Read Your Way to a Higher Score: Summer Reading Recommendations from our GRE Instructors
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If you have been prepping for the GRE, flash cards, prep books, and practice problems have probably become your closest companions. Being the ambitious studier that you are, you may find yourself feeling a strong sense of guilt if you stray from your prep plan to take a leisurely break. Fortunately, we have a simple, guilt-free activity that is both enjoyable and helpful in prepping for the GRE: Reading! Because you (hopefully) keep up with the standard stock list (The New York Times, The Economist, National Geographic, etc.), we have compiled a list of fresh reading material, compliments of our very own GRE instructors, that combines a plethora of GRE words with beguiling storylines. Plus, now that it’s finally summertime, what better way to fill your study breaks than to lay out in the warm sun with a great novel in hand?
Recommendations from Stacey Koprince:
The Source by James Michener: The book chronicles an archaeological dig in Israel, hopping back and forth in time, sometimes telling the story of a certain artifact, and sometimes returning to the present to talk about modern day political and social issues (set in 1960s).
The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder: A renowned 1967 National Book Award-winning novel that is a murder mystery and philosophical novel all in one.
Recommendations from Michael Bilow:
Medea by Euripides: Explores love, loss, and motherhood through Euripides’ beautiful dialogue. While audiences have been divided over the play’s feminism, the character of Medea is one of the strongest in classical literature.
Tartuffe by Moliere: Translated into English by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Richard Wilbur (among many others), a sanctimonious preacher (Tartuffe) tries to take advantage of the gullible Orgon’s bank acccount and wife, and ends up caught in his own web of hypocrisy.
Recommendations from Julia Van Dyke:
The Corrections and Freedom, both by Jonathan Franzen: They are both sprawling stories about several generations of dysfunctional American families that are very funny and also tackle big ideas about what it means to be American. Both novels are also full of GRE-type vocab!
Recommendations from Chris Berman:
The Information by Martin Amis: Novelist Richard Tull contemplates turning 40 without achieving success and the success of his friend and rival Gwyn Barry. Revenger’s tragedy, comedy of errors, contemporary satire, The Information is an extraordinary novel of dark humor and piercing insight. Note: The Rachel Papers by Amis, which is about an 18-year-old who loses his virginity, is another good choice.
The Ambassadors by Henry James: The Ambassadors tells the story of Lewis Lambert Strather and his determination to track down the estranged son of his widowed fiancée. As his journey takes him from the United States to Paris, Strather finds more than his fiancée’s son; he discovers an entirely new way of being. Drawn by the seductive delights of Parisian life, Strather must determine whether he himself will return to America in this cerebral and relatable novel. This is a challenging read!
Recommendations from Jen Dziura:
Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens: When Christopher Hitchens — well-known on American television for wittily destroying his debate opponents — was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote in a Vanity Fair article not to “trouble deaf heaven with your bootless cries.” Fortunately, I knew the word “bootless” from the GRE, although I didn’t recognize the line as a Shakespeare reference until later. Hitch-22 is a record of boozy decades in the intelligentsia.
The Art of Manliness – Manvotionals – Timeless Wisdom and Advice on Living the 7 Manly Virtues by Brett McKay: This book mostly consists of GRE-passage-sized excerpts from works written 50 to 150 years ago. You might not agree with the authors’ ideas of “manliness,” but this book is good reading practice in more formally written (that is, old-fashioned) English.
Have you read a great novel that has helped you to prepare for the GRE? We would love to hear your suggestions! Comment below or tweet @manhattanprep. Happy Reading!
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