Leaves of Grass
That's beautiful. Or taken literally, incredibly gross.
Buffy ,'Potential'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Laga - Jan 20, 2011 2:27:01 pm PST #13668 of 28289
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
megan walker - Jan 20, 2011 2:30:46 pm PST #13669 of 28289
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
For something French you could do Cyrano de Bergerac or even Les Liaisons dangereuses. Or Mérimée's novella Carmen.
javachik - Jan 20, 2011 2:34:06 pm PST #13670 of 28289
Our wings are not tired.
And I would add Life & Times of Michael K. by Coetzee.
Ooooh, and anything by Athol Fugard for your play portion, if you have one...
megan walker - Jan 20, 2011 2:37:57 pm PST #13671 of 28289
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Note: The Depardieu film version of Cyrano has very poetic English subtitles by Anthony Burgess so they could hear the poetry of the French original and have a great translation right underneath.
javachik - Jan 20, 2011 2:44:13 pm PST #13672 of 28289
Our wings are not tired.
Ooh, I need to let Steve know about that, Megan. He loves Burgess as much as I loathe Depardieu so it could all work out.
JZ - Jan 20, 2011 2:48:36 pm PST #13673 of 28289
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Seconding Les Liaisons dangereuses. Bad people behaving very badly indeed, and an epistolary novel to boot! As close to pure fun as you can get in a senior seminar.
megan walker - Jan 20, 2011 2:50:13 pm PST #13674 of 28289
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Cyrano was one of the films I used in my French Conversation through Film class and was worried the students would think it was too old-fashioned, but it turned out to be the class favorite. It's really a good version. And there's Vincent Perez, who makes a fabulous Christian.
Pix - Jan 20, 2011 2:53:09 pm PST #13675 of 28289
The status is NOT quo.
They've already read Cyrano, but Dangerous Liaisons is an interesting idea; is it accessible? As are many of the others here. Hm. Pondering. Something to keep in mind--these are not all the strongest readers, so any text I choose needs to be accessible. I'm also trying not to get too obscure.
megan walker - Jan 20, 2011 2:57:41 pm PST #13676 of 28289
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
They've already read Cyrano, but Dangerous Liaisons is an interesting idea; is it accessible? As are many of the others here. Hm. Pondering. Something to keep in mind--these are not all the strongest readers, so any text I choose needs to be accessible. I'm also trying not to get too obscure.
I can't imagine it's less accessible than Lolita, but I can't speak to the translations that are out there.
JZ - Jan 20, 2011 2:58:25 pm PST #13677 of 28289
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Dangerous Liaisons is an interesting idea; is it accessible?
It's a little mannered in places, but it's a series of letters -- very accessible (who doesn't love the nasty thrill of reading someone else's mail?) and a pretty fast read.
And, hey, it gives you an excuse to do a viewing of Cruel Intentions in class.