Books to Read to Prepare You for College

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“The limits of [our] language mean the limits of [our] world.”

--The Western University and one reason to read

You are preparing to embark on a great journey into the world of higher education in the West. The institutions you will have been accepted to are rooted in Medieval Christian Europe. Their thoughts are traced back to antiquities, descendants of the Greeks, and the Romans. After the fall of the Western Rome Empire in 476 A.D., western thought retreated, to be safeguarded in both cathedral and monastic schools, some of which can be directly traced back to the 6th century.

The advent of the universities we would recognize today, in its most basic structure, arose well into the Middle Ages. The first universities in Europe were the University of Bologna (1088), the University of Paris (1150), and the University of Oxford (1167). The curriculum focused on natural philosophy, logic, medicine, theology, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, law, grammar, and rhetoric. Most of which was used to reconcile the religious text with the world of Medieval Europe.

The Renaissance (13th-16th century) would inject new lifeblood into academia with renewed interest in knowledge gained from texts from the antiquities. Aristotle came to dominate all academic fields, forever changing the West’s intellectual lexicon and, subsequently, problems and methods of inquiry.

The Renaissance progresses into the Enlightenment, which highlighted reason and individualism over both Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman tradition. Humanism would enter the university system, drastically altering the intellectual landscape with these newfound virtues. Specifically, the humanist used the study of grammar and rhetoric through the studia humanitatis to forever change the curriculum.

From the Enlightenment till today, there have been several literary movements, that can be divided into two parties, one focused on emotion, the other on reason. The former consists of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Naturalism, The Bloomsbury Group, and the Beat Generation. The latter consists of Realism, the Victorian, Modernism, Existentialism, and Post-Modernism.

Post-Modernism prevails in the academic landscape of today.

All of these movements reflect the spirit of the times in which they were written and have helped develop the lexicon, shaping both the humanities and the sciences.What is a Novel?

The ancient Greeks and Romans, the cradle of western literary civilization, did not write novels. While you can see the traces of the modern novel back to Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, they are epic poems. Aeschylus and Herodotus were playwrights. Plato and Aristotle were philosophers. Virgil and Ovid were poets. Thucydides and Livy were historians. Euclid and Apollonius were mathematicians. While I implore you to read them all, they did not write novels.

The medieval and Renaissance foundations of western civilization did not write novels; they wrote mostly in verse. The Song of Roland is an epic poem that would have been sung by troubadours. Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy are epic poems.

But it is after that we begin to see a break. Boccaccio’s The Decameron is a collection of 100 novellas. Not quite a novel, but at least it is written in prose. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, while usually categorized as poetry, as it is mostly written in verse, does have two tales written in prose. Some argue that this is the first modern novel.

In the Renaissance is where we find what is more widely considered to be the first modern novel, Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Remember, the humanist focused on individualism, out of this developed the modern novel - a narrative work of prose fiction that tells a story about specific human experiences over a considerable length.Why these books?

These novels were selected from How to Read a Book by Mortimer Alder and Charles Van Doren, compiled in 1972. The list is not complete; there are well over a thousand books in the western literary canon that are considered foundational. I have tried to select a novel from every literary movement from the Renaissance to today, but I have excluded a few.

I would not call this list the most fun list of novels available, though you should find it enjoyable. Every novel selected is considered ‘important,’ and I would recommend reading these with pen in hand ready to underline and take notes.

Themes are the universal ideas explored in literary work.

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. They are the vehicle by which the themes are delivered.

Renaissance (1600-1670)

The Ingenious Gentlemen Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes (Spanish, 1605)

“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up, and he went completely out of his mind.”“The truth may be stretched thin, but it never breaks, and it always surfaces above lies, as oil floats on water.”“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”

Themes:

Perspective and Narration - forces you to examine your preconceptions by, on the one hand, giving you ample reason to distrust the narrator but on the other, leaving you no alternative.

Incompatible Systems of Morality - the conflict between the old and new moral codes as they clash. It shows both the consequences of entrenchment, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and the possibility of compromise.

The Distinction between Class and Worth

Motifs: Honor, Romance, LiteratureEnlightenment (1700-1800)

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire (French, 1759)“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

Themes:The Folly of Optimism - the world is not perfect, and there is such a thing as evil. This seems intuitive, but it’s a fundamental rejection of the idea of ‘god’s plan’.The Uselessness of Philosophical Speculation - Abstract philosophical arguments rather than real-world evidence can often be useless and, at times, even destructive, preventing you from taking positive action to change adverse situations.

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” - Marcus Aurelius.

The Hypocrisy of ReligionThe Corrupting Power of Money - Money and the power that comes with it — creates at least as many problems as it solves.Motifs: Resurrection, Rape, and Sexual Exploitation, Political and Religious Oppression

Romanticism (1798-1870)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (English, 1813)

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Themes:Love - lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tension caused by their own personal qualities. The main representation of love is idealistic, a form that can be captured independent of societal hierarchies. The author does also allude to more traditional, realistic versions to demonstrate the heart does not always dictate marriage.Reputation - depicting the dangers of stepping outside the social norm, leading one to be ostracized, and the effects it can have on others.Class - exploring the power of love and happiness to overcome the social hierarchy.FamilyIntegrityGenderMotifs: Courtship, Journeys

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (American, 1851)

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.”

“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”

“Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.”Themes:

The Limits of Knowledge - human knowledge is always limited, some things are unknowable, and to attempt to interpret them can be futile and sometimes fatal. No amount of art, taxonomy, and phrenology will enable you to understand the true essence of a whale.

The Deceptiveness of Fate - creating the impression of a doomed inevitability, when alternatives exist. Humans project what they want to see, interpreting the signs to match the narrative they desire.

The Exploitative Nature of Whaling

Motifs: Whiteness, Surfaces, and DepthsRealism (1820-1920)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (English, 1859)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Themes:TheEver-Present Possibility of Resurrection - people and societies are capable of change.The Necessity of Sacrifice - sacrifice, sometimes at an incredible cost, can be necessary to achieve happiness, and create a meaningful life.The Tendency Toward Violence and Oppression in Revolutionaries - the cruelty of the system does not excuse the perceived necessity of the brute violence required to overthrow it. There should be the possibility of a third way to enact social change.SacrificeClassJustice - when legal systems fail, often through their own incompetence, this requires individuals to struggle outside of those institutions.Motifs: Doubles, Shadows, and Darkness, Imprisonment

Adventures of Huckleberry Fin by MarkTwain (American, 1884)

“Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.”“It don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.”“He had a dream and it shot him.”

Themes:Racism and Slavery - shows how racism distorts the oppressors as much as those it oppresses,and how“good”people can stand aside in the face of injustice and cruelty.Intellectual and Moral Education - through experience and deep introspection, one is able to develop a consciousness outside of societal norms, making distinctions between right and wrong, menace and friend, and so on.The Hypocrisy of“Civilized”Society - teaches you to question rules and precepts that defy logic; this is how terrible acts go unpunished while frivolous crimes can lead to death. Rather than maintain collective welfare, societies can be predisposed toward cowardice and selfishness.Guilt/ShameEmpathyAdventure - it is not what it is always made out to be, often childish precepts will be shattered on the road.Money/Wealth - money and greed do nothing but cause problems. It can hold to the promise of freedom, but even that seems unlikely.Motifs: Childhood, Lies and Cons, Superstitions and Folk Belief, Parodies of Popular Romance Novels

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Russian, 1878)“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”“If you look for perfection, you'll never be content.”“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.”

Themes:Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Russia - a clash between older, Russian values of authoritarian government and seldom, pitted against western values of technology, rationalism, and democracyThe Blessings of Family Life - showing the pro-family position showing the benefits and comfort of family togetherness and domestic bliss set against the limits it has on individual freedoms.The Philosophical Value of FarmingMotifs: The Interior Monologue, Adultery, Forgiveness, Death

Modernism (1910-1965)

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (American, 1916)

“His heart danced upon her movements like a cork upon a tide. He heard what her eyes said to him from beneath their cowl and knew that in some dim past, whether in life or revery, he had heard their tale before.”“He wanted to cry quietly but not for himself: for the words, so beautiful and sad, like music.”“Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.”

Themes:The Development of Individual Consciousness - a first-hand account of how an obsession with language, the strained relations with religion, family, and culture and his desire to form his own aesthetic, aided in the development of a literary genius.The Pitfalls of Religious ExtremismThe Role of the Artist - a vision of how the artist must leave his community, in the form of self-exile, to free themselves of societal restraints, and achieve an art form that will enrich that very place which he has just left.The Need for Irish AutonomyMotifs: Music, Flight, Prayers, Secular Songs, and Latin Phrases

Existentialism (1850-Today)

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (French, 1938)

“It's quite an undertaking to start loving somebody. You have to have energy, generosity, blindness. There is even a moment right at the start where you have to jump across an abyss: if you think about it you don't do it.”“I am alone in the midst of these happy, reasonable voices. All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other. In Heaven's name, why is it so important to think the same things all together. ”“My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think… and I can't stop myself from thinking. At this very moment - it's frightful - if I exist, it is because I am horrified at existing. I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire.”

Themes: Profound Boredom, Palpable Disgust, Herd MentalityMotifs: Stream of Consciousness, Keeping Back/HidingPost-Modernism (1965-Today) *Note: No post-modern novels have definitively been added to the literary canon. It is too early to tell which will stand the test of time, but I cannot imagine a world in which Vonnegut does not make it.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (American, 1973)

“We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.”“I couldn't help wondering if that was what God put me on Earth for--to find out how much a man could take without breaking.”“Of course it is exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.”Themes: Art, Subjectivity, and Absurdity, People and Machines, Race and Racism, Capitalism and Consumerism, Mental HealthMotifs: Enumeration, Omniscience of the Narrator, Detachment

本文作者

Jonathan Javier

加州大学洛杉矶分校-跨学科法语和法语研究学士学位Jonathan导师在美国电信巨头AT&T，猎鹰投资，以及越南ESL等多个领域有过工作经历，为此累积了丰富的销售，市场以及教育行业的工作经验。十分致力于把他的全球视野和对教育的热情分享给易伯华国际教育的学生们；另外他也希望自己多年来在加州大学学习生活的一手体验分享给更多的对加州大学感兴趣的学生们，为他们日后申请加州大学做好准备。 如需进一步了解，或有任何相关疑问，欢迎在线咨询留学专家。如果您对自己是否适合留学还有疑虑，欢迎参与国际教育免费评估，以便给您进行准确定位。