Instead of mining your way through well-stocked shelves in bookstores, reach for a book that is a guaranteed classic. The following novels (and one play) are must-read books for your summer reading list.
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Often thought of as a children's book, Twain's novel in fact appeals to an adult readership due to its mature themes of slavery and class conflict in pre-Civil War America. Twain's uncanny reproduction of the dialect and vernacular of the South becomes a character of its own in the novel. And who can resist the plucky Huck's rebellion against the Widow Douglas's attempts to "sivilize" him by making him "wash and eat on a plate?"
Huck and the runaway slave, Jim, encounter numerous adventures while escaping on their raft along the Mississippi River. Providing Twain with a ripe opportunity to showcase his wit, two drunken hooligans board the raft and convince Huck and Jim that they are a duke and the "late Dauphin...son of Looy the Sixteen and Marry Antonette." For sheer comedic value, nothing beats the scene where the two rehearse a botched up version of the classic soliloquy from Hamlet. But the kernel of the story focuses on Huck's conflict of conscience and heart regarding his devotion to Jim. A classic read!
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Cleaning maid Grace becomes entangled in a murder while working for a country gentleman in mid-19th century Toronto. Atwood's fictional piece, based on a true event, blends fact and fiction by interspersing letters from Grace and her doctor with actual reprints of the event from local newspapers. The reader is skillfully drawn into Grace's psyche as she engages in cat-and-mouse exchanges with her psychiatrist while claiming to have lost her memory. The novel is not only a commentary on the appalling economic and social conditions of lower class women in Canada, but is a scathing indictment of the medical community's eagerness to classify women as hysterical. Atwood's narrative provides a must read novel of psychological debate for your summer reading list.
Adam Bede by George Eliot
In the rich, fertile landscape of 1860's England, dairy maid Hetty is seduced by Captain Donnithorne, heir to the local squire, while Adam, the village carpenter, silently suffers in this Victorian age love triangle. Farmer's wife Mrs. Poyser, one of Eliot's most beloved characters, has wits that surpass her male counterparts. Shrewdly observing the surreptitious courting of her niece by local gentlemen, she states, "I'm not one o' those as can see the cat i' the dairy, an' wonder what she's come after." Moral messages about the deceptiveness of beauty and the formation of character based on deeds inform the dramatic ending of the novel. But it's the folksy charm of Eliot's characters who add the sparkle to this literary classic, such as that of confirmed bachelor Bartle Massey who claims he can keep a secret because, as he states, "I've got no wife to worm it out of me and then run out and cackle it in everybody's hearing."
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse WilliamsTake a trip down to 'N'Orleans' this summer and visit Williams's most famous threesome, Blanche DuBois and Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Controversial themes such as homosexuality, rape, domestic violence and female pruriency, as well as the introduction of the original alpha male character (Stanley) are some of the features that garnered this play enormous attention in the 1940's. Williams's dialogue is as seductive as the South: When Stanley offers Blanche a drink, Blanche declines, stating, "No, I.. rarely touch it." Stanley replies,"Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often." But the best moments occur during the heated banter between Blanche and Stanley, who accuses her of being a "deep sea diver" due to the copious amount of pearls she owns. The play contains many lines that were edited out of the film version starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh because they were deemed too shocking for the audiences of the time.
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
During Nazneen's life-threatening birth, her mother proclaims, "My child must not waste any energy fighting against Fate. That way she will be stronger." This mantra follows Nazneen as she accepts her future in an arranged marriage to Chanu, a physically unappealing man twenty years her senior. Chanu moves the family from Bangladesh to London, where he encounters systemic racism in his attempts at upward mobility, and must work as a cab driver. Chanu's failure to assimilate into English culture is succinctly illustrated by his organization of a 'Family Day' to tour the city sights "thirty or so years after he arrived in London." Ali presents a sympathetic view of the problems of immigrants and a very balanced character in Chanu who, despite having an unquestionable loyalty towards his family, flares up when they, for example, insist on wearing Western clothing. The tale is injected with a surprising twist as Nazneen negotiates her new country and her marriage with increasing confidence.
Whether you are travelling or spending your vacation at home, reading the book recommendations listed above will leave you with the feeling of having visited London, New Orleans, Bangladesh, Toronto and the Mississippi Valley. Be sure to add these classic books to your summer reading list.
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