1 2007 Summer Reading Program (juniors & seniors) Su

18Camus, Albert. The Stranger A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimlessinertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhatinexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, hiscrime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he hascommitted as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing ofincidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother'sdeath and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensiblydamning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous andinevitable. (Amazon.com)Cooper, James Fenimore. Last of the Mohicans The year is 1757, the English andFrench are at war in the Americas, the native peoples are caught up on both sides. Thenative guide Magua leads a British party astray and it is only due to the timely interventionof Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook that they survive. Cora and Alice Munro reach FortyWilliam only to be caught up in a massacre and kidnapped by Magua. Heyward, white scoutHawkeye (real name Natty Bumppo) and Mohicans Uncas and Chingachgook set out torescue the young sisters in this classic adventure tale. (Allreaders.com)Dostoevski, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky's last novel, The KaramazovBrothers (1880) is both a brilliantly told crime story and a passionate philosophical debate.The dissolute landowner Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov is murdered; his sons-- atheistintellectual Ivan, hot-blooded Dmitry, and saintly novice Alyosha--are all involved at somelevel. Brilliantly bound up with this psychological drama is Dostoevsky's intense anddisturbing exploration of many deeply felt ideas about the existence of God, freedom of will,the collective nature of guilt, and the disastrous consequences of rationalism. (Oxford WorldClassic book description)Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary This exquisite novel tells the story of one of themost compelling heroines in modern literature--Emma Bovary. Unhappily married to adevoted, clumsy provincial doctor, Emma revolts against the ordinariness of her life bypursuing voluptuous dreams of ecstasy and love. Her sensuous desires lead her only tosuffering corruption and downfall. Acclaimed as a masterpiece upon its publication in 1857,the work catapulted Flaubert to the ranks of the world's greatest novelists. (from thepublisher – Bantam Classics)Forester, E.M. A Room with a View A charming young English woman, LucyHoneychurch, faints into the arms of a fellow Britisher when she witnesses a murder in aFlorentine piazza. Attracted to this man, George Emerson--who is entirely unsuitable andwhose father just may be a Socialist--Lucy is soon at war with the snobbery of her class andher own conflicting desires. (from the publisher – Bantam Classics)Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms The unforgettable story of an Americanambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.Hemingway's frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley,caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modernliterature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto -- of lines of fired menmarching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized -- is one of the greatest moments inliterary history. (Amazon.com)Hugo, Victor. Les Misérables Les Misérables is set in the Parisian underworld. Theprotagonist, Jean Valjean, is sentenced to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread.After his release, Valjean plans to rob monseigneur Myriel, a saintlike bishop, but cancelshis plan. However, he forfeits his parole by committing a minor crime, and for this crimeValjean is haunted by the inspector Javert. Valjean reforms and becomes a successful