Which author to choose? Advice please? :)

[amanda62]

I have a project where I have to read 3 works by an author and write a paper about common themes, etc.
I would like to pick an author whose novels I will enjoy and read fairly quickly.

These are the authors I had in mind:
Nathaniel Hawthorne
E.M. Forster
Henry James
Oscar Wilde
F. Scott Fitzgerald
William Faulkner
maybe Khaled Hosseini?

Which author should I choose? Which ones should I definitely not do?
Any book suggestions?
I am open to other author suggestions, however there is a class list and many options have already been taken.

Thanks in advance!

[IntravenousJava]

With Fitzgerald, there is a diminishment of force after The Great Gatsby. This Side of Paradise and Tender is the Night are worth reading, but I'm not sure I would want to draw on either for a serious paper.

Similarly, with Hawthorne, after the big two (The Scarlet Letter and House of the Seven Gables), one must choose between the lesser known The Blithedale Romance and The Marble Faun. However, if you are not limited to novels, either volume of short stories (Twice-Told Tales or Mosses from an Old Manse) would make a suitable third selection.

Since Wilde only produced one novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray), one would have to turn to his dramas for a second and third, in which case The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere's Fan suggest themselves readily enough.

If readability is the primary criterion, Forster or James are the best candidates.

For me, personally, Faulkner would be the only choice (The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Light in August), but Faulkner is neither for the faint of heart nor for those constrained by deadlines.

Hope this is helpful...

[Charles Darnay]

Intravenous broke them down pretty well: except he/she(sorry) left out Fitzgerald's Beautiful and the Damned, which comes close to rivaling Gatsby.

If you are looking for enjoyable, quick, and easy to analyze reads, I would suggest James (Turn of the Screw, Aspen Papers, Alter of the Dead. All very short and, in my opinion, good.

Personally, Fitzgerald is my favourite of those you listed: Great Gatsby, Beautiful and the Damned, Tender Is the Night - but that's just me.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I just voted for who I liked on that list. Hope that helps. . .

[IntravenousJava]

Intravenous broke them down pretty well: except he/she(sorry) left out Fitzgerald's Beautiful and the Damned, which comes close to rivaling Gatsby.

Consider him (me) effectively mollified and corrected. I often suffer unaccountable dead zones in my active memory (damnable aging process!).
Thanks for having my back there; your assessment of The Beautiful and the Damned is spot on.

[amanda62]

Here are the books that I have already read, or had planned to read:
Nathaniel Hawthorne (have already read Scarlet Letter, House of Seven Gables, Snow Image short story)
E.M. Forster (was planning on reading A Passage to India and Where Angels Fear to tread and a short story The Machine)
Henry James (Could read The Portrait of a Lady, Washington Square, or anything else---not attached to either selection)
Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Ernest and The Picture of Dorian Grey and..something)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby, and The Beautiful and the Damned)
William Faulkner (own a box set)

Yay! It seems like what I have somewhat matches up with your suggestions.
The project is due in a week. Ideally I would like to actually read the books, but I'm pretty sure school has drowned out my ability to read at all--which is depressing. I'm hoping someday I'll be able to find my lost passion for reading.. Anyways.

Thank you both sooo much!! Your input is extremely helpful!!

[stlukesguild]

I personally would go with Nathaniel Hawthorne for the simple reason that I greatly admire his works... but I would also note that Hawthorne's work is also rich with recurrent themes and not overly difficult in terms of reading.

[Charles Darnay]

I'm pretty sure school has drowned out my ability to read at all--which is depressing.

While there is some unfortunate truth to this statement, I feel as a teacher I must defend the school system, faulty as it is.

Unless you received this project yesterday and were told you have a week to complete it, it is poor planning that has hindered you from reading these books, not school. Incidentally, if you did receive this project yesterday and have to have it done for next week, you have a terrible teacher. But even as far as terrible teachers go, this seems extreme, so I have the feeling that you had at least a month (depending on your grade, give or take.)

[amanda62]

While there is some unfortunate truth to this statement, I feel as a teacher I must defend the school system, faulty as it is.

Unless you received this project yesterday and were told you have a week to complete it, it is poor planning that has hindered you from reading these books, not school. Incidentally, if you did receive this project yesterday and have to have it done for next week, you have a terrible teacher. But even as far as terrible teachers go, this seems extreme, so I have the feeling that you had at least a month (depending on your grade, give or take.)

I have no problems with the school system, just mine in particular.
It's not poor planning on my part--AP tests just finished (I found it more important to study for $90 tests than waste my time on busywork projects) and I have 4 other projects for that class alone, plus several others, scholarships to apply for (which is more important), a valedictorian speech to write, and a summer job to secure. I wish I could have more productive projects like this one, but alas that is not the case.
It's not reading for school that has left me unable to read at all--it's my particular teachers. Assigning nothing but busywork, abusing their teaching duties to AP and honors classes simply because we behave, leaving us no time on our own to actually learn... (For example, assigning a ton of summer reading and rewarding those who did not do it by happily printing off sparknotes). And my vision has become significantly worse over these past four years.

I'm really sorry about my rant, I just deeply regret wasting my time at my school and I have so many things to do I am stressed.
Sorry again.

[Charles Darnay]

Don't apologize for a rant; it defeats the purpose of it. Your complaints are apt on two levels. Busy work is the worst thing to happen to schools. Furthermore, some teachers don't understand AP and assume "more challenging programme equals larger quantity of work."

Congrats on valedictorian: despite the extra work it is an honor.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

What you should do an AP class is delve deeper into works, not read as many as humanly possible. Of course, having class discussions on the material is a lot harder than giving busy work. If I got the amazing opportunity to teach a high school AP literature class, I'd do discussions a lot, and I'd enjoy it.

And, yeah, congrats. I was such a slacker in high school. And now I'm a teacher! Irony.

[kelby_lake]

I'd go for Faulkner or Fitzgerald (you could even do The Last Tycoon, although it's an unfinished novel).

[amanda62]

Don't apologize for a rant; it defeats the purpose of it. Your complaints are apt on two levels. Busy work is the worst thing to happen to schools. Furthermore, some teachers don't understand AP and assume "more challenging programme equals larger quantity of work."

Congrats on valedictorian: despite the extra work it is an honor.

Haha I suppose it does defeat the purpose of it, nevertheless I didn't mean to use this thread as a means to complain.
Thanks! and thanks for your understanding and for all your help!

[amanda62]

What you should do an AP class is delve deeper into works, not read as many as humanly possible. Of course, having class discussions on the material is a lot harder than giving busy work. If I got the amazing opportunity to teach a high school AP literature class, I'd do discussions a lot, and I'd enjoy it.

And, yeah, congrats. I was such a slacker in high school. And now I'm a teacher! Irony.

I completely agree, unfortunately that is furthest from the case. But honestly, I don't understand what they were trying to accomplish. I mean, I guess it's good to have a basic background on classic texts, but by the time you get through all those books you can't remember them haha. For the AP test, an extensive knowledge of about 5 books would be more than sufficient for the one novel-based essay. I feel like my AP essay ended up being really superficial. I wish we wouldn't have just sped through everything.

You sound like you'd be a great AP teacher!