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TracyQ
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I would just like others' opinions on whether they think this college bound reading list is a good one or not. I found it while perusing, and there are lots of lists, but I have trouble knowing which ones are really good or not. Thanks!
College Bound Reading List
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Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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teachingmom
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Hi Tracy,
I just took a quick look at the list. Lots of great classics there. Also some that I have not heard of. I will give you a heads up about D.H. Lawrence. Sons and Lovers has been described as obscene, and some of his later works are considered pornographic. And I'm not sure of the suitability of Madame Bovary for a Catholic high schooler, considering the topic. Maybe someone else who has studied it can speak to that.
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MarilynW
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I read DH Lawrence in High School - horrid, depressing and in my opinion unsuitable.
Madame Bovary I read it in French for high school French lit - inappropriate for high school I think. I also did it for college French - I found it distressing anyway - but that whole subject is something I do not care for don't like movies or anything about infidelity.
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Erin
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Tracy
I'm probably familiar with about 60-70% of the books on the list. Some are great books, some are not, like the ones above there are a few more I remember my mother not allowing me to read at that age either. I can give you a thumbs up or down per known book if you like but my perspective is pretty conservative. Do you want conservative?
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TracyQ
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Erin wrote:
Tracy
I can give you a thumbs up or down per known book if you like but my perspective is pretty conservative. Do you want conservative? |
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That would be helpful, Erin, if it's not too much trouble. I am trying to figure out what the best would be to use for high school. We've done OK so far, but want to have it more cemented down with the last two kids. 
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Erin
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Sorry not to have got back before now. I'll just write about the ones I know.
Some of these look really good, some not.
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Reading is a crime and firemen burn books in this futuristic society.
This is a brilliant book, lots of great discussion to be had from this one. Certainly fine for an 11th grader, actually even a younger teenager.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
The Great Gatsby
A young man corrupts himself and the American Dream to regain a lost love.
Pretty certain this in NOT suitable. Even the description doesn't sound promising. (One I was not allowed to read anyway  )
Hemingway, Ernest
A Farewell to Arms
During World War I, an American lieutenant runs away with the woman who nurses him back to health.
Not too sure but I have a vague memory that Ernest Hemingway either writes some unsuitable books or it may be that they are rather boring.
Kesey, Ken
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A novel about a power struggle between the head nurse and one of the male patients in a mental institution.
I remember my mother not allowing me to read this when everyone else in my 10th grade class did. I believe she said it was rather depressing and disturbing. So you'd have to check this one out for suitability for an 11th grader.
Lee, Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
At great peril to himself and his children, lawyer Atticus Finch defends an African-American man accused of raping a white woman in a small Alabama town.
Suitable for an 11th grader, rather well written, very thought provoking.
London, Jack
Call of the Wild
Buck is a loyal pet dog until cruel men make him a pawn in their search for Klondike gold.
Fine
Melville, Herman
Moby-Dick
A complex novel about a mad sea captain's pursuit of the White Whale.
Fine
Salinger, J.D.
The Catcher in the Rye
A prep school dropout rejects the "phoniness" he sees all about him.
I remember Mum giving the thumbs down on this in 10th grade too, so you'll have to pre-read to check for an 11th grader.
Steinbeck, John
The Grapes of Wrath
The desperate flight of tenant farmers from Oklahoma during the Depression.
Rather depressing and grim but suitable for an older child.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The classic tale that awakened a nation about the slave system.
Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, travel down the Mississippi in search of freedom.
Suitable for an 11th grader. Huck is for an older age group than Tom Sawyer.
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
A scientist invents a machine that transports him into the future
Fine.
I'll write about World Lit. later. Hope this is of some help.
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TracyQ
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Thank you, Erin!!! 
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Mama Mia 4
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Hi,
This is my first official post.
I was an English major in college and have read many of the titles on the list. I'll list the ones I've read (or are familiar with) and give my opinion.
American Literature:
Cather, Willa
My Antonia
~Never read, but Cather's other works come highly remommended.
Crane, Stephen
The Red Badge of Courage
~We'll be reading this this year (11th grade); highly recommended.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
The Great Gatsby
~Read in college; not recommended for high school
Hawthorne, Nathaniel
The Scarlet Letter
~Read in college; okay for an older teen.
Hemingway, Ernest
A Farewell to Arms
~Read in college. I'm not a Hemingway fan; while this novel is okay, it's a bit depressing. My ds liked 'The Old Man and the Sea' better.
Lee, Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
~We're reading this this year; highly recommended
Lewis, Sinclair
Main Street
~Read some of Lewis' other titles in college; okay, but not my first choice
London, Jack
Call of the Wild
~Will be reading this this year; comes highly recommended.
Melville, Herman
Moby-Dick
~Read some of Melville's other works; if you want to sample his works, but want something a bit shorter, try 'Billy Budd'
Morrison, Toni
Sula
~Read in college; would not recommend for high school.
Poe, Edgar Allan
Great Tales and Poems
~Ds read this last year and loved it (he likes mysteries). Highly recommended, especially boys.
Salinger, J.D.
The Catcher in the Rye
~Read in high school; boring book, much ado about nothing, IMHO
Sinclair, Upton
The Jungle
~Read in high school; I actually liked it (although our teacher didn't require us to read the last chapter...too much socialism).
Steinbeck, John
The Grapes of Wrath
~I've never read this, but heard great things about it; if you're interested in something shorter, 'The Pearl' is good.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Uncle Tom's Cabin
~Ds is reading this this year; comes highly recommended.
Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
~Read in college; good for older teens.
Walker, Alice
The Color Purple
~Read in college; would not recommend for high school.
Wright, Richard
Native Son
~Read in college; would not recommend for high school.
I'll post my opinions on the other sections in the next post.
Joanna
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Mama Mia 4
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World Literature
Austen, Jane
Pride and Prejudice
~Read for fun; highly recommended.
Bronte, Charlotte
Jane Eyre
~Never read, but highly recommended.
Bronte, Emily
Wuthering Heights
~Never read, but highly recommended.
Conrad, Joseph
Heart of Darkness
~Read in college; recommended for an older teen.
Defoe, Daniel
Robinson Crusoe
~Never read, but highly recommended.
Dickens, Charles
Great Expectations
~Read Dickens other works; recommended for older teens.
Eliot, George
The Mill on the Floss
~Read in college; recommended for older teens.
Golding, William
Lord of the Flies
~Read in 8th grade; extremely depressing; not recommended
Hardy, Thomas
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
~Read in college; not recommended for high school.
Hesse, Hermann
Siddhartha
~Read in high school; okay for older teens, but not a 'must read'
Lawrence, D.H.
Sons and Lovers
~Never read this, but I did read another of his works; not recommended at all!!!
Orwell, George
Animal Farm
~Read in high school; a recommended classic.
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
~Read in high school; recommended
Biography/History
Frank, Anne
The Diary of a Young Girl
~Read in high school; highly recommended, although try to stay away from newer editions.
Thoreau, Henry David
Walden
~Read in high school; recommended.
Tocqueville, Alexis de
Democracy in America
~Read in college; highly recommended for older teens.
I'll finish up my analysis in my next post.
Joanna
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Mama Mia 4
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And finally:
Science
Attenborough, David
The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth
~I LOVE David Attenborough; highly recommended for the budding Naturalist!
Darwin, Charles
The Origin of Species
~Read in college; highly recommended, especially for science-minded students.
Social Science
Campbell, Joseph
The Power of Myth
~I used to like Joseph Campbell in my pre-conversion days, but I wouldn't recommended him, especially to high schoolers.
Drama
Ibsen, Henrik
A Doll's House
~Read in college; probably not for high school.
Miller, Arthur
Death of a Salesman
~Read in college; okay for older teens.
O'Neill, Eugene
Long Day's Journey Into Night
~Read in college; probably not for high school.
Shakespeare, William
Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet,
Macbeth, Twelfth Night, others.
~Read many of the Bard's plays; highly recommended...don't forget the sonnets (also, try to see a play in person)
Wilde, Oscar
The Importance of Being Earnest
~Read in college; highly recommended.
Wilder, Thornton
Our Town
~Read in 8th grade; to be honest, I can't remember what it was about, but it comes highly recommended.
Williams, Tennessee
A Streetcar Named Desire
~Read in college; not recommended for high school.
I hope this helps.
Joanna
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SallyT
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I was a high-school English teacher, long ago, so have both read and taught a lot of novels on this list. Some I'd teach again, some I would not. Just to add to Joanna's good rundown:
Willa Cather is wonderful, and My Antonia is a very good introduction. My personal favorite novel of hers is O Pioneers, which is shorter and a wonderful read, but contains a (well and morally-handled) mature theme: the beloved younger brother of the protagonist loves a married woman, and the outcome is tragic. Antonia is a happier novel with fewer moral complications.
In A Farewell to Arms, the Hemingway novel, much of the story centers on the protagonist's non-marital relationship with an army nurse during WWI -- she is pregnant, has a stillborn child, and dies at the end. I read it in high school, and it's a standard, but you'd have to decide how you wanted to proceed. I don't like Hemingway much, but he's one of those authors one at least ought to know about.
I really think a high-schooler can live without J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. Better to read the Harlem Renaissance poets (black poets of the 1920s -- Langston Hughes is the most famous) if you need "diversity" in your list.
Of George Eliot novels, you could also choose Silas Marner, which is shorter (I think) and (as I recall) also less morally ambiguous. It's also a standard high-school choice. My personal favorite Eliot novel is Middlemarch, but it's a big read.
I did read The Great Gatsby in high school; again, it's a standard. The plot runs thus: in a 1920s Long Island, NY, setting, the narrator is an onlooker onto a triangle between Jay Gatsby, a self-made (and also Mob-made) millionaire; Daisy, a woman to whom he had been engaged before the war; and her boorish and unfaithful husband. All ends in disaster and the death of Gatsby. So: mature themes, but realistic in its treatment of the consequences of sin. You would have to decide, but most students entering college would have read this as juniors in American Lit.
I would NOT read Ken Kesey. Not sure I'd think Herman Hesse was worth the time . . . but then my own orientation is very much towards tradition, reading forward from classical epics, especially the Iliad and Odyssey (because the Trojan War just won't go away -- it turns up in everything), Beowulf, Arthurian legends, Chaucer, etc. So that's how I've been prioritizing -- for whatever that's worth!
Sally
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TracyQ
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Thank you SO much, Joanna and Sally! I really appreciate you all taking the time to help me flesh out this list! 
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Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Is this College Bound reading list good?
