My Professor Made Me Read It!

Back in November, I posted a discussion post called "My English Teacher Made Me Read It" where I discussed the books I had to read in middle school and high school as part of required reading. This post is a continuation of that one, discussing the books that were required reading when I was in college. As with the first post, I will be giving a brief, overall opinion of each book.

• The Great Gatsby- Yes, this book was also on the high school list. I also had to read it in college. Twice. I didn't like this book the first time. I didn't like it the second or third time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I liked it even less the second and third times. I don't understand why people think this book is so great.
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- I actually really enjoyed this book. It was weird, and insane things happened. The plot was hard to follow at times (when it had a plot) but given what the story is about, that makes perfect sense. It kept me engaged because I wanted to see what else would happen.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- This book taught me more about the medical field than I ever intended to learn. It tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, as the title says, but it also tells the story of how the cell samples gathered from her body, the HeLa cells, have been used in research since they were first collected in 1951.
• Native Son- This book does a very good job of conveying the message the author is trying to send. While not the first or most well known book to discuss the topic of race and racial division in the early 20th century, it is one of the best that I've read.
• Sister Carrie- I didn't like this one at all. I reread it to see if I might've misjudged it. I didn't.
• Miss Lonelyhearts- The entire tone of this book is depressing and nihilistic, which is what the author was going for. I commend him for achieving that, but since I don't enjoy books that are flat-out depressing, I wouldn't recommend it. 
• The Glass Menagerie- This is a play by Tennessee Williams. Williams is known for plays with dysfunctional families. Reading his work is a bit like watching a trainwreck. While this doesn't have the most dysfunctional family he's ever written, the dynamics certainly are entertaining. 
• Invisible Man- This is not the H.G. Wells novel about a man who is actually invisible. This novel, written by Ralph Ellison, gets it's titled from how its main character is invisible in society. I don't remember much about this book to be honest, so I'd say it was okay.

And that's the list of books I had to read in college. I thought plenty of them were fine. There were a few duds and a few I didn't expect to like, but really enjoyed. 

Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What did you think about them?

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