As a graduate of a high school with a heavy English focus and a current English Major here at Colby, it’s fair to say I have gone through my fair share of literature. Some novels I couldn’t put down, and others made me want to never read again (Great Expectations, I’m looking at you). Thinking back on everything that I’ve read for class the past couple of years, I compiled a short list of classics that I find well worth the read.
Frankenstein, 1823 – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: This seems to be a pretty unpopular opinion, but Frankenstein may just be my all time favorite piece of classic lit. It’s a story that has it all. Mad scientist? Monsters? Murder? Check, check, and check. And not to bring my English major geekiness out to play, but this book can be looked at through so many lenses– feminist theory, ecocriticism, a warning of the dangers of technology, you name it. It was the first book I read that really brought me out of my shell in the classroom and made me excited to participate in discussion my sophomore year of high school, which may be why it holds a special place in my heart.
Benito Cereno, 1855 – Herman Melville: Although one of Melville’s less famous works, it’s probably my favorite. This novella is about a man named Captain Delano who comes to the aid of a Spanish slave ship in distress after a storm. As Delano spends time on the ship, it begins to appear that nothing is as it seems. Melville’s use of unreliable narration leads to an unexpected ending, and you realize that there were so many clues throughout the piece that you just didn’t see. If you read it a second time (which I recommend!), you won’t believe that you missed them.
The Sound and the Fury, 1929 – William Faulkner: Told in four distinct sections and several narrative styles, this book centers on the Compson family of Jefferson, Mississippi in the 1920s. Families are messy and complicated, and this fictional bunch is no different. Fun fact: there is a plaque commemorating one of the characters, Quentin, on the Anderson Memorial Bridge in Cambridge. Another fun fact: I’m such a nerd that when I was visiting colleges in Boston with my dad, I dragged him with me to go find it. Only it was 90 degrees out, I took us to the wrong bridge, and when we walked three miles down the river to the right one, it was under construction and the memorial was temporarily removed. I was sweaty, frizzy-haired, and utterly crushed. My dad still hasn’t let me live it down.
To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960 – Harper Lee: Widely read and beloved in many middle schools and high schools, this book has made the news a lot in recent years. In 2015, just a few months before Lee died, the sequel Go Set a Watchman was published. On November 1st last year, it debuted as a broadway play. And in recent years, more and more schools have debated banning, or have banned, the book from their curriculums. One school pulled it for making students “uncomfortable.” However, isn’t the point of the novel to make us uncomfortable? The topics of rape and racial inequality are heavy, but handled with a certain care that makes it an important novel for everyone to read, middle schoolers and adults alike.
Between the World and Me, 2015 – Ta-Nehisi Coates: At the moment more modern than it is a classic, this book deftly captures the current race relation reality of the US with startling poignancy. An open letter from the author to his son, Coates writes about the feelings and realities associated with being black in America. Drawing from history, the news, and his own life story, he explains to his son, and to all of us, the “racist violence that has been woven into American culture.” Although not yet taught in classrooms everywhere, in fall 2016 Washington University in St. Louis made it required reading for all incoming first years. In today’s current social and political climate, it’s an important read for all.
So whether you’re a true classics connoisseur or are just starting to dip your toe in, these five are definitely worth adding to your reading list.