1. Rhinoceros. Eugène Ionesco. A play that speaks of the absurdity of the human condition and the struggle of an individual to keep an identity unique in a world where people would rather be with the crowd than out of it. Personal identity and individuality is something that has always been a subject of interest to me.
2. Fahrenheit 451. Ray Bradbury. A novel in which society is kept in the dark from what has really been happening in the world. The end of the novel leaves us asking ourselves if ignorance is truly bliss. Would we want to live in such a world?
3. The Phantom Tollbooth. Norton Juster. The first book I've ever read that was important enough to me to remember. Modern fairy tale about a boy named Milo who is bored with life. Is sent a package with a tollbooth that takes him to a different world. After spending what seems like years in this world he arrives back in his room to find that only an hour has passed. Sad he hopes that the tollbooth will return one day but now has a new outlook on life.
4. Brave New World. Aldous Huxley. Did not read or had not heard of this book until the summer before this year. Ended up choosing it as my summer reading. Really enjoyed this book. Talks of the control of technology in an idealistic world where humans have been breed and predestined. Everything from there personality to their thoughts are some how influenced from their "birth."
5. A Separate Peace. John Knowles. A bildungsroman. This story is told 15 years after the events described in the novel took place. The main focus of this novel is human's natural tendency to become jealous and the destruction that comes with it. The jealousy that Gene has for his best friend Phineas causes him to intentionally or unintentionally, it's never made certain, physically injure his friend. The novel is about Gene coming to terms with himself and his actions. Towards the end he reveals what he had done to Phineas. After a confrontation Phineas ends up falling down a flight of stairs, breaking the same leg. During the operation Phineas dies, it is then that Gene finally comes to terms with himself.
6. Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling. Enjoyable series that I had read when I was younger. I have re-read this series multiple times. A creative and enticing world with a story that allows you to connect with the characters.
7. Novels Related to the Star Wars series. Various Authors. Star Wars has been something I fell in love with as a child. Watched the movies growing up. An amazing universe with interesting characters. The books are just an expansion to the story of the films.
Michael--you're the first person to have mentioned A Separate Peace, a book I haven't read for several years but still have very vivid memories of. How you can love and hate your best friend at the same time. You also include one rather surprising choice, the Ionesco play Rhinoceros, not exactly the kind of thing I'd expect a high school student to have discovered on his own. So thanks for a very interesting list.
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