Selections from World Literature
Line up a copy of one of the following books by September 1st. The gentlefolk at the library can order any of these for you, and amazon.com and half.com carry them for negligible amounts if you'd like your own copy.
1 & 2. **The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
In an overly-simplistic generalization, we'll alert you to the fact that, by and large, the men in our class have preferred the first selection and the women the second.
Chuck Bowen describes the two books:
"In his first novel The Kite Runner, and now A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini writes about the Afghans caught in the middle of a seemingly endless string of wars and battles for power. Both novels paint a grim and moving picture of life in a war-torn country, and of lives lived in the face of hunger, death and a bleak future. Hosseini makes you realize that, even while bombs rain down and people are dying of hunger, people still fall in love, seek friends and, mostly, try to remain human."
**Both of these books deal with mature subject matter, although not gratuitously. Make sure you receive your parents' blessing before proceeding.
3. The Kitchen God's Wife, by Amy Tan
Harper Collins Publishers offers this synopsis of a gut-wrenching yet hopeful and often-humorous book Mrs. Evans has read at least three times:
"Pearl harbors a terrible secret which she tries desperately to keep from her mother, Winnie Louie, who has long kept her own secrets – about her past and the confusing circumstances of Pearl's birth. Fate intervenes in the form of Helen Kwong, Winnie's so-called sister-in-law, who believes she is dying and must unburden herself of all hoods before she flies off to heaven. But, unfortunately, the truth comes in many guises, depending on who is telling the tale...
Thus begins a story that takes us back to Shanghai in the 1920s, through World War II, and the harrowing events that led to Winnie's arrival in America in 1949. The story is one of innocence and its loss, tragedy and survival, and most of all, the enduring qualities of hope, love and friendship."
4.) Novel of your choice by writer of Indian descent who has won the Man Booker Prize (England's equivalent of the National Book Award). Use the following link if interested:
http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/archive5.)
What is the What, by Dave Eggers
from
Publishers Weekly: What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny,
What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.
