3 Novels About War: 1984, Catch 22, and The Buried Giant

In this class we’ll examine themes of nationalism, propaganda, and individualism in each of these novels by George Orwell, Joseph Heller, and Kazuo Ishiguro. We’ll begin class with Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.  Written in 1949, the novel explores themes of privacy, propaganda and betrayal in a country that is in a state of perpetual war. We’ll follow up1984 with Joseph Heller’s 1961 bitingly satirical novel, Catch 22. Absurd and terribly funny, it follows the exploits of bombardier John Yossarian who desperately wants his tour of duty to end.  We’ll end our class by discussing Kazuo Ishiguro’s extraordinary 2015 novel, The Buried Giant. Set in a post-arthurian Britain where no one is able to retain memories, an elderly couple vaguely remembers having a son who lives in a village several days journey from their own. The novel follows their travels and explores themes of guilt, loss, trauma and collective memory.  Each week students will need to write a 1 page essay about the week's reading and a final 5 page paper due on our last class. The class will be structured as a seminar and students will be expected to participate extensively and respectfully discuss ideas with their peers. None of the novels will be provided. Each student will need to procure copies of each novel.

Ages: Mature 12+

Teacher: Stephen Covington-O'Kelley

Age range: 12+

Price: $10.50