The Hatchet asked a handful of professors and administrators to recommend some spring break reading for students. Here’s what they had to say…
Steven Knapp, University president
Definitely fiction, because it’s different from what most students read for most of their classes, and because nothing gives you faster or deeper access to other worlds and other minds. Because we’re talking about a single week and not a whole summer, I would suggest something reasonably brief. Examples that immediately come to mind:
-Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” a very young author’s stunningly imaginative engagement with the possibilities inherent in what as then the still-new scientific conquest of nature;
-Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights,” an unparalleled exploration of human passions;
-Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” the Nigerian Nobel Laureate’s indelible portrait of a tribal society on the verge of being absorbed by colonialism;
-Arundhati Roy, “The God of Small Things,” a linguistically rich, dramatically riveting account of an inter-caste romance in southern India.
Of course, if a student is looking for something even shorter than one of these novels, something that can be read in a single sitting on train or a plane, there is nothing better than a collection of classic short stories, and I would single out two authors in particular (they might be others if you asked me on a different day): Anton Chekhov (any collection of his stories) and James Joyce (Dubliners).
Gayle Wald, English professor and department chair
Spring break should ideally be for taking a break. So I would suggest reading that makes your brain switch gears. If you’re used to reading articles about international politics, try a novel. The young writer Dara Horn is reading at GW after spring break, and her excellent novel “All Other Nights” is out in paperback. A non-fiction book I loved and would recommend to people interested in popular culture is Carl Wilson’s “Let’s Talk About Love,” a short and thought-provoking read about taste and pop music, using Celine Dion as a case study.
Jeffrey Cohen, English professor
For those who don’t want to turn their brains off during spring break, I recommend Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Eating Animals.” The book challenges its readers to rethink the fundamental and largely unexamined question of what we eat and why. It’s also a meditation on shared tables and community, and quite literary in parts.
I’m about to start “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel, a gift from my colleague Judith Plotz. And for anyone who is feeling really ambitious, you could plug away at Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” which is taking me, um, over a year so far with no end in sight.
John Danneker, library manager at Eckles Library
I love short stories, particularly for trips. They allow you to dig into something for 30-45 minutes and, when well-written, are complete interesting vignettes.
Three of my favorite recent collections are Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies,” Murakami’s “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,” and Ray Bradbury’s “The Cat’s Pajamas.”
Incidentally, Eckles Library has a whole leisure books browsing section on our first floor that students may want to check out before break!
Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs
If you care about journalism, about how people in this country are going to get information and, as a result, how they’re going to participate as active and informed citizens, read “Losing the News” by Alex Jones. It’s a quick and engaging read — succinct, informative and a cogent case about what’s at stake and what’s ahead. Jones starts with what he calls the “iron core” of news. The problem is, as he convincingly documents, the iron core is melting away. Jones provides evidence of what’s been lost, what’s changing, what’s left and — maybe — what’s next. This is no longer a story merely for journalists or about journalism. It’s a story that is relevant to every citizen who has anything to do with the world beyond his or her front door. The very premise of our democracy is at stake — at least if you buy into the notion that the founding fathers were onto something when they concluded that a free and vibrant press was needed to keep government in check and to provide enough information so that citizens could be free and self-governing.
Jones leaves you wondering what happens if people aren’t well informed, if ‘accountability’ journalism becomes an endangered species, if the iron core melts down completely.
If you’re interested in a detailed and more radical approach to saving the news, check out “The Death and Life of American Journalism” by Robert McChesney and John Nichols. They make similar observations about the demise of legacy journalism, but offer a controversial solution to the crisis. It will encourage some and enrage others. I won’t tell you what they advocate but some will see it as Big Brother on the prowl. Others will say it’s pure patriotism, steeped in history.
Read it and weep, because there’s virtually no chance that it will happen.
Charles Cushman, acting executive director of the Graduate School of Political Management
Read something fun and educational — Hilary Mantel’s novel, “Wolf Hall” would be a great one. It is a tremendous story (Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn), amazingly written. You won’t even realize you are learning something while you tear through it…
Fred Siegel, associate vice president and dean of freshmen
“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell…a book about what it takes to produce ultra-successful people!
Christopher Arterton, dean of the Graduate School of Political Management
I would recommend David Plouffe’s “Audacity to Win” about the Obama campaign. While it celebrates the victory and may, therefore, be off-putting for some Republicans, it is very illuminating about how modern campaigns are run and the care with which strategy is developed.
Forrest Maltzman, professor and political science department chair
“True Compass” by Ted Kennedy. I am normally skeptical of memoirs by politicians. But, Senator Kennedy’s book is an easy read that provides a fascinating political history of the twentieth century and leaves you laughing and crying.
“Where Men win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman” by Jon Krakauer. The book is a page-turning account of a very thoughtful American hero and the wars that the U.S. is engaged in in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, it provides an important lesson into the dangers associated with a government more concerned with spin-control than the truth.
“The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” by Candice Millard. This is a page turning history of President Roosevelt’s post-presidency exploration of an unexplored river in the Amazon. It provides you with a good understanding of Roosevelt’s unique character.
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. It is “can’t stop reading” historical fiction that gives you an important perspective on both a country that that the U.S. is currently engaged in and the importance of redemption.
And you?
I’ll be finishing “Game Change,” about the politics behind the 2008 presidential election. I have also been meaning to pick up “The Night of the Gun,” a memoir by a New York Times’ media and culture reporter that seems to be described exclusively as “gritty” and “compelling.”
As for recommendations, I recently read and loved Phillip Roth’s “American Pastoral.” You could also read (or reread) “Franny and Zooey” in honor of the late J.D. Salinger.
Let us know in the comments what, if anything, you’re planning to read or what you’d like to recommend to someone else.
