As an English major, I read 7-8 books per English class per semester. (I know, it is a lot). Because of this, even as I am only in my third semester, I have read quite a large amount of books here at Berkeley. As a book lover, I love reading for school…But that doesn't mean that I enjoy everything we read in class. Some of the books I have loved, some I have hated, and then there are many in between. There are also a lot of short stories and poems included in the readings for these classes that I have loved (or hated). Today I want to share some of the literature that I have loved from class.
In no specific order:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Yes, it is basic– but that doesn’t make it less good! Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail reads it every year, and with good reason! Angst, love, and the original enemies to lovers trope, all in the Georgian Era. While my class, English 45B: The Late-17th through the Mid-19th Century, didn’t talk solely about Lizzie and Darcy as much as I would have loved… All the conversations were insightful and fun.
Evelina by Frances Burney
Written in the epistolary form, this novel is the fun older sister of Pride and Prejudice. It touches on similar themes of marriage, women, economic status, and of course L-O-V-E. This was read in the same 45B class and I enjoyed it almost as much. Burney was a big inspiration for Austen and it shows.
“If We Must Die” by Claude Mckay
A break from the novels, this is a poem written in 1919 about the mob attacks against African-Americans during the Red Summer. A tone change from the previous two pieces of literature mentioned but a very important piece of poetry. This is a must read about resisting oppression. I read this in my English 90: Poetry in Revolution class, and this is both one of my favorite classes and favorite reads.
The Dubliners by James Joyce
This is a collection of short stories set in the mundane Irish middle class life. I found each of the stories we read in class, English 45C: The Mid-19th through the Mid-20th Century, to be a compelling and thought provoking naturalistic read. I really enjoy literature that touches on realistic life, things like relationships, politics, and religion. I didn’t expect to enjoy these short stories so much, but found this to be one of my favorites from the course.
The Masks of Anarchy by Michael Demson
I read this graphic novel in the previously mentioned poetry class. It tells the story of Percy Shelley writing “The Masque of Anarchy”, the ramifications of that, and how Pauline Newman is connected to it. This was the first graphic novel that I had read in a regular, non decal class (I’ll explain in a bit, for perspective students), and I found myself really enjoying it. It did seem like it was meant for a bit of a younger audience, but it led to a lot of good conversations as we had read Shelley’s poetry a week beforehand.
Beartown by Frederick Backman
I read this novel in a Young Adult Literature course called a decal. Decal stands for “Democratic Education at Cal”, with these courses being nicher topics that are facilitated and taught by other students. Currently I am a facilitator for the course this fall (2023), but last semester I took the course as a student and our Contemporary fiction week was this novel. I had heard of the novel beforehand but never gave it a chance and it is now one of my all time favorite books. The basic synopsis of the novel is: a Swedish town centered around hockey has a community breaking event that changes everything. This book does have trigger warnings that are important to look up if you are interested in reading, but I do think this is a must read novel assuming you are able. This YA Lit class touched on whether or not this book should be taught in high school literature courses, and I am a strong advocate that it should be.
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There are also a few books that I will be reading later this semester that I am super excited to start reading! I obviously don’t know what they entail just yet, but based on their synopsis they sound quite compelling. I will try to describe them based on the little I know!
These are:
The Days of Locust by Nathaniel West: A novel set in 1930s Hollywood about young aspiring artists and the savage nature of the industry
Severance by Ling Ma: A post apocalyptic office novel that is both a satire and a coming-of-adulthood tale. I am debatably most excited to read this one. Discusses capitalism, immigration, race, gender, and many other things in that realm.
Heaven is all Goodbyes by Tongo Eisen-Martin: A poetry collection published by City Lights Books in San Francisco! All I know is that it is revolutionary poetry.