Same here stilladdicted, the book pile keeps growing and my brain power is ever slowing. I've neglected modern literature for quite some years, but love Peter Carey. So thanks for the heads up on Parrot and Oliver. I
Haven't read Parrot and Oliver yet but it's on my pile - in case it's of any interest, the Book People do a great deal every year on the Booker shortlist - £30 for all six in hardback. It's a good way to get an introduction to writers you might otherwise not get round to reading.
As for five books for American Lit, my choices would be Huck Finn (Mark Twain), Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe), Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck), The Corrections (Frantzen) and The Old Man & The Sea (Hemingway). There's loads of big American writers I haven't read though - e.g. Faulkner, Poe, Bellow so it's not a very informed list.
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]A.S.Byatt huh? Lucky you! If you guys had to select five books as an intro to American Lit., what would they be please?
Plus has anyone read Peter Carey's 'Parrot and Olivier in America' - It looked as though it might be an up to date de Tocqueville?
I'm drowning in a sea of books and I'm not very disciplined in my approach.
Only five?
Then go for the classics:
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
To kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet
Ragtime - E.L.Doctorow
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger (and sequel - The return of Little Big Man).
On the Waterfront - Budd Schulberg
That's more than five, but all are very readable and other than Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime they have had great (or at least pretty decent) movies made out of them.
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]A.S.Byatt huh? Lucky you! If you guys had to select five books as an intro to American Lit., what would they be please?
Plus has anyone read Peter Carey's 'Parrot and Olivier in America' - It looked as though it might be an up to date de Tocqueville?
I'm drowning in a sea of books and I'm not very disciplined in my approach.
Only five?
Then go for the classics:
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
To kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet
Ragtime - E.L.Doctorow
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger (and sequel - The return of Little Big Man).
On the Waterfront - Budd Schulberg
That's more than five, but all are very readable and other than Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime they have had great (or at least pretty decent) movies made out of them.
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]A.S.Byatt huh? Lucky you! If you guys had to select five books as an intro to American Lit., what would they be please?
Plus has anyone read Peter Carey's 'Parrot and Olivier in America' - It looked as though it might be an up to date de Tocqueville?
I'm drowning in a sea of books and I'm not very disciplined in my approach.
Only five?
Then go for the classics:
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
To kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet
Ragtime - E.L.Doctorow
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger (and sequel - The return of Little Big Man).
On the Waterfront - Budd Schulberg
That's more than five, but all are very readable and other than Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime they have had great (or at least pretty decent) movies made out of them.
Portnoy's Complaint for me ;-)
Yes, it tackles a subject I've always been interested in.
Portnoy's complaint? Put me off liver for life! Seems like I've read the classics, but just finished The Phone Book. Not recommended, poor plot, far too many characters and what's with all the Poles at the end?
Comments
As for five books for American Lit, my choices would be Huck Finn (Mark Twain), Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe), Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck), The Corrections (Frantzen) and The Old Man & The Sea (Hemingway). There's loads of big American writers I haven't read though - e.g. Faulkner, Poe, Bellow so it's not a very informed list.
Only five?
Then go for the classics:
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
To kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet
Ragtime - E.L.Doctorow
Little Big Man - Thomas Berger (and sequel - The return of Little Big Man).
On the Waterfront - Budd Schulberg
That's more than five, but all are very readable and other than Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime they have had great (or at least pretty decent) movies made out of them.
i am going back to the all hamsters are muppets clique
you lot are boring
Portnoy's Complaint for me ;-)
Yes, it tackles a subject I've always been interested in.