Queens' College, Cambridge

[k.brignell]

Hello all, I am applying to you for your help. Next year I am hoping, wishing and praying to the gods that I might read English Literature at Cambridge. I have decided that Queens' College is the one for me and have researched the application process. Their website says that the interviewer will be looking for people who have read books that are a bit out of the norm, i.e, South African fiction. So if you could help me out by recommending books that are not going to necessarily going to be on Waterstones best sellers but perhaps should be or pieces of literature from other cultures that have affected you profoundly. From one literature lover to another.

[kelby_lake]

I wish I was clever enough to get into Cambridge.

Well, I'd suggest getting a broad knowledge of the history of world literature. So instead of saying "I have read some poetry by Keats", you can say "I have studied Romanticism- in particular, the Romantic poets". Most people would do that but as Romanticism is a pretty big branch, encompassing other countries and areas of the arts as well, you can discuss it as a movement.

Also, make sure that your general knowledge (geography, history, politics, etc.) is up to scratch. The sort of people who get into Oxbridge are incredibly intellectual and knowledgeable about things outside of their curriculum and subject.

[k.brignell]

Thank you, that is really good advice. I lived in Australia for 4 years so I thought it might be a good idea to read lots of Australian fiction.

[mal4mac]

I'm sure SA fiction isn't a requirement, perhaps you mean "e.g." rather than "i.e."?

Having said that, "Youth" by J.M Coetzee affected me profoundly, though perhaps for rather personal reasons. He gives an account of his problems with a series of computing jobs - something I could identify with. It's the second part of his "autobiography in the style of a novel" and deals with his move to the UK from South Africa - a similar move to what you are trying to make! So you might identify with that bit, and also his academic pursuits in literature. The other two parts of the autobiography are also interesting, but if I could only chose one this would be it.

... and I would only choose one - if you become an expert on SA fiction it may look like you are trying too hard and taking their suggestions too much to heart!

More important than reading a particular set of books is having a *good reason* for reading the books you read, and articulating that.

Cambridge is really difficult to get into, so I wouldn't put all your eggs in that basket. There are many other good Universities in the UK.

[Seasider]

You might think about Post -colonial English Literature which has some fine writers whose first language was not English..Kazuo Ishiguro, Arundhati Roi, VS Naipaul,Wole Soyinka,Chinua Achebe, Vikram Seth...I don't know about Salman Rushdie, but he might be one. They bring an Internationalism into English writing which I find find very attractive.

[JBI]

You all are assuming they are primarily looking for fiction - ever thought bending of genre would be important?

Either way, make sure to rent the movie The History Boys.

[Whifflingpin]

Isn't that Milton's old college? Maybe a bit of Comus or Lycidas would be in order

[mal4mac]

You might think about Post -colonial English Literature which has some fine writers whose first language was not English..Kazuo Ishiguro, Arundhati Roi, VS Naipaul,Wole Soyinka,Chinua Achebe, Vikram Seth...I don't know about Salman Rushdie, but he might be one. They bring an Internationalism into English writing which I find find very attractive.

Are you sure about English not being first, or joint first, language in at least some of these cases? Naipul was born in Trinidad, where he must have been immersed in English from birth.

I read "A House for Mr Biswas" recently, which I'd definitely recommend.

But I'd recommend The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth even more, especially as you're looking for something "different". It's a modern novel in verse composed in Onegin stanzas (sonnets written in iambic tetrameter, with the rhyme scheme following the unusual ababccddeffegg pattern of Eugene Onegin).

All good meat for the interview stew... it's also a surprisingly easy & fun read!

[JBI]

Are you sure about English not being first, or joint first, language in at least some of these cases? Naipul was born in Trinidad, where he must have been immersed in English from birth.

I read "A House for Mr Biswas" recently, which I'd definitely recommend.

But I'd recommend The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth even more, especially as you're looking for something "different". It's a modern novel in verse composed in Onegin stanzas (sonnets written in iambic tetrameter, with the rhyme scheme following the unusual ababccddeffegg pattern of Eugene Onegin).

All good meat for the interview stew... it's also a surprisingly easy & fun read!

The problem is Seth's verse doesn't breathe - he is such a contrived classicist in that regard, though I am glad someone else has read that book.