An allegorical novel on civilization and savagery, the power of religion, identity, and youth. A group of young boys survive a plane crash and find themselves on an uninhabited island. They quickly establish a governmental structure, rules, and order and elect one boy as chief. However, not long after conflicts erupt, their group splits in […]
Orwell’s classic fable-like allegory to Stalinism. Feeling suppressed and exploited by the farmer, a group of farm animals plot a revolution. But soon after the revolutionary takeover of the farmyard, their leaders become corrupted by power and turn into the ones they once chased away.
A social problem novel on changes and challenges in industrialised England – following ‘the progress of a parish boy’ from London’s impoverished underworld to a fortunate life. Growing up in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver asked for more food and is sold to an undertaker to become his apprentice. Oliver runs away and travels to […]
A song by Saul Williams critically investigating the US American military and inhuman past, present and future. In the style of a preacher, the speaker reflects on the USA’s history and its current state. He complains about a lack of ancient spirituality and the worship of a male god that causes violence and destruction.
The speaker of the poem records Lil’s answer regarding gender prejudices and discrimination against women. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of perspectives on mountaineering, the human body and gender roles. Her poems navigate proximity and distance, past and present, edges and extremes.
A tragedy on the American Dream – exploring themes of human interaction, dependence and isolation. The narrator follows George and Lennie, two very opposite friends, who dream of owning their own piece of land during the Great Depression. Before their dream comes true, Lennie accidentally commits a murder and their vision becomes even more impossible… […]
A biographical novel on racism, colonialism, dispossession, loss, identity and the ‘Stolen Generations’. This personal account tells the story of three young Aboriginal girls: After they have been taken away from their parents, Molly, Daisy and Gracie manage to escape from the Moor River Native settlement – an internment camp for Aboriginal people. They set […]
A young-adult novel about racism, injustice and prejudice in the American South. The story is told from the perspective of the six-year-old girl ‘Scout’, who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her younger brother in a small town in Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. It is a peaceful summer until Tim […]
An autobiographical novel on racial segregation, identity, and hypocrisy. The white journalist J. H. Griffin retells the story of a remarkable experiment: In 1959 at the height of racial tensions, he uses a dermatological drug that darkens his skin – so he could pass as an African American. Griffin embarks on a six weeks’ journey […]
A dystopian novel on social inequality, manipulative tendencies in the media and autocratic governments. In the trilogy’s first part, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, which is part of a post-apocalyptic society controlled by a brutal regime. On the Day of Reaping each district offers two teenagers as ‘tributes’ to participate in the Hunger […]
A teenage-detective novel on high school culture, identity conflicts, bullying and peer pressure. Hannah has committed suicide. Shortly after, her classmate Clay receives a package with a set of audio tapes. While Clay works his way through the tapes, the reasons for what happened to Hannah are revealed and he begins to see life at […]
This Victorian Christmas tale follows Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly, bitter gentleman who despises the festive season and everything other people love about it. One Christmas Eve three ghosts visit him. With the intention to change his perspective, they show Mr Scrooge the Christmas Eves of the past, the present and the future – and thereby […]
This young adult fiction is the debut novel from the magical realist Harry Potter series. Harry is an orphan, living with his aunt and uncle and their son Dudley. He finds out that he is no ordinary boy at all, when on his 11th birthday he receives an invitation to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft […]
“Five Notes After a Visit” follows an unnamed, female narrator travelling from England to Northern Ireland (Belfast/Derry) – where she was born – to visit her boyfriend Stewart. During her visit, she experiences troubles, tensions and a trauma that she reflects upon in diary-like notes. The recommended edition Ireland – Changes and Challenges: Short Stories […]
Prototypical modernist short story on class issues, wealth and self-reflexion with complex metaphors and imagery. The Sheridan family is preparing a party in the garden of their mansion, when the news arrives that Mr. Scott, their neighbor, died in an accident. Laura, the daughter of the Sheridans’, wants to cancel the party – but her […]
A light-hearted short story about a ghost who hasn’t slept for 300 years and desperately fails to be scary at all. The US-American Otis family moves into Canterville Chase, a haunted house in England. Soon after their arrival, a ghost of an English nobleman named Sir Simon de Centerville reveals himself and tries his best […]