Books younger DUers should read...

[DAGDA56]

...this is a followup to SKOOOOO's post of a few minutes ago. In it, he suggested young DUers read George Orwell's 1984...it made me wonder if there were any other essential books that should be in the Young DUer's Library (and older DUers, for that matter).

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. The Handmaid's Tale.

by Margaret Atwood.

[mouse7]

2. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Must read. Learn what public school textbooks leave out.

[DAGDA56]

4. Yes, one of my favorites...

...you can just go to whatever era your teacher is covering at the time and compare and contrast.

[LostInAnomie]

3. Animal Farm

[LostInAnomie]

5. Brave New World

[flamingyouth]

6. All of these!

Good choices, everyone! :thumbsup:

[DAGDA56]

7. If I can reply to my own post...what about "The Moon is Down"

the John Stienbeck short "novella" about the Germans invading and occupying a small Norwegian town in WWII I read it recently, and it has alot of relevence to today...it's just that we are the "bad guys" this time.

[phaseolus]

8. Jean Giono, "The Man who Planted Trees"

It's very short -- you can read it in one sitting, easily -- but it's a beautiful, hopeful story.

[DAGDA56]

9. Thank you...that's what I was trying to find...

...the books that don't immediately come to mind.

[Redneck Socialist]

10. To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Walden by HD Thoreau

Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang by Ed Abbey.

Those should be a good start.

[carols]

11. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail

My son started reading Hunter Thompson when he was about 15. I think it gave him some unique perspectives. :-)
Carol

[Kazak]

12. Breakfast of Champions/Slaughterhouse 5/Sirens of Titan

Or, just about any other Vonnegut book.

[DAGDA56]

17. "Welcome to the Monkey House" I like for Vonnegut in small...

...easy to digest short stories.

[Kazak]

18. I only wish I had read all his stuff...

when I was younger. As it is, I'm still trying to catch up on it all. I believe he is among the very best of American novelists ever. In a league among the likes of Samuel Clemons.

Edit: typo.

[solinvictus]

13. "Homage to Catlonia"

To show that a right/left dichotomy can lead to the very same forms of oppression and tyranny.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

14. Atlas Shrugged

heh j/k

[Kazak]

16. Hey, I read that when I was about sixteen...

Though I don't jive with Objectivism much really.

A much easier start with Ayn Rand would be to read Anthem. A quick easy read, as opposed to an arduous epic...and, I've always thought Anthem formed a sort of a trio with 1984 and Brave New World.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Two oldies but goodies, probably available in your library:

Endless Enemies by Jonathan Kwitny, a critique of Reagan-era foreign policy. If you ever wondered about what really happened during the Grenada invasion, this is the best account in print that I know of.

America: What Went Wrong by Donald Bartlett and James Steele. Begun as a series of newspaper articles, this book from the Bush Sr. era details how our economy got out of whack.

I second A People's History of the United States. This should be your starting point. It's a long read, I know, but to fight the foe, you need to know your own history.

[rockymountaindem]

19. Lord of the Flies.