My second year at Exeter Uni has drawn to a close so I thought now would be a great time to write about the books I've read solely due to my English course: books I've liked, books I haven't and books I question why they were even included. I thought I'd do this in terms of The Classics Book tag, first done by It's a Books World.
An over-hyped text you didn't actually like:
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift. This book was on the course 'Beginnings' in my first year, where we started with the Bible and read a key text across each era. I had already watched the film and, while I liked the first two books (it's separated into four 'books'), the final two got very weird. In fact, the last book was a world of talking horses and the protagonist eventually rejects mankind in favour of horses - I don't think that even encapsulates how strange it actually was.
A text you didn't actually read:
So, I know we're meant to read every text but I've not met one student who has read EVERY SINGLE ONE. During my first year, I did. I was on my A game. When it got into second year, I found that my modules had set really long texts right at the time where most of my essays were due in. For example, Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens is 800 pages long and, at the time, I was writing two essays. I tried reading the audiobook while walking into University each day but that didn't even bite into a chunk of the text. Instead, I found myself looking up the plot before my seminars. Surprisingly, I was still able to join in most of the conversation in a thematic sense.
A text you wished was on the course:
Middlemarch by George Elliott because one of my modules looked partly at female writing over the 19th century. We studied Charlotte Bronte and a collection of female short stories, but that was it. George Elliott was a name that came up a lot when I spoke with other students about putting a larger female presence on the course. Admittedly, I haven't yet read Middlemarch - but it’s on my tbr list!
Also, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This was a set text for my GCSE and I LOVED it! One of my modules actually focused on American literature, with a focus on race. We read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I think this book would match nicely on the module. I definitely would have liked to study it at a higher level.
A text you wished wasn't on the course:
Remember the first-year 'beginnings' course I spoke about earlier? I would remove Rape of the Lock from it. Written by Alexander Pope, this is a short story about a man who cuts a woman's hair without permission. To me, it held no relevance to any of the other modules on the course and, if the focus was on significant texts across different eras, then this doesn't fit to me.
There aren't many other texts I'd necessarily remove - more like rearrange. For example, we read many short stories from the Women Who Did collection, but not until the last week when essays had already been handed in and everyone was packing to go home. Seeing a predominance of male literature on the course, it was disappointing that a female anthology was shoved at the end.
The same goes for Le Morte d'Arthur. Studied within the final week, I never got the chance to read all of it due to its length. I actually tried to read more over Christmas because it intrigued me (and I was a Merlin fan - not that there is much similarities between the two), but I never ended up finishing it.
Favourite book based on one of the classics you've read:
I've read a few adaptations of set texts, some to expand on my knowledge prior to exams and some for fun in the holidays. My favourite has to be Circe by Madeline Miller. I even included it in an earlier blog post about the first books I read after this year's exams. Based on The Odyssey, Miller gives Circe a voice. Previously known as a female 'other' who turns men into pigs, Circe is given a back story, feelings and a perspective. I loved it and would definitely recommend!
Best and Worst adaptations:
The worst adaptation of one of my course texts has to be Persuasion. I remember going to a course mate's student flat to watch it before the seminar and it was awful. I don't think I tried to watch adaptations of the books after that.
The best might be Far From the Madding Crowd, which I actually watched before reading the book. I think it brings in a lot of the themes prominent in the books, although doesn't include everything. Then again, when does a movie ever encompass the entire book? Though loosely connected, I just have to mention Lucifer in regards to Paradise Lost. Both provide the devil's point of view in regards to the Fall and I loved both.
Favourite book studied so far:
This is a hard one. In my first year, it was Beowulf, an Old English epic poem (although I read it in modern English, translated by the one and only Seamus Heaney). It was the first thing I had read from that far back so I think I was surprised how much I liked it. I read it mAny times and did my essay and exam on it.
From this year, it’s a tie between King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (a tale about male colonisation) or A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (a play focusing on the black home and domesticity).
A text you was surprised was included on the course:
In the first year, Fun Home, a graphic novel by Alison Bechdel was included on a module called The Novel. For the assessment, we had to write the opening of one novel in the style of another. I remember a few students chose to write other novels in the style of Bechdel's graphic novel. I am in no way artistically inclined to achieve this but I thought it was a cool idea. It definitely explored so many interesting ideas about homosexuality in a style I hadn't read before.
Also, Alice's adventures in Wonderland was included on my 19th Century literature course this year. It was the only children's novel so hard to compare to the others but I loved reading it! I never read it as a child so it felt like a long time coming.
An underhyped classic you'd recommend:
I was as confused as everyone else when Villette was chosen instead of Jane Eyre on one of my courses, but I ended up loving it. I even wrote my essay comparing the female gaze to some Victorian paintings of hysterical women. I think it was definitely one of those books I appreciated more after finishing it than I did whilst reading it though.
A text you weren’t expecting to enjoy:
As a part of my course, you have to choose a pre-1750 module. I chose Chaucer and His Contemporaries as I had never read Chaucer before. I didn't actually mind reading The Canterbury Tales, but I loved reading Pearl. I read a Simon Armitage translation of the poem. It's about a father who has lost his daughter and dreams that he sees her in heaven.
A classic you'd want to read this summer:
In the summer, I often avoid classics because I spend so much of the year reading them but I definitely want to read The Handmaid's Tale soon. I've just finished binging the first two seasons and I definitely want to read the book now.
Hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know in the comments what classics you love or hate, or link me to your Classic Books tag!
Happy reading! :)
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