English 125E

Book List

Batuman, Elif: The Idiot; Diaz, Herman: In the Distance; Doerr, Anthony: All the Light We Cannot See; Greer, Andrew Sean: Less; Nguyen, Viet Thanh: The Sympathizer; Whitehead, Colson: The Underground Railroad

Description

The Pulitzer Prize in Fiction is awarded for “distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.” In this course, we will read the four most recent (2015-2018) Pulitzer-Prize winning novels and two novels nominated for the Pulitzer in 2018. In addition to examining narrative form and literary style, we will consider cultural and historical contexts and thematic resonances. We will discuss the trends in topics and styles selected for the Pulitzer as well. We will spend the last one-third, or so, of the course reading and responding to the three novels nominated for the Prize in 2018. Working in small groups, you will take on the role of the Pulitzer Prize Committee, writing responses to, assessments of, and recommendations about each of the novels and making a strong case for which novel deserves the award.

Incomplete Primary Reading (in chronological order of Pulitzer Prize, 2015-2018):

Doerr, Anthony.  All the Light We Cannot See (2015)

Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer (2016)

Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad (2017)

Batuman, Elif.  The Idiot (2018)

Diaz, Hernan.  In the Distance (2018)

Greer, Andrew Sean.  Less (2018)

Secondary Reading:

Assorted essays uploaded to bCourses.