the college offers non-academic programs as well as undergrad degrees. Given this, it would be dickish and stupid to throw Moby-Dick at them.


[Edit: ack]

I would probably teach a Charles Dickens book first, then Mrs. Dalloway second. I think it shows an appropriate progression in both form and style, as well as subject matter.

Yeah, Dickens to Woolf would work, and I like both. There are many pairings.