Suggest me a novel please?
August 30, 2011 12:37 AM Subscribe
Teaching-worthy literature for the individual against the state?
My colleagues and I are on the hunt for a novel (not a play, film, poem or piece of non-fiction) that explores the experience of an individual acting/rallying/questioning his/her State.
For films: we have Brassed Off and Persepolis
For plays: we have Antigone and A Man for All Seasons.
For novels, we are thinking of The Outsider (Camus) but are concerned it may be difficult for 16/17 year olds. We are not studying this text as a piece of literature but rather for the ideas (sounds like a false distinction? Raise it with the Victorian Curriculum Board...). So it needs to be worthy of discussion and have some 'literary merit' but we won't spend a long time on it-- hence our concerns with the Camus.
Any ideas?
My colleagues and I are on the hunt for a novel (not a play, film, poem or piece of non-fiction) that explores the experience of an individual acting/rallying/questioning his/her State.
For films: we have Brassed Off and Persepolis
For plays: we have Antigone and A Man for All Seasons.
For novels, we are thinking of The Outsider (Camus) but are concerned it may be difficult for 16/17 year olds. We are not studying this text as a piece of literature but rather for the ideas (sounds like a false distinction? Raise it with the Victorian Curriculum Board...). So it needs to be worthy of discussion and have some 'literary merit' but we won't spend a long time on it-- hence our concerns with the Camus.
Any ideas?
Solzhenitsyn - 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich', Huxley - 'Brave New World'.
posted by plep at 12:55 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by plep at 12:55 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Cory Doctorow's, Little Brother, if you dare to show 16/17 year olds a book that's highly critical of school surveillance.
posted by ijsbrand at 1:00 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ijsbrand at 1:00 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I suspect it's a bit too subtle/ambiguous for what you're after, but what about Le Guin, The Dispossessed?
posted by brennen at 1:03 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by brennen at 1:03 AM on August 30, 2011
Keneally's Schindler's Ark/Schindler's List is a great one for the age group, though it does skirt the line between novel and non-fiction.
Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One. I've never been in a library without multiple copies.
Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a fairly quick read that's accessible to students of that age, and I suspect it's been on high school curriculums before.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 1:39 AM on August 30, 2011
Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One. I've never been in a library without multiple copies.
Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is a fairly quick read that's accessible to students of that age, and I suspect it's been on high school curriculums before.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 1:39 AM on August 30, 2011
Kafka's 'The Trial'.
Arthur Koestler's 'The Gladiators' and 'Darkness at Noon'.
posted by joannemullen at 2:56 AM on August 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Arthur Koestler's 'The Gladiators' and 'Darkness at Noon'.
posted by joannemullen at 2:56 AM on August 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Have you considered The Chrysalids? It's appropriate for the age group you're teaching (it's typically taught in Canadian secondary school literature classes) and it centres around an individual(s) questioning the State. It's also completely amazing.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:29 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:29 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Zamiatin's We is the classic exploration of the individual versus the group.
posted by jb at 4:55 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jb at 4:55 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Max Barry's Jennifer Government sort of fits the bill. When I taught it to high school seniors they really enjoyed it.
posted by SeedStitch at 5:33 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by SeedStitch at 5:33 AM on August 30, 2011
Dang it. Sorry about the formatting.
posted by SeedStitch at 5:33 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by SeedStitch at 5:33 AM on August 30, 2011
It's a bit metaphorical, but Ionesco's Rhinosceros is hilarious and explores a lot of themes of individualism vs. collective action.
posted by gauche at 6:20 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by gauche at 6:20 AM on August 30, 2011
Best answer: The novella Anthem is pretty different/interesting, if teaching based on an Ayn Rand book is okay at your school. Politics aside the book covers some interesting concepts. The premise is that the government has eliminated individual-focused language over time ("I", "my", etc) and everything is based on the group. The main character finds some old books and discovers this... anti-government activities ensue. Should be a good fit for 16-17 year olds if I am remembering it correctly.
posted by halseyaa at 6:23 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by halseyaa at 6:23 AM on August 30, 2011
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum or: how violence develops and where it can lead by Heinrich Boll. [I have teaching notes on it if you want] Short, polemical and a really interesting piece of history.
posted by honey-barbara at 7:30 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by honey-barbara at 7:30 AM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein was a great read when I was about 17. Individuals question the state, rebel against the state and form their own state, all while discussing the nature of the state and advocating Heinlein's "rational anarchist" ideas of what a state should be.
This takes place in a prison colony on the moon, which is basically the same as high school.
posted by reegmo at 7:33 AM on August 30, 2011
This takes place in a prison colony on the moon, which is basically the same as high school.
posted by reegmo at 7:33 AM on August 30, 2011
For this unit in high school, I read: Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Brave New World, Anthem and Animal Farm.
posted by Gor-ella at 7:57 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by Gor-ella at 7:57 AM on August 30, 2011
Octavia Butler's Kindred could help you discuss the erotics and fascinations that keep people compliant, even when they know exactly how to get themselves out.
posted by pickypicky at 8:43 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by pickypicky at 8:43 AM on August 30, 2011
For what it's worth, The Stranger/The Outsider was part of my high school's honors curriculum and I read it at 17. I enjoyed it and the ensuing discussions. It wasn't the most demanding thing we read, either.
posted by terilou at 10:25 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by terilou at 10:25 AM on August 30, 2011
Best answer: If you want to give your students a taste of this genre, there's Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2011
Best answer: Recently, The Curfew. Additionally, it is a very quick read- more like a novella.
New Yorker blurb
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 11:40 AM on August 30, 2011
New Yorker blurb
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 11:40 AM on August 30, 2011
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum or: how violence develops and where it can lead by Heinrich Boll. [I have teaching notes on it if you want] Short, polemical and a really interesting piece of history.
The film is worth watching. Along those same lines is Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Der Besuch der alten Dame.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:52 PM on August 30, 2011
The film is worth watching. Along those same lines is Friedrich Dürrenmatt's Der Besuch der alten Dame.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:52 PM on August 30, 2011
Response by poster: Some helpful answers so far! I should have mentioned: we've already discounted 1984-- great book, but tends to need support for the actual content. Brave New World is one I enjoy but the other teachers are not keen. On the other hand, the Bryce Courtenay would never make it in-- needs to be a little more challenging, and we try to avoid WWII because it is really very much done in schools already. Rabbit Proof Fence is already done earlier. Denisovich has been suggested but also considered too hard. Kafka also too difficult.
NB: please don't shoot the messenger. I don't necessarily agree with these judgements! But I wanted to check them off as good ideas but ones I won't be doing.
posted by jojobobo at 2:01 PM on August 30, 2011
NB: please don't shoot the messenger. I don't necessarily agree with these judgements! But I wanted to check them off as good ideas but ones I won't be doing.
posted by jojobobo at 2:01 PM on August 30, 2011
Response by poster: Cory Doctorow's, Little Brother, if you dare to show 16/17 year olds a book that's highly critical of school surveillance.
We dare... but it might not be relevant so much to Australia. I like Doctorow....
posted by jojobobo at 2:02 PM on August 30, 2011
We dare... but it might not be relevant so much to Australia. I like Doctorow....
posted by jojobobo at 2:02 PM on August 30, 2011
Response by poster: Last one, if there is anyone still answering: bonus points for texts that aren't sci-fi.
posted by jojobobo at 2:17 PM on August 30, 2011
posted by jojobobo at 2:17 PM on August 30, 2011
OK, The Chocolate War works if you look at the school environment/dominating social groups as representing "state". It's been years since I read it, but if I remember correctly, it should be relevant to your topic and age demographic. Pretty bleak, but that lends itself to interesting discussion about the individual in the context of the group.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:01 PM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:01 PM on August 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
And it's not sci-fi.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:01 PM on August 30, 2011
posted by Felicity Rilke at 3:01 PM on August 30, 2011
If short stories are useful to you, The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas was pretty mind-blowing for me as a (privileged) kid.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 1:46 AM on August 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 1:46 AM on August 31, 2011 [1 favorite]
If um, something you didn't ask for is helpful to you, consider Anna Hazare as a contemporary teaching case. His biography has yet to be written, because he's doing his thing right now.
How does one person make a difference in a state of more than a billion people, and change ways of doing things that extend through thousands of years of history? Well, he's doing it, and a little googling will show that he is a very big deal.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 4:20 PM on August 31, 2011
How does one person make a difference in a state of more than a billion people, and change ways of doing things that extend through thousands of years of history? Well, he's doing it, and a little googling will show that he is a very big deal.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 4:20 PM on August 31, 2011
The Tomorrow Series by John Marsden.
A group of Australian teens return from a camping trip to find their town invaded. So they retreat to the outback and start guerrilla fighting back.
I think there are 6 or 7 books in the series and the author does a great job of being teen books but never talking down or preaching to the reader.
posted by drinkmaildave at 7:00 PM on September 1, 2011
A group of Australian teens return from a camping trip to find their town invaded. So they retreat to the outback and start guerrilla fighting back.
I think there are 6 or 7 books in the series and the author does a great job of being teen books but never talking down or preaching to the reader.
posted by drinkmaildave at 7:00 PM on September 1, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 12:51 AM on August 30, 2011 [4 favorites]