Second Quarter Reading List

Ginsberg, Allen. "Howl And Other Poems." San Francisco: City Lights Books. 1956, 1959.

Ginsberg wrote "Howl" for a friend of his, Carl Solomon. If Solomon had not been in his life, Ginsberg may have committed suicide as he had "...from all the evidence, been through hell." The "Other Poems" do not seem to have any relevance to "Howl," other than the seemingly incomprehensible way in which Ginsberg wrote and the similarities of his condemnations (he blames drug use, capitalism, the modernization of the world for destroying "the best minds of [his] generation,"). "Howl" is a sort of love letter to Solomon in which Ginsberg dons insanity; the reader is allowed to delve into the minds and the relationship of the two men, with all the consequences surrounding them being revealed. The "Other Poems" seem to be written for the same reason; an almost tangible plea from Ginsberg: "know what I know, see as I see, I Dare You."
Some of Ginsberg's words ("Mohammedan angels," "who vanished into nowhere Zen New Jersey," "migraines of China," "who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism,") make little sense taken literally, logically, but, his words being poetry, may have a deeper meaning understood by those crazy enough to. The boundaries between religions are hazy; that which is applauded by the masses may very well be evil.


Sleator, William. "The Boy Who Couldn't Die." New York: Amulet Books. 2005.

Sixteen-year-old Ken undergoes a spiritual procedure to become "invulnerable" to death after his best friend dies in a plane crash. He unknowingly agrees to becoming a zombie, his soul being controlled by the bokor who granted him "immortality." With the aid of a native girl who knows of these spiritual matters, Ken embars on a journey to reclaim his soul.
The book, narrated by the "uppity teenager," is set off with italicized passages that are reminiscent of old vampire stories in the content and the way they are written. Still first person, the actions Ken committs and the details surrounding those actions seem otherworldly. The way in which Sleator embeds these pieces keeps the reader interested, even after the explanation of what these (") dreams (") mean is revealed. Two seemingly unrelated, parallel stories intertwined into one proves Sleator an experienced author.


Thompson, Hunter S. "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas." New York: Vintage Books. 1971.

Hunter S. Thompson, a reporter on location in the (south)western United States, is expected to cover his various assignments (a massive race and a police convention among them) professionally and ably. The persuasion endowed him and his attorney through inhuman substance abuse allows him to to gather "necessary supplies" (an extremely impressive, to say the least, collection of intoxicants) completely unrelated to his mission (through the eyes of his superiors). What begins as a journalistic endeavour, in the warped hands of Thompson, morphs into a work of nonfiction more twisted and entertaining than some of the best fantasy; that dissects human nature through the altered perception of users.
There is no basis for comparison while analyzing the style in which this book was written. It being a massive article, "Fear And Loathing," contained several exerpts from various documents and articles Thompson encountered throughout his adventure(s). Chapter 9 of Part 2 begins with an Editor's Note in which it is revealed that "the original manuscript [was] so splintered that [the team at Rolling Stone magazine] were forced to seek out the original tape recording and transcribe it verbatim." The entire chapter is written as dialogue in a script is written.


Burgess, Anthony. "A Clockwork Orange." New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1962, 1986.

Alex, a mentally disturbed fifteen-year-old, participates in horrific crimes with his fellow droogs in a futuristic nightmare world. When his soft side (his adoration of women who sing opera) clashes with his companions' strictly horrorshow look on life, they double-cross him, leaving him to be incarcerated. Desperate to resume his criminal career, with revenge closer to the front of his mind, he agrees to participate in a program guaranteed to reform him and which would allow him release much earlier than his sentence length. Alex's fantasy is put to the test and the conclusion of the story was cause for much controversy.
Burgess's Introductino reveals that the book was among his least favorite works, despite the world renown it gained, the American film adaptation being one of the main reasons for each of these. This version of the book contains the original final chapter; the next to last chapter was the end of the film - the ending the majority of the "readers" knew. One ending leaves Alex at peace and completely reformed and mature, his violent urges a product of adolescence. The other leaves him still violent, still rebellious, still a droog. In respect to the last chapter, the actual ending, Burgess wrote: "I meant the book to end in this way, but my aesthetic judgement may have been faulty."


Smith, Alexander Gordon. "Escape From Furnace: Lockdown." New York: Square Fish. 2009.

Alex, while robbing a house with his friend, experiences his last moments of freedom in pure horror. Massive blackcoats and a wheezer infiltrate the house, kill Alex's partner, and taunt Alex to run. Futilely, he flees, to be captured within grabbing distance of his home. He is sentenced to Furnace Penetentiary for the murder committed by the overseers there; that he was blamed for. The tagline of the book correctly elaborates: "Beneath Heaven is Hell. Beneath Hell is Furnace." Along with a few accomplices, not all invited, friendly, Alex devises a plan to escape, in the face of a fate worse than death, leering ever closer because of snitches.
Although the book was written to appeal to pre-teens, Smith crafted a text that leaves all readers in suspense, eagerly awaiting the next segment (especially because of the Sneak Peek at the next piece) of the series. One of the ways he does this is by appealing to peoples' dramatic side: revealing the conditions of the prison. The standard ideas of prison gangs adn small scale riots, real to us, blend with his fiction: the sadistic, otherworldly guards and their mutated minions and assistants, the rumors that are all too real, the psychotic warfare waged on the inmates; lockdown means more than boredom and slight physical pain/discomfort.