English Lit

I'm taking English Lit next year for AS and then A Level and am looking for some recommended books, particularly classics, that I should read now to broaden my literature knowledge. Any help is appreciated

Reply 1

moody28028

Do you know any of the books or themes you'll be studying next year? If so, then read around the theme and more books by that author. Other than that, there are so many different books you could read. Our 6th form gave us a reading list in the first week of September so you might get one too when you start the course.

Reply 2

oh wow

Oscar Wilde :yep:

Sebastian Faulkes, Driving over lemons (can't remember who that's by), memoirs of a Geisha...

Reply 3

letsdothetimewarpagain

If you know which books you are studying then prehaps find other books by those authors..

Reply 4

lowrax

Get a good range of genre - don't just stick to novels.
I'd recommend a bit of Plath, Larkin and Eliot but if you don't want to read yourself into depression then find something funny, Wendy Cope maybe?
I've just realised you're a guy and thus might not be as interested in these..

Reply 5

conabrun

If i was to go back to before i started AS, i would have chose; a theme, an author, a genre, or a period of literature, and read a few novels and poems regarding it.
Victorian Literature would be good- Charles Dickens, Christina Rossetti, Robert Browning etc.
Or just study an author - Jane Austen - she may be a bit difficult for some people straight away but should be admired - shes wonderful. (Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Sense & Sensibility etc.)
Or some post-modern novels (get to waterstones or some place) & maybe Check out your AS course) !! I loved AS English Lit so- All the best :smile:

Reply 6

whatnikkidid

I'd reccomend reading at least a couple of the following, they're quite popular coursework books: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Reply 7

lrkn

lowrax

Hey, I'm male and you just listed probably my three favourite poets. In rank order! Well done.

Oh, and ask your teachers. They'll generally have a list they give to students if it's a large department, and if not the teacher should be more than happy to help.

Reply 8

Vexed

Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, Dracula, Great Expectations. Some plays as well maybe? If so, Dr Faustus, Hamlet, Paradise Lost, The Ancient Mariner etc.

Reply 9

whisperings

PROSE
Animal Farm - George Orwell
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
Great Expectations - Charlies Dickens
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

POETRY
T.S Eliot
Tennyson
John Donne
John Keats
Blake
Seamus Heaney

Just some ideas to get the ball rolling, pick out anything you think looks good because the most important thing is that you enjoy it :smile:

Couldn't think of any plays off the top of my head - maybe things like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? Shakespeare if you feel comfortable with it!