By Bryan Mercke–
I was excited to see that The Cardinal was doing a story on how reading can be a useful tool in college. Not only does it sharpen the mind, but it is also a more entertaining alternative than playing CoD: 7 and watching Jersey Shore re-runs if you have the right book.
Now don’t get me wrong, the books listed in the article are great reads, but I think they belong on the high-school reading lists where many people first encountered them against their own will. What’s so sad about this list, is that if a casual observer who looked at the article because they were interested in the topic saw the list presented, then they might be left with the impression that their high-school reading list really was the pinnacle of what is out there. This is an injustice that I could not tolerate.
There are so many great books out there just waiting to show you the door to another world! The readers of the Louisville Cardinal are college students. Give them what they need. Pander to their college reading level and challenge them with some titles that are not only complex, but wildly entertaining.
Below is a list I have compiled that is literary, stimulating and outside the box:
1. Gravity’s Rainbow
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. Naked Lunch
4. Catch 22
5. Ulysses
6. Moby Dick
7. Infinite Jest
8. The Light that Failed
9. Tess of the d’Urbervilles
10. The Brother Karamazov