Timeless classics and modern masterpieces that challenge, inspire, and leave a lasting impact. Ideal for thought-provoking discussions.
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut, 1969
224 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
December, 2012
A movie producer once told Kurt Vonnegut that, if he was planning to write an anti-war book, he might as well write an anti-glacier book—for all the good it would do. Wars are inevitable, "about as easy to stop as glaciers," was the point. Vonnegut agreed.
Why then did Vonnegut go on to publish a novel—about the firebombing of Dresden at the end of World War II? As he later explained, Slaughterhouse-Five was a book he had to write: he himself had been present in Dresden at the very time of its destruction. The rest, of course, is history—Vonnegut's book has become one of the world's great anti-war novels.
The Age of Innocence
Edith Wharton, 1920
~ 300 pp. (varies by publisher)
September 2011
Forbidden love has always found literary expression—as far back as Tristan and Isolde, right up to the present day's Twilight series.
We're drawn to these stories because of the exquisite tension between desire and restraint. That tension mirrors our own and so, when splashed across a huge fictional canvass, our own lives feel enlarged. It's as if we, ourselves, have been part of a grander story. Edith Wharton's novel of forbidden love does just that for us.
The Lord of the Rings (Complete Trilogy)
J.R.R. Tolkein, 1937-1949
432; 352; 432 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
October, 2012
It's preposterous to even attempt a review of Tolkein's classic trilogy. So I won't. What I'll do is write about my experience reading it—all three volumes.
Why I even started...
It was late at night, I couldn't sleep, and I'd run out of books. So I trotted into my daughter's room, rummaged through her bookshelves and found...tah dah!...the entire "Lord of the Rings" series. Why not, I thought. Don't like fantasy...so surely this will put me to sleep.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
William Shakespeare, 1603 (First Quarto)
~150-160 pp. (varies by publisher)
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
September 2012
Hamlet is a difficult read, no getting around it. Yet it's the most thrilling drama in all of Shakespeare—or, as some believe, in all of literature. It is the story of a prince robbed of a father and of his rightful seat on the throne of Denmark.
Love, revenge, betrayal, intrigue at home and abroad—and the most brilliantly complex character in all of literature—comprise the story. Add some of the most dazzling language ever written...and there you have Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
377 pp.
Book Review by Molly Lundquist
May 2012
Lolita has achieved iconic status as a literary masterpiece, albeit a disturbing one, highly disturbing because of its subject matter—pedophilia. What's worse is that you find yourself taking the side of—rooting for, and identifying with—a pedophile. And you even find yourself laughing because the pedophile is a wickedly funny, sophisticated narrator.
How does Nabokov do it? He uses point of view—and turns it on its head. Point of view (see our free LitCourse 7) is how authors get us to identify with certain characters—we see the book's events through their eyes, and usually they're the good guys.