Currently on the curriculum for the Ohio State University course, An Introduction to Fiction is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I’ve also heard of some other high schools and universities using it as an introduction to fiction or gothic fiction courses. At first I felt sorry for all the future English majors who will have to read this book. But I thought, instead of bad mouthing the book (which is so easy to do), I would take some time and think about what I would want to see in an introductory course of fiction.
I started by compiling a list of topics I would want to cover if I ever did a course about fiction. I narrowed it down to ten key topics when looking at fiction;
- Plot
- Characterisation
- Dialogue
- Point of view
- Setting
- Style
- Narrative
- Themes
- Genres
- Concepts/Issues
It was the last point that stood out to me more than any of the other topics. When looking at good fiction, I would want to look at the issues that drive the discussions about these books. With this I picked out five books that would explore moral, social, philosophical or intellectual issues. When picking the books, I also tried to pick different genres and writing styles that make for a great read.
So if I was to create an introduction to Fiction course, my reading list would include;
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I would love to know what you would pick for a reading list if you were to lead a similar course.
I think Lolita might me a little confronting for an introduction. I haven’t read it, but you advised me not to, and i’m sure i’m not the only person sensitive to such issues.
I agree that Lolita is too daunting for an introduction. I read tons of fiction, and I couldn’t get through it. I liked most of your other picks and that you picked some books by women. I would also say that Catch-22 is daunting, but I first read it as a child and it is one of my all-time favorites, so what do I know? I think I would pick one book by an African American — maybe The Color Purple? — and one that is not Western. And leave off Alice in Wonderland.
But I know that I would never take a course that required me to read Twilight.
I know Lolita is a controversial book and that’s why I picked it. I wanted to show that even awkward and almost sickening stories can still be really well written and thought provoking.
But who wants to read sickening stories, no matter how well written?
I don’t think i’m ‘intellectual’ enough to be able to seperate the literature of it from the content of it. I just don’t want to read about it.
It would be a difficult book, and I know some people wouldn’t want to read it. But books like this do serve a purpose in the literary world.
I don’t know, I just think it would be worth exploring in a class.
I kind of like your choices, although I have to say there might be others I would prefer over Lolita myself. Maybe some Virginia Woolf, or Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou although all of those have covered disturbing topics as well. Disturbing topics serve an excellent function in literature, shining a light on taboo topics for discussion and better understanding.
Only of the other reasons for picking Lolita was the fact I wanted to add a Russian author to the reading list.
I’m not sure if I would teach Lolita, but I love the book
What would you teach instead of Lolita? What about the other books?
Frankenstein…absolutely.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (just because I like it more than Wuthering Heights)
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Perhaps more “importantly” controversial than Lolita)
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut instead of Catch-22
Ubik, Phillip K. Dick instead of Alice
If I were teaching a class, I would also include the short fiction of Flannery O’Connor and Borges. I’d probably try to work in a reading of In the First Circle by Solzhenitsyn if possible…maybe.
Great post!
I changed my mind. Since it’s an Introduction to Fiction Course, I would have students read Crime and Punishment over The Brothers Karamazov
Great choices! I’m a huge Philip K Dick fan, Slaughterhouse 5 was amazing and I really need to read some Dostoyevsky but I love Russian Literature.
I was really torn between Pride and Prejudice and Villette. Maybe I’d pick P and P for the intro course because of its wider appeal. On the other hand I absolutely loved Villette and I was riveted to the story from start to finish.
I love Russian Literature as well. I read Dostoyevsky’s big three (Brothers K, Demons, and Crime and Punishment) almost annually.
I just started reading Solzhenitsyn this past year and I highly recommend The First Circle.
Great blog!
I really need to read some Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë
But I was going to start with Northanger Abbey for my first Austen book and Villette for my first Charlotte Brontë book
I see this was back in 2011, but I decided I don’t mind replying to an older post. I see you picked five novels. I was thinking that might be much for a state school Intro class. I think as a good intro to literature class, one might consider shorter works.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – A. Solzhenitsyn (novel)
Salt – Isaac Babel (short story)
Ward 6 – A. Chekhov (short story)
The Call of Cthulhu – HP Lovecraft (short story)
The Minister’s Black Veil – N. Hawthorne (short story)
*some stories from* Stories From a Chinese Studio – Pu Songling
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – RL Stevenson (novella)
The Picture of Dorian Gray – O. Wilde (novel)
Metamorphosis – F. Kafka
The Misanthrope – Moliere
The Immoralist – A. Gide
I would avoid Lolita. I hate it and almost all of Nabokov’s other works are better literary works and just plain more entertaining.
I totally agree with adding a PKD item – but selecting one appropriate for the course might be tricky.
Now, if you twisted my arm to pick solely four novels:
The Violent Bear it Away – F. O’Connor
The Darkness at Noon – A. Koestler
The Glass Bead Game – Hesse
I would also not bother with Austen. If I had a dime for every time people talked about her, they’d be talking about me as Emperor of the Universe. Frankly, I’ve found it to be the case that Austen is what pretentious unknowledgeable people discuss.
nice choices, that would make for a very interesting class