A LIST COMPILING SOME OF THE GREATEST WOMEN IN LITERATURE (AS WELL AS SOME OF THE GREATEST WRITERS, WHO HAPPEN TO BE WOMEN!)
MEDEA (43 BC), by Euripides
KING LEAR (1606), by Shakespeare
VANITY FAIR (1848), by William Thackery (*)
THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1859), by Wilkie Collins
MIDDLEMARCH (1874), by George Eliot (*)
ANNA KARENINA (1877), by Leo Tolstoy (*)
THE AWAKENING (1899), by Kate Chopin
JENNIE GERHARDT (1911), by Theodore Dreiser
MADAME BOVARY (1856), by Gustave Flaubert
ETHAN FROME (1911), by Edith Wharton
OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1915), by Somerset Maugham
AGE OF INNOCENCE (1920), by Edith Wharton
ORLANDO (1928), by Virginia Woolf
THE GOOD EARTH (1931), by Pearl S. Buck
FARMER BOY (1933), by Laura Ingalls Wilder
MARY POPPINS (1934), by PL Travers
REBECCA (1938), by Daphne Du Maurier
THE FOUNTAINHEAD (1943), by Ayn Rand
MEMBER OF THE WEDDING (1946), by Carson Mc Cullers
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1925), by Anita Loos
BELL JAR (1963), by Sylvia Plath
NEMESIS (1971), by Agatha Christie
DINNER AT THE HOMESICK RESTAURANT (1982), by Anne Tyler
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (1985), by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
THE AGE OF GRIEF (1987), by Jane Smiley
A VIRTUOUS WOMAN (1989), by Kaye Gibbons
THE TREE BRIDE (2005), by Bharati Mukherjee
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING (2005), by Joan Didion
ONE HUNDRED NAMES FOR LOVE (2012). by Diane Ackerman
THE GOLDFINCH (2013), by Donna Tartt
THE COLLECTED STORIES (1890-1980) by Katherine Anne Porter
THE COMPLETE STORIES (1925-1964) by Flannery O’Connor
(*) represents books that are 500 pages or more
1) Please consult the internet for some of these books. If you write the name of the book and follow it with PDF (like this: O PIONEERS PDF) you will usually find an available online site that will allow you to read the book. Here’s what happened when I did that:
www.gutenberg.org and www.archive.org are two good sites for that.
2) It’s best if you read a few pages or a chapter and then see if it holds your interest - if so, most of them should be available in the Chapel Hill Library (try “Title Search” here: http://catalog.chapelhillpubliclibrary.org/) or at Amazon (example for O Pioneers: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=o+pioneers - search then under “used” on this page - they often make copies available for 1¢ plus $3.99 postage.)
3) This list is a compilation of many other lists, compiling both great literary characters and authors, throughout the ages (although I am staying primarily with 18th century to the modern age, although I do go back to 43 BC!) Many themes, many countries - including China, France, England, Russia, India and of course America - represented.
Almost all are fiction, with a few non-fiction and excellent short story collections thrown in for good measure (ONE HUNDRED NAMES FOR LOVE / THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING.)
It is a wide range of subjects and styles: romance novels, tragedies, westerns, murder mysteries, Shakespearean dramas, English pastorals, Greek tragedies, coming of age tales, roaring twenties, New York society, descents into madness, lusty affairs, Southern Gothic. Some of these books are very challenging, some are a walk on the beach.
Most critics and readers feel that these are some of the best works out there - please feel free to read one (or more) and share with the class your impressions - either in writing or in informal discussion.
- Again, if you would like, I would be happy to post your review on both Amazon as well as our class blog: http://covplace.blogspot.com/
5) TRY TO MAKE YOUR SELECTION WITHOUT TELLING ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLASS (it would be interesting to see if there are any overlaps, or how opinions might vary about the different books. We can discuss this during class in June.)