2012 Summer Reading Guide - Hopkins School

Heaney, Seamus (translator) Beowulf
Heaney translates this epic poem passed down by oral tradition until carefully recorded by an
anonymous monk during the 6 th century. Considered by many scholars as the beginning of Anglo-
Saxon literature, the hero is a Viking warrior who seeks immortality through brave deeds.
Hellman, Lillian The Children's Hour
A malicious child brings tragedy to the two young women who own a boarding school when she
accuses them of being lesbians.
Herbert, Zbigniew (trans. Czeslaw Milosz) Selected Poems
Sometimes austere, sometimes sardonic, these poems, written by one of Poland’s greatest poets, are
translated into English by another.
Ionesco, Eugene (trans. Derek Prouse) Rhinoceros and Other Plays
Berenger, the French everyman, watches horrified as his closest friends turn slowly into rhinoceroses
in this seminal work of the theater of the absurd.
Kaufman, Moises The Laramie Project
This play presents the reflections of the citizens of Laramie, Wyoming, the site of the murder of gay
student Matthew Shepard, as they attempt to understand the crime and its causes.
Keats, John The Poetical Works of John Keats
(H. Buxton Forman, and ed.)
The whole of Keats’ known works in verse are included in this volume including sixteen lines of The
Eve of St. Mark, found by the editor in Keats’ scrapbook.
Khayyam, Omar The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Persian philosopher and scientist speaks in poetry of life, death, love, and drinking in the woods.
Lorca, Federico (Donald M. Allen, ed.) The Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca
A selection of Lorca’s beautiful and timeless poems written in both their native Spanish and the
translated English.
Mamet, David Glengary Glen Ross
A gritty, realistic drama in which an office competition goes bad: first prize is a Cadillac; third prize is
loss of a job.
Marlowe, Christopher Dr. Faustus
A man sells his soul to gain knowledge and power.
Merwin, W.S. Migration
Migration is the distillation of a profound body of work, drawing the best poems from Merwin’s
acclaimed 17 books, and including a selection of new poems. It charts his evolving poetic style,
dedication to bearing witness, and artistic and political nerve. A subtle but arresting masterpiece.
Miller, Arthur All My Sons
An intense family drama about Joe Keller, a man who must come to terms with his family and take
responsibility for his actions during WWII.
Milton, John Paradise Lost
One of England's greatest poets offers a philosophical epic at once so piercing in approach, so
stimulating in effect, and so gentle in feeling that it becomes both a joy and a necessity to think
about the religious questions he addresses.
Neruda, Pablo 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair
These romantic poems, which launched the Nobel Prize-winning poet to international fame, present
Neruda’s search to understand love and its many incarnations of joy, passion, desire, and longing.
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