This book list contains twelve works of classic literature including Russian, European and American titles.
Austen, Jane
Persuasion
RC 51057,
CL 13471
A temperate comedy of manners. At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot regrets that, persuaded by her elders, she had broken her engagement to the navy captain she loved at nineteen. When she and her father are forced to rent their family home and move to Bath, she meets her former love again. 1816.
Cather, Willa
O Pioneers!
RC 47646,
CL 12120
Set in Hanover, Nebraska. Since her Swedish father's early death, Alexandra Bergson has been in charge of the homestead as well as her brothers. Their fortunes rise and fall with the weather and the crops. Under Alexandra's guidance, the family eventually prospers. In middle age, when her old flame, Carl Linstrum, returns to Hanover, Alexandra has a chance for personal happiness. 1913.
Dickens, Charles
Hard Times
RC 13600
Set in the industrial Coketown in mid-19th-century England. Governed solely by self-interest, Thomas Gradgrind destroys his children, Louisa and Thomas, by a complete absence of sympathy and sentiment. It is only after Louisa marries a vulgar man and Thomas robs his own brother-in-law that the father realizes his mistake. 1854.
James, Henry
What Maisie Knew
RC 26240
The divorced parents of a perceptive twelve-year-old girl subsequently remarry, and she continues to spend six months of the year with each family. She observes the same adulterous affairs in her stepmother and stepfather as she saw in her parents; but this knowledge matures rather than corrupts her. 1897.
Lermontov, Mikhail
A Hero of Our Time
RC 14455
This is considered to be the first major prose novel in Russian literature. The Caucasian wilderness provides a backdrop for an intriguing rascal of a hero, Pechorin, who lacks principle and conscience. Bandits, adventures, beautiful ladies, and wicked comrades abound. 1839.
London, Jack
The Call of the Wild
RC 49486,
CL 13385
Buck, a St. Bernard, is stolen and trained to be a sled dog in the Alaska gold fields. Abused by both men and dogs, Buck learns to fight ruthlessly until he finds in John Thornton a master he loves and respects. 1903.
Maugham, W.S.
The Moon and Sixpence
RC 62289,
CL 3973
The life of French impressionist Paul Gauguin is the inspiration for this story of a London stockbroker who becomes obsessed with painting. Abandoning business, family, and conventional life, he settles in Tahiti and devotes himself to his art. 1919.
McCullers, Carson
The Member of the Wedding
RC 44002
A bored, lonely twelve-year-old child becomes interested when she hears about her older brother's wedding. She decides that she is meant to go on the honeymoon, though she is uninvited. What takes place the day before, during, and after the wedding is the main focus of this novel. 1946.
Sand, George
Marianne
RC 31128
This is the story of Marianne, who falls in love with her guardian. She epitomizes Sand's belief in 'natural' education--derived from observation and intuition. She represents Sand's ideal woman--independent, honest, and not willing to marry as insurance against loneliness, or for social acceptance. 1876.
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus
RC 25835,
CL 3949
A young scientist named Frankenstein creates and brings a monster to life. The monster flees to the countryside and educates himself, but soon realizes that humans only see him as hideous. The monster turns on his creator to avenge his own existence. 1818.
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Kidnapped
RC 25158,
CL 13015
A Scottish lowlander narrates his adventures when his uncle tries to have him kidnapped and shipped to America as a slave. Instead, the lowlander falls in with the daredevil Jacobite Alan Stewart and travels with him through the highlands.
Twain, Mark
The Prince and the Pauper
RC 59303,
CL 13383
The future Edward VI of England and a young pauper trade places. The pauper becomes king, and he finds it quite insufferable. Meanwhile, the prince is roaming the street in tatters. People and circumstances almost make the role reversal permanent. 1882.
If you would like book club questions to any of the titles above, or directions on how to start your own book club, please contact the library.
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