I propose the book Animal Farm written by George Orwell as one of the books on our reading list for the semester. The novel is about farm animals who go against the farmer and rebel. They want to start a new society of freedom and equality. It does not go exactly as planned when the pigs begin to change. They become like a dictatorship over the rest of the animals. The pigs are described as becoming more “human-like” meaning that the power has gotten to their heads. The entire farm itself essentially symbolizes the Soviet Union under a Communist leadership with the pigs as the dictators. I believe that this would be an amazing book for our group to read because it is just so different. The novel is centered around animals rebelling against their farmer and the pigs become dictators, like Stalin. I have read other books by George Orwell and I find his writing fascinating. I find books about dystopian societies and such to be so interesting. I propose reading “Animal Farm” written by George Orwell because it is just so different from other books and the symbolism in the story will be so interesting to dissect. (Rachel)
Never Let Me Go is a dystopian novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. I enjoy reading science fiction and I believe this book would be a good piece. It is a little scary from the summary I have read, being that the people in the book are being cloned and bred for the purposes of harvesting their organs once they reach adulthood. Opening your mind to what could be or what is without a blindfold. Opening your mind to new worlds, being able to imagine what could happen in the future with new technology and science. (Chelsea)
The book I’d like to propose to read as a group this semester is The Picture of Dorian Gray, written by Oscar Wilde. This novel is about a vain, young man, Dorian Gray, who, after being used as the subject for a painting done by his friend, sells his soul to remain youthful forever, while his painting shall continue to age instead. Dorian Gray loses his sense of morals and goes on to lead an essentially sinful life, which is reflected in his portrait which becomes hideous as time passes. The reason I’d like to read this book is because I’ve really enjoyed other works I’ve read by Oscar Wilde; I like the way he writes and I have heard references to this specific novel before, so it’s been a book I’ve been wanting to read. (Ally)
I propose To the Lighthouse written by Virginia Woolf as one of the books to read throughout the semester. This book is about a family who travels to their summer home, with one of the children interested in seeing the lighthouse. This lighthouse seems to indicate something, as I read in a short summary that it was brought up multiple times throughout the book. Another idea that was mentioned was the idea that women cannot paint, or write, which was mentioned by some friends that stayed with the family. I would like to read this book because it is a different genre, modernism, than what I normally read, and the idea that women can’t paint or read interested me because I would like to see where the idea leads to in the book, and if there is a strong female character to prove that idea wrong. (Heather)
A Little Bookish 