Can I out myself as a loyal Chronicle reader? Not those forums, though, what a bunch of ignoramuses.
But I love a lot of their columnists, and none more so than Ms. Mentor. As part of her most recent column she highlighted some academic novels that she loves.
Now there are MANY that aren't on the list, but it's her list, so here goes:
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Ms. Mentor invited her flock to nominate academic novels for summer reading, and
over 50 tomes were presented as possible winners of the "Ackies"—the accolades given by Ms. Mentor's Academy of Academic Novels, starting this year. This year's 11 finalists were chosen by Ms. Mentor and a panel of expert judges (identified below). They give not only wisdom (excerpted here) but also letter grades. And now the chosen ones, in order of grade:
- Glyph, by Percival Everett
. The hero, an off-the-charts genius infant, has absurd adventures while debunking academic careerism and the desire to "make meaning." Comic gold for those who know semiotics. Grade: A+ (for the intended audience).
- The Human Stain, by Philip Roth
. A noncomic novel in which a slip of the tongue turns into accusations of racism, leading to a rumination on racial politics, identity, and knowing/not knowing. Grade: A.
- On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
. Hilarious and provocative account of a bumbling art professor who can't see beauty in real life, while the women around him are the true visionaries in and out of the university subculture. Grade: A.
- Pym, by Mat Johnson
. An African-American professor fired for refusing to be on the Diversity Committee winds up assembling a diverse, comical ensemble to seek out the Antarctic paradise described in Edgar Allan Poe's Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Weirdly satirical parody, also about the danger of falling prey to our own fictions. Grade: A-.
- Now Playing at Canterbury, by Vance Bourjaily
. A witty, metatextual romp mocking scientists' explanations of life and artists' efforts to depict nature. Grade: B+.
- The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
. Rich, self-absorbed classics majors prefer silk and elaborate dinner parties over T-shirts and "dressed to get screwed" parties—but one of their number is murdered anyway. Grade: B+.
- Unseen Academicals, by Terry Pratchett
. A school for wizards has a budget crisis and suddenly has to field a football team to get funds, while cutting back on the wizards' meals and perks. A polite young goblin stars in this satire of heroic sports tales, full of puns and silliness for the well-informed. Grade: B+.
- Death in a Tenured Position, by Amanda Cross
. The first tenured female professor has her drink spiked, passes out in a bathtub in a compromising position, and worse happens—finally sorted out by intrepid Kate Fansler, a discerning critic of academic hierarchies and plots. Grade: B.
- White Noise, by Don DeLillo
. An amusing period piece, covering "Hitler studies" and "Elvis studies," but moving away from ironic academia to sexual politics and stolen drugs. Grade: B.
- On Borrowed Wings, by Chandra Prasad
. Superior social commentary and interesting story about a woman who, in 1940, disguises herself as her dead brother to receive an education at Yale. Grade: B-.
- Possession, by A.S. Byatt
. A passionately told love story woven into a realistic portrait of the troublesome competitive world of academia. Grade: B-.
I was rather surprised to see Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim and David Lodge's Changing Places and Small World missing from the list, but upon reading the full article, I see that the author has those in her Academy of Academic Novels Hall of Fame.
ReplyDeleteI do love novels about academia.
Richard Russo's _Straight Man_ is one of the best in the genre.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love novels about the collapse of the Third Reich.
ReplyDelete"Seventeen Moments of Spring" by Julian Semyonov. A spy novel, the first in a series featuring Semyonov's character Max Otto von Shtirlitz, a deep-cover Soviet agent working for Nazi counterintelligence (SS-Sicherheitsdienst.) Set in the last Spring of the war, Shtirlitz has to deal with duplicitous double agents, bizarre office politics ("Gestapo" Meuller is envious of him), and Heinrich Himmler's Swiss plot with Allan Dulles to end the war but keep Nazi Germany running. Basis for the much beloved Soviet TV serial of the same name, starring Vycheslav Tikhonov (Prince Andrei in "War and Peace") as Shtirlitz.
"North", "Castle to Castle" by Louis-Ferdinand Celine. You may despise Louis-Ferdanand Destouches for his rabid anti-Semitism, but he paints a stark picture of the collapse of Western Europe, almost of a generation's way of thinking, and the odd collection of Vichy survivors at the castle of Siegmaringen makes for interesting reading. A good companion piece would be Tom Clark's "The Exile of Celine", which lays out LFD's escape from the Aliied advance, time in Nazi Germany, escape to Denmark, trial in Denmark, and return to Paris as "the shame of Denmark and France."
"Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon. You were expecting this one, and it deserves to be mentioned....the Kreigsmarine toilet ship, the Spanish Anarchists in the captured U-boat, the Herrero Schwartzmentchen; all somehow wedged into the story of the V-2 rocket....it is a horrible-wonderful shaggy dog story and far better than latter-day ripoffs like "Infinite Jest."
Finally note: Though not a book (unless you have the illustrated screenplay published in the `80s), some mention must be made of Hans-Jeurgen Syberberg's "Hitler, a Film from Germany", a seven-hour-long trial by film of Hitler and Naziism in which nine actors play many roles. Syberberg uses his theatrical background to its maximum, using fore-projection, back-projection, models, films, home movies, and still pictures to create an intellectual mosaic over the drab Munich studio his actors are playing in. A film better seen then described.
@Surly
ReplyDeleteRusso's book is in Ms. Mentor's hall of fame; it's mentioned in one of the early paragraphs of the column.
I think books by Carl Djerassi would be well received by science faculty, especially those in chemistry.
ReplyDeleteI'd add James Hynes' The Lecturer's Tale, which moves between hilarious satire and something like magical realism. A wonderful read, IMHO.
ReplyDelete