[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 9 KB, 196x265, sheep055.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR] No.2155233 [Reply] [Original]

For a course I get to study one post-1990 piece of text out of the following:

Pat Barker - Regeneration
Sebastian Faulks - Birdsong
Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assasin; Alias Grace
Ian McEwan - Enduring Love; On Chesil Beach
Martin Amis - Time's Arrow
Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
Cormac McCarthy - The Road
Monica Ali - Brick Lane
Zadie Smith - White Teeth
Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things

Which ones are worth reading, and which one should I go on to study?

>> No.2155245

/lit/'s essentials:
>Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assasin
>Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
>Cormac McCarthy - The Road
>Zadie Smith - White Teeth

go with:
>The Road

>> No.2155248

>>2155245

Who the fuck is Zadie Smith and where do you get off listing him/her in a "/lit/ essentials" list?

Do the Ishiguro OP.

>> No.2155250

I have read The Road, Enduring Love, and On Chesil Beach. Personally I enjoyed The Road the most, but I wouldn't want to study it... my enjoyment of it was mostly because of its writing style, but the whole premise of a post-apocalypse setting makes me roll my eyes. It's very well-done though. I think the best thing is its prose.

Personally I'd go with Enduring Love. McEwan creates tension very well, in spite of the fact that his characters are cardboard cut outs. Thematically speaking, it's very easy to get your teeth into. On Chesil Beach is a pointless novel - it's just purple prose.

>> No.2155256
File: 35 KB, 500x328, xjobz5hofa.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>2155248
http://archive.gentoomen.org/cgi-board.pl/lit/?task=search&ghost=&search_text=zadie

>> No.2155262

>>2155250

That's not what purple prose is. At what point does it get verbose and overwrought?

I won't argue that On Chesil Beach is a novel of no particular consequence, but it's beautifully crafted. Also very short, if that's a factor for the OP.

>> No.2155265

>>2155233
Having read about half of those, every one of them was worth reading. It looks like you've got a list of thoroughly excellent books, just pick up the first one that comes to hand.

>> No.2155266

>>2155248
>comes to a literature board
>doesn't know about Zadie Smith
>2011
ISHYGDDGGDGTT

>> No.2155276

not Martin Amis. never Martin Amis

God of Small things was good/memorable

I don't think Zadie Smith has ever written anything profound or original (White Teeth is just the same old migrant experience shit)

The Road is good and Short and very very good

The Blind Assassin was also good.

>> No.2155281

I've read about 1/3 of those, and if I had to write a paper on one, Never Let Me Go would definitely be the best choice.

>> No.2155282

You must go with Cormac McCarthy - The Road, OP. No excuses.

>> No.2155288

>>2155276
>I don't think Zadie Smith has ever written anything profound or original (White Teeth is just the same old migrant experience shit)

The migrant experience is worth writing about. Smith's distinction is that she makes it funny and entertaining. I'd take White Teeth over Brick Lane, certainly.

>> No.2155327

The Road
The Blind Assassin
White Teeth

those are your only options. Me? I'd do with The Blind Assassin - one of my all-time favourite novels. At least in the top ten of all time

>> No.2155331

Amis is the sure bet if you don't want much work. Time's Arrow is short. More time for what you really want to read.

Other than that I can tell you these are trash:

Alias Grace
The Road
White Teeth
The God of Small Things

Good luck.

>> No.2155341

>>2155331
>says that one of the most acclaimed novels of the decade is trash
>????