Eighth Grade Existentialism

I think it is great that your son is reading existential works at an early age. I would also love to know what he thinks about the book. It will give us a sense of how a kid views actions that he will inevitably face as he changes and grows with time.

Also if he is interested and wants to read more, "The Flies" by Sartre is a good book for a highschool level. It also gives a very Nietzsche like idea at the end.

I just wanna say THANK YOU so much for setting an example by turning to the encyclopedia for information, lol. As a Writing Center tutor one of the main things they emphasize to us is that if students come in and have to write a paper on something they don't know much about, don't give it to them, get them to research it. If only they had been encouraged to do this from younger they would save themselves so much trouble! :)

you are awesome.

heheh...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TodHackett

If an American existential tradition exists, I think there are works one can point to that highlight it.

Some candidates (novels):

Palahniuk, _Fight Club_, _Survivor_
Heller, _Catch-22_
Kesey, _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_
Vonnegut, _Mother Night_, _The Sirens of Titan_
West, _Miss Lonelyhearts_
Dreiser, _An American Tragedy_

Some candidates (critical works):

Giddens, _The Consequences of Modernity_
Toffler, _Future Shock_
Boorstin, _The Image_

Any other suggestions?

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Catcher in the Rye count?

I'm glad to see Ralph Ellison being mentioned. I enjoyed "Invisible Man".

=O I love your avatar. (above poster's)
But, I think existentialism is way too vague, you can pin that tag on just about every modern classics. Well, even books that don't get labeled as existentialist works, do not show that they're not, and I think the term is overused.
Camus isn't a hard read though so it should be fine, (don't want to give him a bad experience/impression or he might never read similar books again.) I would hold off on the sartre and the nietzche philosophy until later though.

I'm very much drawn to E as a worldview but I agree it's difficult to define. I think if one goes through the really influential E writers and highlight their primary themes one can begin to see a kind of pattern or "groundwork" that make up the general E thought. The more you branch out, the more complex and contradictory it becomes (from Kierkegaard's "All for God" to Nietzsche's "God is dead"). I think, however, two of primary and overlapping things are the importance placed on subjectivity and individual choice.

Also, to the OP: I love the way you handled the situation. I wish more parents could be like that. Well done.