As this semester comes to a close, many of us (both students and teachers) are desperate for a break, a chance to let our brains cool off as the temperatures warm up. And that is understandable. This is a great time to recharge and get away from the everyday grind of academics. But I want to offer a challenge for this summer to keep your English muscles flexing away from the classroom.
I am going to tackle a task that I've been putting off my entire career. I don't mind enormous books--my copies of Crime and Punishment and Moby Dick run well over 500 pages each, and my Atlas Shrugged is over 1000. But there's one important big book I've never taken the time to read: James Joyce's Ulysses. My copy I recently purchased is nearly 800 pages and is widely considered the greatest novel in the English language. It may sound strange that English professors have not read certain famous books, but it's actually not that uncommon. Often we just haven't had the time, or particular books are simply not our taste. I like Joyce's Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I've always been somewhat intimidated by his modernist masterpiece. No more!
This summer I will read Ulysses and report back on my experience before school is back in session. That is my personal challenge for the summer. What big book have you been avoiding? I encourage everyone (whether you are a teacher, student, or neither) to push yourself in the field of English this summer by picking a big book and diving in. Let me know your choice!
I am going to tackle a task that I've been putting off my entire career. I don't mind enormous books--my copies of Crime and Punishment and Moby Dick run well over 500 pages each, and my Atlas Shrugged is over 1000. But there's one important big book I've never taken the time to read: James Joyce's Ulysses. My copy I recently purchased is nearly 800 pages and is widely considered the greatest novel in the English language. It may sound strange that English professors have not read certain famous books, but it's actually not that uncommon. Often we just haven't had the time, or particular books are simply not our taste. I like Joyce's Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I've always been somewhat intimidated by his modernist masterpiece. No more!
This summer I will read Ulysses and report back on my experience before school is back in session. That is my personal challenge for the summer. What big book have you been avoiding? I encourage everyone (whether you are a teacher, student, or neither) to push yourself in the field of English this summer by picking a big book and diving in. Let me know your choice!