Must-read book suggestions for college

Parents Social Lounge
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<p>Hello. I'm a very relieved international now that the admission process is almost over. I'm now waiting for my I-20 which, depending on when it arrives, will determine whether I can go to summer program or not. If not, that's fine, I'll just stay here until August. Which leaves me a lot of time.</p>

<p>I graduated a NZ high school in December and arrived in Korea early Jan. Since then I've been learning Japanese, doing fun things, socializing, tutoring etc., and really nothing to help me with university work. 3 months just went by without doing anything solid college-related. </p>

<p>I know I should do something, but alas, my motivation to study comes from my desire to do well in exams, to stand out amongst my peers. I'm not academic by nature at all, but am conditioned enough to do well in an institutionalized environment. My life currently has no rules, restrictions, it's all up to me to do stuff. It's... rather tough.</p>

<p>My intended major is biochemistry, and at high school I was good at it (bio & chem), but I'm not really sure I'm interested in it. Maybe I only like it because it's easy, or because later the medical school option is available. My interest-reading consists of nothing sciency, almost all Literature like Shakespeare and the Oxford Classics. </p>

<p>But literature is a bad major for me because 1) English is not my mother language and 2) Finding high-paying jobs (to pay back my very expensive fees) with English is hard. I think I will stick with biochemistry, but I feel like I should have some knowledge in other fields as well, for e.g. philosophy, history etc., if I'm going to be a respectable university student.</p>

<p>My dad suggested 'The Republic' but I fall asleep half the time I read it, and the other half of the time I read without knowing what I'm reading. Are there slightly funner books that people consider 'essential reading'? I've read most of the famous fictions, so now I'm going to try and force myself to read non-fictions. I mean, they can be fun, right?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>Check out archived threads:
College Discussion Forums: Parents Forum: 2004 Archive: Reading over the summer... any recommendations?</p>

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<p>Don Quixote. Many people consider that to be the best novel ever written in any language. I am currently taking a sort of great books freshman year program at Yale and that has been the most enjoyable and incredible text I have read on the entire curriculum (next year I am thinking of taking a class entirely devoted to Don Quixote). That and The Odyssey. If you want an interesting history book, pick up Herodotus's Histories. For philosophy, I would reccomend either Descartes Meditations or Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling (Kierkegaard is better appreciated if you are familiar with the Bible, particularly the story of Abraham and Isaac).</p>

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<p>DO not read the republic unless you're into that sort of thing. It's really interesting when you read it in a class..and in bits.I personally like Camus, Sartre...and REALLY like the Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky because it brings up some excellent points about faith, free will. Ulysses by James Joyce is a tough one but I'm reading it and I like it. I also like Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, and for nonfiction.. i really only read political, existential, or philosophiclal nonfiction, and that too, mostly leftwinged stuff because they have a better sense of humor than conservatives =P Maybe read up on some books about religion, eastern religion is particularily interesting, and while it is fiction, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha is a quick and great read. My friend also suggested Jonathan Livingston Seagull by..someone..as a short, inspiring metaphor to humans. I liked it, but not as much as he did. And, I second Don Quixote. have fun =)</p>

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<p>One of my Russian friends likens me to one of the characters in THE MASTER AND MARGARITA. I see very few references to it. There was a stage version of it here in LA that was apparently pretty bad.</p>

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<p>If you are coming to college in the U.S. I think it would benefit you to read some of the books that many U.S. students will have read during high school. You could look for some recommended reading lists for the college bound on Google.</p>

<p>You could look on Amazon under different subject categories (history, science) to see what the bestsellers are. You might want to read some biographies of famous historical figures in U.S. history: there have been recent ones of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. David McCullough is a major writer in this area (the John Adams book). He has a new book coming out in May about 1776.</p>

<p>How about The Elegant Universe (string theory) or Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy? Is there a library where you can read The New York Times? Have you read The Life of Pi? Lots of college kids are reading that. The Harry Potter series? </p>

<p>Any of these ideas would help prepare you for college in the U.S.</p>

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<p>Wow thanks very much for the information. I'll get busy reading =)</p>

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<p>When I came to the US for college, I'd read some books that US students were supposed to have read, and had never heard of others. I'd read the Iliad and the Odyssey, but not Tolkien or any of the high school classics.
It's a good idea to read books that US students will probably have read in high school. Looking back at my S's elementary and high school readings, here are some titles:
Lee Harper's To Kill a Mockingbird; J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye; Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman & The Crucible; Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire & The Glass Menagerie; William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying; Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried; Lorraine Hanson, Raisin in the Sun; William Golding, Lord of the Flies; Dante's Inferno; William Shakespeare's plays; Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment; the Iliad and the Odyssey; the Oedipus cycle. More that I cannot recall right now.
Oh, he did read excerpts from The Republic but I have not asked whether they put him to sleep.</p>

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<p>marite - good list - my son read all of those and also..</p>

<p>Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck
Old man and the Sea - Hemingway</p>

<p>English AP this year they read Albert Camus the Stranger and Heart of Darkness - Conrad and an Edith Wharton (I don't think it was Ethan Frome by it may have been) Don't forget poems by Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost - classic US Literature</p>

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<p>One book that might provide some insight on US economics and social culture is "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich.</p>

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<p>"Their Eyes were Watching God" is fairly popular in AP English as well these days, especially with the movie coming out. "Our Town", it is a little quaint. "The Great Gatsby", "Candide", "Scarlet Letter", "Grapes of Wrath".
The one universal American high school book, though, is probably "Mockingbird".</p>

<p>I also agree with McCullough if you want to pick up some American history, also Stephen Ambrose and Shelby Foote for their respective wars. There are a couple of great civil rights histories, one I particularly liked, but the name is gone from my head - also any of Barbara Tuchman's books are great, not all American history.</p>

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<p>Recent additions to my list made me recall that my S had read most of those, plus Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street; Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man; Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge; Charles Dickens, Great Expectations & Oliver Twist; Truman Capote, In Cold Blood; Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club; Anne Frank's Diary. Again, there's more. </p>

<p>For non-fiction, I agree with Cangel's recommendations.</p>

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<p>Tom Wolfe's "I am Charlotte Simmons." Perhaps the best preparation for an American college and it is well written. You will not have problems like you had with the Republic either!</p>

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<p>Civil rights' history - "Parting the Waters" - ?maybe</p>

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<p>Actually, this makes me think that for getting up to speed on some of the knowledge American students have acquired in school, some TV documentaries might be helpful. I'd recommend Eyes on the Prize and Ken Burns' Civil War</p>

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<p>One book that I really enjoyed that gives you a little of everything is "The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories" compiled by Tobias Wolff.</p>