Frantically finished those summer reading assignments and looking for some non-mandatory literature? (Yeah, right.) The Roar is here to help you close out your summer with these books:
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Annie Zhang, editor-in-chief
Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 classic Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of beautiful Janie Crawford, a young and naïve girl who blossoms into a mature and independent woman throughout her three marriages. Intertwining narration with the heavy vernacular dialogue of southern African Americans, Hurston weaves self-identity, feminism and faith into an unforgettable love story. If there’s any book that can amplify the voice of an ordinary African American woman so loudly and proudly, it’s Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
Stephanie Palazzolo, managing editor
With the recent controversy over immigration (thanks Donald Trump), The Book of Unknown Americans provides a poignant look into the lives of immigrants. The unique organization of the novel into essays from different perspectives works together strangely well, giving the reader a diverse yet personal experience. Altogether, The Book of Unknown Americans has the makings of a classic – – touching, eloquent and beautiful.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Vi Burgess, executive editor
In a decidedly different tone from the usual dystopian-love-triangle books that dominate fiction today, Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go strikes a melancholic chord in the dreariness of life. Following a clone named Kathy through her life, Ishiguro slowly reveals what her purpose in life seems to be, through flashbacks spurred by meeting old lovers and best friends ten years later, on their deathbeds. Never Let Me Go remains an eerie conundrum until the very end, but its elegant prose captures the feeling of the finality and futility of fighting an ending.
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
June Jeong, staff reporter
Are you a clumsy, angsty, melodramatic teen who loves music by bands like Radiohead or the Smiths? Have you ever been or seen someone heartbroken? If you answered yes to both or either of the above questions, Daniel Handler’s Why We Broke Up is the perfect book for you! The book is actually just a really verbose letter written by artsy high school sophomore, Min Green, to her erstwhile boyfriend Ed about their time together and why they split. All I can say is that this was an awkward but beautiful and raw depiction of the difficulties of teen love and heartbreak. In my opinion, it was a lot better than John Green’s overrated and cheesy existential writing. The illustrations were lovely and added more to the plot. Furthermore, the writing style was adorable and accurate; it felt like being inside the head of someone – how sometimes a train of thoughts gets lost. This book, showed up in my life at the perfect moment, and like all good books should, changed me. Favorite quote: “How wrong to think I was anyone else, like thinking grass stains make you a beautiful view, like getting kissed makes you kissable, like feeling warm makes you coffee, like liking movies makes you a director. How utterly incorrect to think it any other way, a box of crap is treasures, a boy smiling means it, a gentle moment is a life improved.”
good picks, y’all. not sure if i would term why we broke up as “really verbose,” and i’d argue that kalman’s art is just as integral to the novel as is handler’s writing
I’m a huge fan of Handler’s writing, but in Why We Broke Up, Daniel uses a lot of tumblr-esque ramblings to make his points clear. After reading the book’s reviews online, I found that many people, although they loved the story, agreed that the rants in this particular book are sometimes overwhelming and cheesy/unnecessary. Thus, I referred to it as verbose.
it’s been years since i bothered arguing w strangers on the internet…but…
1) so are handler’s “verbose” tendencies in wwbu part of your opinion, or those of a conglomerate of online reviewers?
2) if we consider that handler is writing an entire, novel-length letter as a high school girl to her ex-boyfriend, the “ramblings” make sense — they render min understandable, age-appropriate, endearing, and yeah, certainly a little annoying at times (what teenager, newly broken-up from their first love, wouldn’t be a bit grating?).
3) in that vein…teenage girls are “tumblr-esque,” so what handler is doing is pinpointing his narrator’s voice down to the dot. it’s pretty marvelous prose…we aren’t meant to close-read it so much as to jump into that rush of emotion min’s feeling, though. it’s just (very good) YA.