Read, track, and reflect across a structured canon.
Focus: Contemporary Literature (1980s–Present)
Goal: Explore works from the last 50 years that are likely to stand the test of time.
This course shifts focus to the "classics of tomorrow." These books have already made a significant impact on literature and culture, but they are modern enough to speak directly to our contemporary world.
The "North Star" for this course is Lonesome Dove, a towering achievement in American storytelling that bridges the gap between old-fashioned myth-making and modern psychological realism.
| ID | Book | Author | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41.01 | Lonesome Dove | Larry McMurtry | 1985 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.02 | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood | 1985 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.03 | Blood Meridian | Cormac McCarthy | 1985 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.04 | The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro | 1989 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.05 | The Things They Carried | Tim O'Brien | 1990 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.06 | Atonement | Ian McEwan | 2001 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.07 | Gilead | Marilynne Robinson | 2004 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.08 | Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | 2009 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.09 | The Underground Railroad | Colson Whitehead | 2016 | ⚪ Not Started |
| 41.10 | White Teeth | Zadie Smith | 2000 | ⚪ Not Started |
This course is designed to be completed in roughly 10-12 months, reading one book per month (with extra time for longer works like Lonesome Dove and Wolf Hall).
| Month | Book | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1-2 | Lonesome Dove | Immersive storytelling, character, and demythologizing the West. |
| Month 3 | The Handmaid's Tale | Speculative fiction, feminism, and power. |
| Month 4 | Blood Meridian | Violence, history, and prose style. |
| Month 5 | The Remains of the Day | Reliability of memory, dignity, and repression. |
| Month 6 | The Things They Carried | Truth vs. fiction, war, and memory. |
| Month 7 | Atonement | The power (and danger) of fiction and forgiveness. |
| Month 8 | Gilead | Faith, family, and the epistolary form. |
| Month 9 | Wolf Hall | Historical fiction, politics, and subjectivity. |
| Month 10 | The Underground Railroad | Magical realism and the trauma of slavery. |
| Month 11 | White Teeth | Multiculturalism, history, and connection. |