hey I'm teaching a class on war narratives this semester any recommendations as far as books go? what i've got so far is like this
vietnam war narratives:
The Things They Carried - Tim O' Brien
Meditations in Green - Stephen Wright
Cold war narratives:
Don Delillo - Underworld
Richard Condon - the Manchurian Candidate
War Journalism:
Michael Herr - Dispatches
Martha Gellhorn - The Face of War
War of the Minds/Psychological Warfare:
Philip K. Dick - Time out of Joint
Hector Tobar - Tattooed Soldier
anything i should add or change?
>>7603872
any reasoon you are leaving out WW2? a lot of the best literature ever created was from ww2
>>7603886
I have room for one more book and i don't know any world war 2 books. a decent rec would help
ernst junger
Teach Gravity's Rainbow as a Cold War narrative please
>>7603893
teaching gravity's rainbow itself would require a month imo
>>7603887
catch 22 would be the obvious choice for english language lit class but there are countless others.. i see you have big books on the list already what size are you looking for
>>7603899
Needn't assign it to be read, just use it as an offhand example
It's a book everyone must read
At least reccomend it, please
Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger
>>7603902
200-330 pages
its a senior-level course so two weeks to teach each book
I don't know how to easily pigeonhole it but For Whom The Bell Tolls is pretty much an essential war narrative
And less complexly A Farewell To Arms as well, if for nothing else for its impact on English literature
>>7603872
On Killing by Grossman is a masterwork for your psychological warfare part.
Matterhorn
>>7603891
Storm of Steel is a Must
Churchills Memoirs on the Second World War, especially "Their Finest Hour"
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Faces of Battle by Keegan is a classic in the genre and a turning stone on military history
A Savage War of Peace is a history of the Algerian Conflict that is excellent
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
Life and Fate by Grossman
The Black March
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
by Roméo Dallaire
>>7603915
Underworld sounds kind of insane to me. ~800 pages and quite densely structured, not to mention that War arguably isn't even the pervading narrative. I mean, the Cold War plays a huge role there's no question but enjoy justifying long lectures on Sergei Eisenstein and gay graffiti artists to probably a bunch of History majors and gun nuts who want to read the Platoon novelization.
>>7603912
yes for the whom the bell tolls is good. Also for WWI Good-Bye to All That by Robert Graves could be good
>>7603872
World War 1
All Quite on the Eastern Front
>>7603872
Underworld is inappropriate, if you want a cold war book that is fiction try "on the beach" and if you want non-fiction consider "The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB "
The Third Reich At War by Richard Evans and The Great Betrayal/Bitter Harvest by Ian Smith are really good non-fiction narratives.
>>7603909
storm of steel and radetzky march, all quiet on the western front.. are great for WW1
fernando poo naratives:
The Eye in The Pyramid
>tfw the country lost 60% of its population
>>7603924
any cold war stuff to sub it for?
>>7603984
Gravity's Rainbow, no shitting
If you're familiar with the book it shouldn't be hard to select a few chapters and make a pretty good cold war lesson
so don delillo is getting subbed out and storm of steel is def getting added after seeing the multiple recs
>>7604014
I would suggest doing some WWI lit.
>>7604018
t b h i'm mostly teaching war stuff I like reading about and war in fiction i didn't/never had much of an interest in ww1 or 2 but i do recognize the importance of those and that I should be teaching them
>>7604022
Thats fair. Definitely do something you enjoy first. Makes it better for everyone.
can Naked Lunch be taught as a war text? i remember an old professor talked about doing it
if you're usin Philip K Dick ..... i always thought "Now wait for Last Year" was his "Farewell to Arms" in a way
one of his best, zaniest scifi plots to serve as a surprisingly mature reflection on war, relationships, and responsibility. plus my favorite of his fictional drugs, JJ180. Even the name is great. JJ180
>>7604040
No. It really isn't about war. It's partially about the apocalyptic devastation of the world after the disaster of the twentieth century's first half, but not war.
>>7603872
Dispatches is so good
Junger and Webster's book from WW2. I believe it's called Parachute Infantry. Webster was one of the best characters from BoB and he was an actual writer, so he's way better at telling stories than anyone else. He also has a book on sharks if anyone's interested.
secondary question i have to think of another "genre" /themed class for the fall semester i'm thinking japanese lit, beat lit, or comic books as literature (for a fun one)
>>7604095
question is suggestions for a themed class?
>>7604095
Horror and/or grotesque
>>7604095
I think Great Contemporary Lit or New Classics would work. This bitch has a good selection and you can rip off her lesson plan.
http://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-291
Jap Lit would also be good because they have short novels, and you can hit Mishima, Soseki, Murakami pretty easily.
>>7604121
Sub out The Human Stain for American Pastoral AND you can teach Underworld or Plath
>>7603872
one soldier's war in chechenya by babchenko is the best journalistic/biographical account i'm aware of. probably throw in some ambrose bierce and storm of steel to go with it. juxtaposing junger with babchenko should be the centerpiece of your whole shit of a course.
>>7604150
>being this much of a russian
>>7604150
added to my calibre m8
Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones
>>7603872
I'd personally recommend Siegfried Sassoon's "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer." Sassoon constructed a significant amount of the story's plot based on his own diary notes during WW1, and makes for an interesting comparison of his diary entries and the corresponding chapters in the text when looking at what he chose to include / elaborate on / omit.
>>7604215
Also, in lieu of recommending full books for additional reading, it may serve to incorporate important text passages/chapters from several works if you want to fill the gaps in the reading list for the course.
