Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 2/5 stars.

When I finished reading this book in my AP Literature class, I literally cheered, clapped, and high-fived my friends sitting next to me. The cycle of complete despair had been broken! My soul could now sing a song of optimism and joy!

Before I read this book, I still had a sliver of doubt in my mind. The doubt that I should include a myriad more classics to my reading list, that my brain would rot and rupture under the strain of contemporary fiction.

No. Just, no.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

I like books that make me feel. I felt pretty anguished and surprised when I read about babies being electrocuted on page 20. Why would anyone electrocute innocent babies, you ask?

‘They’ll grow up with what the psychologists used to call an ‘instinctive’ hatred of books and flowers. Reflexes unalterably conditioned. They’ll be safe from books and botany all their lives.’

No! Not books! Condition them to detest Doritos or cottage cheese – anything but books!

I also like books that make me think. Here is a quote that made me think (I sent it to a friend via text, too):

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3/5 stars.

I encountered my first issue on page four. It was intense enmity at first sight.

“He thought the month was October but he wasnt sure. He hadnt kept a calendar for years.”

Apostrophes!? What happened to those magical things? Then, on page five…

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

I am Holden Caulfield.

Okay, not really. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of all the animosity people feel toward him. He does deserve the hate – he’s hypocritical, judgmental, whiny, and somewhat of a jerk overall. In fact, his awkwardness around the concept of homosexuality almost angered me.

But, as a seventeen-year-old male (just turned 17 last week!) I can honestly say that I connect with Holden.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Rating: 2/5 stars.

“You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.”

Well, that’s depressing.

I actually thought that while reading most of the novel. Either something along the lines of “well, that’s depressing” or “oh my gosh, so much violence.” There is definitely a reason the book is titled Fight Club.

And the book should be depressing, as it deals with heavy and unpleasant topics such as excessive materialism, lack of individualism, and deindividuation.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

Those of you who read this blog are most likely aware that my relationship with my mother is not all bouncing bunnies and beautiful butterflies. As an American-born son raised with traditionally Asian standards, my childhood has been filled with conflicts resulting in screaming matches and bountiful tears. So reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan was quite the vicarious experience – though I am not Chinese nor a daughter, I could connect to several of the themes that ran throughout the novel.

The interweaving vignettes that comprise the book are too intricate to explain completely without writing a long review, but the book is basically about four Chinese women who immigrate to San Francisco. They have all endured great hardship but are each hopeful about their futures as well as their daughters’ futures. Through sixteen short stories we are able to view major events in their lives that have shaped their mindsets, their worlds, and their relationships with one another.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

“‘How can you tell?’ Uncle John demanded. ‘What’s to keep ever’thing from stoppin’; all the folks from jus’ gittin’ tired an’ layin’ down?’

‘Hard to say,’ she said. ‘Ever’thing we do – seems to me is aimed right at goin’ on. Seems that way to me. Even gettin’ hungry – even bein’ sick; some die, but the rest is tougher. Jus’ try to live the day, jus’ the day.’”

Through his telling of the Okies’ struggle to survive the Dust Bowl, John Steinbeck temporarily made me a misanthrope. While I was reading the book I once annotated “why must mankind suck so much”. The Grapes of Wrath, for some, may not be an easy book to stomach due to the horrific hardships the Joads had to handle – not only from their environment and their ill-fortune, but also because of the cruelty of their fellow man.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

Am I the only one who squeals while reading Jane Austen?

No, seriously. I read Frederick Wentworth’s letter to Anne while sitting in my dad’s car, waiting for him outside of Walmart – which may have been one of the most unromantic places to experience that emotion of pure warmth and joy when romance is written oh so right.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

The Great Gatsby is such a beautiful book. Not beautiful in the literal sense – unless you find corruption, cheating, and constant cravings for wealth beautiful – but everything it symbolizes. It tackles so many themes, and this list of my personal favorites only covers a few: perception and reality, the American dream, past versus present versus future, the morality of the 1920′s, etc.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

Cover via sequoits.com.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

EVERYTHING IS A SYMBOL.

Okay, not really. But more things than not, at least when it comes to literature. I was hesitant to read How to Read Literature Like a Professor because I felt that I had not read enough classics to understand what Thomas Foster would be talking about – but then I realized that maybe it was a good idea to read the book before embarking on my literature quest, so I would have some background knowledge heading in. After all, knowledge is power.

And I was right. Though a myriad of the book titles went over my head and some of the examples were consequently confusing, for the most part I feel like I’ve learned a lot from reading this book. Granted, I’m a high school student, so I didn’t know much to begin with, but I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves English, literature, or is interested in reading a book about books. As a bibliophile and self-proclaimed future English major, I loved learning about irony, allusions, and everything else Foster shared using his casual yet sophisticated writing style.

Not a bad book to start out 2012 with. Now to move on to an actual novel…