Give me some thoughts on these books:

I think you need I Love Books:

http://ilx.wh3rd.net/newanswers.php?board=54

Of your list, I have only read 1984. It's good.

Half of them look like they came out of a high school reading list.

that's what i thought. no-one would put 'beowulf' on a holiday phun list would they, next to 'harry potter'?

ILX will not do your english lit homework for you, we may however steal your lunch money and flush your head in the toilets.

Dunno, I mostly prefer to read no-brain trash on holiday.

I think the point of that particular version of Beowulf was to make it 'fun', or at least accessible. I would read it on holiday. Out loud.

God, I feel such a retard. I haven't read any of these books. :-( I can't even read trash these days. I'm turning slowly into Java The Hutt.

Life of Pi is nice enough but be prepared for it to get really boring in the middle.

Shakespeare -- find a good production on DVD/tape and watch that, then read the play

Orwell -- aside from the rockist music criticism for larfs it seems incredibly tendentious now, but in terms of envisioning what a hyperNazi/Stalin dictatorship *might* have come to it's great nightmare fuel.

Renault -- I love her in general but that book I've not yet read, I admit

Eliot -- when breaking the fourth wall in the name of Something Deep, Man becomes irritating

Russert -- I haven't read it because just the title alone sounds like it's a book of astounding bullshit

That's probably the best translation of Beowulf.

These actually ARE for my high school reading list. Sorry I didn't clarify.

Heh

You are asking us to implant thoughts in your head, where for all we know they will take root and flourish like ivy or dandelions, soon driving out any of the less hardy but more beauteous thoughts that might natively have grown in the same place? Brother, you don't know what you are asking for... but let's get to work, shall we?

King Henry IV, Part I - Your only thought about this play shall be to wonder idly why King Henry needed an intravenous drip and whether kings get cuter nurses, or if Shakespeare cooked up an ugly old hag of a phlebotomist character to play for broad laughs, like unto an old episode of Who's The Boss?

Beowulf - Please learn to pronounce this bee-OH-wolf. This pronunciation shall become your mantra. You shall spend many hours this summer starting into space and chanting it over and over while the sun shadows creep across your bedroom floor.

Blessings, by Anna Quindlen - The best thing about this book is the author's photo. The next best thing is the title - and the title is fer shizzle. The author's photo is pretty crap, too.

1984 - Now there's a book! Turn to the last chapter and read it first. Then read it ten more times. Don't bother to read any of the rest. Once you know how it ends, you're home free.

That should get you started.