Travels with Charley: In Search of America, by John Steinbeck (1962)
Steinbeck just travels around the country for three months with his elderly poodle, recording his observations of what he found along the way. It's really good, thus adding another listing to my "novelists I dislike, but love their nonfiction work" along with Stephen King, Anne LaMotte and others. For Creative Nonfiction.
Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, by Jon Sciezka (1998)
One of his series of Time Warp Trio books, in this one he sends his characters into a world populated entirely by book characters. Things go haywire, which is what happens when you have sentences like "I saw Dracula putting Winnie-the-Pooh in a headlock." I wanted to like this, but I just couldn't quite do it. For Children's Lit.
Alcibiades I, by Plato (390s BC)
Socrates is trying to instruct a younger man named Alcibiades. For our Humanities Seminar pre-capstone course.
The Symposium, by Plato (385-370 BC)
Basically a bunch of drunk Greeks are celebrating their friend the Dionysian-winning playwright, by debating all night in long-winded speeches on the topic of what love is....and we hear this third- or fourth-hand. For Seminar.
The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes (1944)
A young immigrant girl is bullied by her classmates, and this leads to her family moving away. Only then do her schoolmates realize the talent Wanda had for drawing. For Children's Lit.
Henry IV, Part One, by William Shakespeare (1597)
Probably his most famous history. It would make for a good modern adaptation. For Seminar.
Edgar Huntly: or, Memoirs of a Sleep-walker, by Charles Brockden Brown (1799)
This might have been the first American novel. Mostly, a bored gentleman stumbles around in the forest after sleepwalking. There is also a random and exceedingly vicious turn into Indian slaying, which is somehow the best part of the novel by far. For Early American Lit.
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (1905)
I really enjoyed this way more than I expected. A little girl acts very good, despite a string of terrible living conditions. For Children's Lit.
Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White (1952)
The classic tale of how a spider saves a young pig's life. It says a ton bout writing, about life, about friendship. It's a masterpiece. Which is part of the reason I wrote an essay on it this semester. For Children's Lit.
Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer (2009)
A vegan explores all the processing that goes into the meat consumed in the country from raising to slaughtering. Very well researched, but the organization is cluttered, which weakens his arguments a good deal. For Creative Nonfiction.
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943)
I don't understand French literature, but this seemed like a primer on nihilism. And it's the most popular French work ever. For Children's Lit.
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women, by Cornelia Meigs (1933)
While this was a Newbery Award winner, as a biography it's horrible. But I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt by saying that the excessively-cheerful and preachy tone was due to being written in the Great Depression. For research on an Early American Lit essay.
Billy Budd, Sailor, by Herman Melville (1924)
First off, it's a ship novel. We don't understand maritime life, living in landlocked Oklahoma. Secondly, it was written by Melville, who can make Dickens's prose look appealing. An unbearably naive sailor gets on the bad side of an officer, finally punches and accidentally murders him, and thus he is hanged. The narrator has heard this story through several other people, and the facts happened roughly seventy years ago. And it felt like everyone in this novel was gay, which didn't help. For Early American Lit.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio (2012)
This was a vaguely-yet-deeply-offensive novel about a boy with special needs. I can't figure out what I hated so much about it, but there is some core issue that was warped somehow into a disturbing final product. There was too much multiple narration, for one thing, although I loved the sister's voice. For Children's Lit.
The Spectacular Now, by Tim Tharp (2008)
This takes place in the Oklahoma City area, probably Moore, somewhere between 2006-08. Our narrator is an appallingly irritating alcoholic loser coasting through senioritis by taking on the project of transforming a geeky, hard-working papergirl into a wild child. And he succeeds. They're going to move to St. Louis and start their lives over there. And then he indirectly breaks her arm, and he vanishes from her life while wallowing in self-pity. It's dreadful.
The author never gives clear concrete details about basic facts, either. The dialogue doesn't feel realistic, and everything is far too urban for me to relate to. There is an extremely subtle shoutout to RSU, which I thought was kind of funny, as the author is a professor at some community college around OKC. For Children's Lit.
Emma, by Jane Austen (1813)
Long-winded rich people in England gossip about other folks in their small town. All the other normal Austen things happen - misunderstandings, sicknesses, mawwiage - but except for Emma herself, and possibly Mr. Knightley, I hated every single other character. And I don't think we're even supposed to like Emma Woodhouse; she's selfish and manipulative, and never thinks of anyone else's feelings, but somehow I still liked her. This is not one of Jane Austen's best books, so I was very disappointed. Still, it was better than a lot of other things I plowed through this semester. For Seminar.
Just watch Clueless instead. You'll get the most important parts of the story, lots of 90's slang and Bobby Newport.
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate (2012)
This won the Newbery Award, and it deserved it. Through his paintings, a lonesome 27-year-old gorilla named Ivan masterminds the closure of a circus and moves himself and the baby elephant he takes care of to a zoo. It would make an amazing audiobook; my favorite character was Bob the snarky stray dog, who is Ivan's best friend. It's for the dreamers who understand Garth's song "The River," but more generally, it's about hope and the importance of storytelling. For Children's Lit.
Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, by Jon Sciezka (1998)
One of his series of Time Warp Trio books, in this one he sends his characters into a world populated entirely by book characters. Things go haywire, which is what happens when you have sentences like "I saw Dracula putting Winnie-the-Pooh in a headlock." I wanted to like this, but I just couldn't quite do it. For Children's Lit.
Alcibiades I, by Plato (390s BC)
Socrates is trying to instruct a younger man named Alcibiades. For our Humanities Seminar pre-capstone course.
The Symposium, by Plato (385-370 BC)
Basically a bunch of drunk Greeks are celebrating their friend the Dionysian-winning playwright, by debating all night in long-winded speeches on the topic of what love is....and we hear this third- or fourth-hand. For Seminar.
The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes (1944)
A young immigrant girl is bullied by her classmates, and this leads to her family moving away. Only then do her schoolmates realize the talent Wanda had for drawing. For Children's Lit.
Henry IV, Part One, by William Shakespeare (1597)
Probably his most famous history. It would make for a good modern adaptation. For Seminar.
Edgar Huntly: or, Memoirs of a Sleep-walker, by Charles Brockden Brown (1799)
This might have been the first American novel. Mostly, a bored gentleman stumbles around in the forest after sleepwalking. There is also a random and exceedingly vicious turn into Indian slaying, which is somehow the best part of the novel by far. For Early American Lit.
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (1905)
I really enjoyed this way more than I expected. A little girl acts very good, despite a string of terrible living conditions. For Children's Lit.
Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White (1952)
The classic tale of how a spider saves a young pig's life. It says a ton bout writing, about life, about friendship. It's a masterpiece. Which is part of the reason I wrote an essay on it this semester. For Children's Lit.
Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer (2009)
A vegan explores all the processing that goes into the meat consumed in the country from raising to slaughtering. Very well researched, but the organization is cluttered, which weakens his arguments a good deal. For Creative Nonfiction.
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943)
I don't understand French literature, but this seemed like a primer on nihilism. And it's the most popular French work ever. For Children's Lit.
Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women, by Cornelia Meigs (1933)
While this was a Newbery Award winner, as a biography it's horrible. But I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt by saying that the excessively-cheerful and preachy tone was due to being written in the Great Depression. For research on an Early American Lit essay.
Billy Budd, Sailor, by Herman Melville (1924)
First off, it's a ship novel. We don't understand maritime life, living in landlocked Oklahoma. Secondly, it was written by Melville, who can make Dickens's prose look appealing. An unbearably naive sailor gets on the bad side of an officer, finally punches and accidentally murders him, and thus he is hanged. The narrator has heard this story through several other people, and the facts happened roughly seventy years ago. And it felt like everyone in this novel was gay, which didn't help. For Early American Lit.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio (2012)
This was a vaguely-yet-deeply-offensive novel about a boy with special needs. I can't figure out what I hated so much about it, but there is some core issue that was warped somehow into a disturbing final product. There was too much multiple narration, for one thing, although I loved the sister's voice. For Children's Lit.
The Spectacular Now, by Tim Tharp (2008)
This takes place in the Oklahoma City area, probably Moore, somewhere between 2006-08. Our narrator is an appallingly irritating alcoholic loser coasting through senioritis by taking on the project of transforming a geeky, hard-working papergirl into a wild child. And he succeeds. They're going to move to St. Louis and start their lives over there. And then he indirectly breaks her arm, and he vanishes from her life while wallowing in self-pity. It's dreadful.
The author never gives clear concrete details about basic facts, either. The dialogue doesn't feel realistic, and everything is far too urban for me to relate to. There is an extremely subtle shoutout to RSU, which I thought was kind of funny, as the author is a professor at some community college around OKC. For Children's Lit.
Emma, by Jane Austen (1813)
Long-winded rich people in England gossip about other folks in their small town. All the other normal Austen things happen - misunderstandings, sicknesses, mawwiage - but except for Emma herself, and possibly Mr. Knightley, I hated every single other character. And I don't think we're even supposed to like Emma Woodhouse; she's selfish and manipulative, and never thinks of anyone else's feelings, but somehow I still liked her. This is not one of Jane Austen's best books, so I was very disappointed. Still, it was better than a lot of other things I plowed through this semester. For Seminar.
Just watch Clueless instead. You'll get the most important parts of the story, lots of 90's slang and Bobby Newport.
The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate (2012)
This won the Newbery Award, and it deserved it. Through his paintings, a lonesome 27-year-old gorilla named Ivan masterminds the closure of a circus and moves himself and the baby elephant he takes care of to a zoo. It would make an amazing audiobook; my favorite character was Bob the snarky stray dog, who is Ivan's best friend. It's for the dreamers who understand Garth's song "The River," but more generally, it's about hope and the importance of storytelling. For Children's Lit.
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