Summer reading, need help choosing

[Ski]

Well, it turns out that at my high school, all incoming freshman need to read two books off of a summer reading list to prepare for a paper to be written this fall. I have narrowed down the list, but I still need some advice. Here are the choices:

A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Animal Farm (also) by George Orwell
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I'm definitely reading one of Orwell's books, and most likely one of the others. So what do you think I should read this summer?

Last edited by Ski on Sat May 21, 2005 5:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Medusa]

I read Animal Farm in highschool and it wasn't bad (I think I ended up reading it 3 times in total, I read it twice for exams), pretty light reading if you don't read too much into it. I can't say I've read the books not by George Orwell but I believe I've been told A Tale Of Two Cities is quite good.

[hiddenneggs]

Pretty much a toss-up between the Orwell books -- Animal Farm is probably "lighter" reading, Nineteen Eighty-Four (pedantic nit: that book title is spelled out) a bit weightier. Fable (talking animals) vs. "science fiction" (so-called because it dealt with the then-future), but of course they're both really social commentary/criticism.

I'm not sure why I haven't read Frankenstein yet -- I've read Dracula multiple times -- but that would be my choice simpy to get myself to read it. (I once took a college class specifically because I knew it required reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy, & I hadn't yet got beyond The Hobbit.)

[Asthaloth]

nineteen eighty four is overrated.
animal farm is great, if a little on the short side.

from what i remember of Frankensteins monster, it was pretty good.

[Jasujo]

Animal Farm is really good, so I'd say definitely that one. Hmm, the next is a toughy. I've heard that A Tale of Two Cities is good, as well, but I haven't read it yet. Frankenstein is probably good. Like hiddenneggs, I've read Dracula and I tend to like books like that.