Help! Book Recommendation

[ConX]

Hello.

For my Advanced English class I'm required to write an essay on two books that concern similar ideas and themes whilst still being different from one another.

I'm interested in covering themes and ideas about society or/as well as the human condition, pretty vague I know, but any recommendations for a great pair of books would be much appreciated.

Thanks

(I've already read Catcher in the Ryee and Lord of the Flies btw, so they are out of the question)

 

[Stewart]

1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley?

 

[tundra]

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess would go well with 1984 as well.

 

[Shai]

To follow the dystopian theme it might be interesting to do something like Huxley's Brave New World along with (, wait for it,) Huxley's Island.

For a more human condition thing, it could be good to do, for eg. Wiesel's Night, and Primo Levi's (I favour) The Periodic Table. They both treat their experiences very different, the latter being a chemist by proffession and interest, takes a much more analytical role despite (or perhaps, in spite, of) his experiences.

 

[ConX]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll probably end up doing 1984 coupled with another......

Any advice on novels that deal with the complexity/inner workings of the human mind....?

 

[unKeMPt]

I'd recommend Camus's The Stranger for a look at how society can indict an individual for not fitting into its image. Or Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for that matter.

 

[John Allen]

Two suggestions

May I suggest "The Magnificnet Ambersons" and "The Great Gatsby." They are both great books, and both deal with the evolution of individuals...

 

[lunablu63]

I would suggest "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi and "Love Thy Neighbor--A Story of War" by Peter Maas.

 

[Dogmatix]

I second Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest. Just read it myself and it was great.

 

[Prairie_Girl]

The Chrysalids by John Wyndam and Blindness by Jose Saramago?