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A Reading List for English Applicants
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Prospective applicants often ask on here for recommendations of what books they should be reading. I have produced this list, with the help of some others (most notably hobnob), to hopefully answer this more thoroughly than other replies such questions are likely to receive, or have received hitherto. Whilst I've done my best to give a good coverage of important periods and movements, the list is not to be looked at as prescriptive, but rather a list of suggestions. It certainly isn't perfect.
In short: If you are applying to study English, these are the books I suggest you read.
One may, for instance, point out that there is a sixty year gulf between the most recent text on the list and the present day, in which much important literature has been produced, but I would reply that there is a six hundred year gap between the first and second items on the list, with other similar gaps elsewhere, and so any neglect of the latter half of the twentieth century does not seem quite so terrible after all. (Furthermore, most applicants tend to be rather well versed on the period, mainly by virtue of having lived in it.)
Feel free to contend the list or offer your own suggestions, as that's an interesting enough topic in itself, but I won't be editing the main list.
Admissions tutors will expect a prospective English student to have explored the areas that interest them, so if you find something that appeals to you don't think you are wasting time by looking further into that particular author/genre/period/etc.
There is a significant gap between English at A-level and undergraduate standard. Reading one (or more) of the introductions to literary theory will help you to think about literature in a more sophisticated way, even if you don't make much headway into any specific theoretical approaches.
EDIT:
Lists from other sources, or suggested by other users, can be found further down this thread here, here, here and here.
In short: If you are applying to study English, these are the books I suggest you read.
One may, for instance, point out that there is a sixty year gulf between the most recent text on the list and the present day, in which much important literature has been produced, but I would reply that there is a six hundred year gap between the first and second items on the list, with other similar gaps elsewhere, and so any neglect of the latter half of the twentieth century does not seem quite so terrible after all. (Furthermore, most applicants tend to be rather well versed on the period, mainly by virtue of having lived in it.)
Feel free to contend the list or offer your own suggestions, as that's an interesting enough topic in itself, but I won't be editing the main list.
Admissions tutors will expect a prospective English student to have explored the areas that interest them, so if you find something that appeals to you don't think you are wasting time by looking further into that particular author/genre/period/etc.
There is a significant gap between English at A-level and undergraduate standard. Reading one (or more) of the introductions to literary theory will help you to think about literature in a more sophisticated way, even if you don't make much headway into any specific theoretical approaches.
EDIT:
Lists from other sources, or suggested by other users, can be found further down this thread here, here, here and here.
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#3
Great thread. Glad you included Literary Theory, Eagleton, can't recommend it enough!
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#4
Nice one, MSB. =)
You've included James' The Art of Fiction but I'd also suggest David Lodge's text of the same title.
You've included James' The Art of Fiction but I'd also suggest David Lodge's text of the same title.
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#6
others to suggest:
Frankenstein
the turn of the screw
the sandman
Salman Rushdie
catch-22
poetry of first world war
Alice in Wonderland
Dr Faustus
Mansfield Park
Sylvia Plath's selected works
the wasp factory
the woman in white
Surfacing
De Quincey
Frankenstein
the turn of the screw
the sandman
Salman Rushdie
catch-22
poetry of first world war
Alice in Wonderland
Dr Faustus
Mansfield Park
Sylvia Plath's selected works
the wasp factory
the woman in white
Surfacing
De Quincey
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#7
Great list.
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
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(Original post by Brouhaha)
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
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#10
(Original post by RThomas)
others to suggest:
Frankenstein
the turn of the screw
the sandman
Salman Rushdie
catch-22
poetry of first world war
Alice in Wonderland
Dr Faustus
Mansfield Park
Sylvia Plath's selected works
the wasp factory
the woman in white
Surfacing
De Quincey
others to suggest:
Frankenstein
the turn of the screw
the sandman
Salman Rushdie
catch-22
poetry of first world war
Alice in Wonderland
Dr Faustus
Mansfield Park
Sylvia Plath's selected works
the wasp factory
the woman in white
Surfacing
De Quincey
(Original post by Brouhaha)
Great list.
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
Great list.
Another tip for English applicants: Try to veer away from the predictable in your personal statement. I mentioned a passion for dystopian fiction, but instead of talking about 1984, I raved about Angela Carter's "The Passion of New Eve" and T.S. Eliot. If you make less banal choices, you'll seem well-versed in different aspects of literature.
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#11
(Original post by Ploop)
I disagree completely about deliberately veering from the predictable.
I disagree completely about deliberately veering from the predictable.
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#14
(Original post by Dionysia)
Am I the only person who didn't mention 1984, then?
Am I the only person who didn't mention 1984, then?
Great thread and list, MSB
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(Original post by 35mm_)
I'll also suggest Don Quixote, Cervantes.
I'll also suggest Don Quixote, Cervantes.
(Original post by Dionysia)
Am I the only person who didn't mention 1984, then?
Am I the only person who didn't mention 1984, then?
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#16
(Original post by MSB)
Apart from a few (semi-)exceptions - a coconut for the man who spots them - , I've tried to restrict the list to books written in England in English.
Well, no, but from my experience reviewing personal statements on here, I'd say it's possibly the most common book mentioned. Evidence suggests some may not be telling the truth.
Apart from a few (semi-)exceptions - a coconut for the man who spots them - , I've tried to restrict the list to books written in England in English.
Well, no, but from my experience reviewing personal statements on here, I'd say it's possibly the most common book mentioned. Evidence suggests some may not be telling the truth.
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#17
(Original post by MSB)
Apart from a few (semi-)exceptions - a coconut for the man who spots them - , I've tried to restrict the list to books written in England in English.
Apart from a few (semi-)exceptions - a coconut for the man who spots them - , I've tried to restrict the list to books written in England in English.
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(Original post by hobnob)
Oh damn.
Oh damn.
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(Original post by Dionysia)
Well, Freud's an exception, obviously.
Well, Freud's an exception, obviously.
Spoiler:
I did say they were semi-exceptions: James, Conrad, Joyce, Beckett and T.S. Eliot are 'foreigners'; Waiting for Godot was written in French (in France) first, although Beckett translated it; Old English isn't strictly English, although one wouldn't call it a foreign language (despite what my warning points would tell you).
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I did say they were semi-exceptions: James, Conrad, Joyce, Beckett and T.S. Eliot are 'foreigners'; Waiting for Godot was written in French (in France) first, although Beckett translated it; Old English isn't strictly English, although one wouldn't call it a foreign language (despite what my warning points would tell you).
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