Time for holiday reading?
The summer holidays are approaching and hopefully so are long days in the sun with a good book. You might feel like reading different kinds of academic texts than you are used to. For your inspiration, here is a list of novels that tackle academia from a different - and entertaining - angle.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1969)
Satirical novel about a young university lecturer in post-war Britain.
Changing places by David Lodge (part 1 of David Lodge’s university trilogy)
As part of an academic exchange programme, a US and UK university lecturer swap jobs for six months. Their experiences turn into an entertaining series of grotesque events - private as well as professionally (source: biblioteket.dk).
Small world - an academic romance by David Lodge (1984) (Part 2 of David Lodge’s university trilogy)
Nice work by David Lodge (1988) (Part 3 of David Lodge’s university trilogy)
A social satirical love story from UK in the Thatcher era. She is a left-wing university lecturer, he is a conservative industrial magnate (source: biblioteket.dk).
Stoner by John Williams (1965)
An ordinary life, but an extraordinary book. This well-told story about a man in Missouri in the first part of the 20th century is American literature at its very best (source: litteratursiden.dk).
The dinosaur feather by Sissel-Jo Gazan (2009)
Crime story. Do birds descend from the dinosaurs? This is the topic of Anna’s Master's thesis in the field of biology, and the further she delves into the topic, the more she realises that research as well as human misconduct can have serious consequences (source: biblioteket.dk)
Arc of the swallow by Sissel-Jo Gazan (2014)
An independent continuation of The dinosaur feather, this book draws a critical picture of the small man fighting the big system. It also discusses the mechanisms that man makes use of to protect his own interests (source: biblioteket.dk).
Do you have any input?
If you have a suggestion for what books to put on the list, please send your input to slbj@au.dk.