Author Topic: Favourite novels that have poverty?  (Read 46357 times)

Parizade

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #100 on: April 16, 2019, 07:44:42 PM »
Mary Lasswell's books, starting with her 1942 book Suds in Your Eye "described as "a crazy, funny story" about three impoverished but high-spirited and beer-loving elderly women." They are great models for enjoying life without spending a lot of money.

AMandM

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #101 on: May 21, 2019, 08:41:53 AM »
In the 1940s Lois Lenski wrote the "American Regional" series of books for children that are well worth an adult's read.  Each is about a family in a different part of the country, mostly rural, and the goal of the series was to introduce children to the variety of the American experience.  The one I remember best is Cotton In My Sack, about a cotton sharecropping family. As a child of frugal parents, I was horrified by how each week the family got paid for their week of picking and then immediately spent all their money in town on eating out and "play pretties." Even at age 7 or 8, I knew this was not sustainable year round.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/80052-american-regional

BussoV6

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #102 on: May 29, 2019, 07:58:54 AM »
Would Charles Dickens count? Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist come to mind, maybe there are a couple more.

A Tale of Two Cities. Lots of poor folks (and rich ones). Extreme wealth gap was a root cause of the revolution.

StarBright

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #103 on: May 29, 2019, 08:10:03 AM »
I just read Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward and it was incredible - very strong Southern Gothic and Faulkner-esque vibes. Main characters are quite poor; dealing with hunger, drug abuse, and prison system in the contemporary south (and ghosts!).

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #104 on: May 29, 2019, 10:02:00 AM »
I just read Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward and it was incredible - very strong Southern Gothic and Faulkner-esque vibes. Main characters are quite poor; dealing with hunger, drug abuse, and prison system in the contemporary south (and ghosts!).

Hillbilly Elegy is a contemporary book  about the poor and their problems.

IDK if it's a novel.

I haven't read it
« Last Edit: May 29, 2019, 10:04:42 AM by John Galt incarnate! »

dblaace

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #105 on: May 29, 2019, 11:35:55 AM »
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman was an interesting read.

grantmeaname

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #106 on: May 29, 2019, 04:51:52 PM »
Hillbilly Elegy is a contemporary book  about the poor and their problems.

IDK if it's a novel.

I haven't read it
It could hardly be your favorite then!


smileyface

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #107 on: June 01, 2019, 12:08:26 PM »
Other people recommended it already, but I can't help but put in another good word for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  One of my all-time favorite books.  I must have read it 5 or 6 times, and I'm really not one to re-read books.  The writing style just draws me into that world.

Dicey

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #108 on: June 05, 2019, 09:11:27 AM »
Hillbilly Elegy is a contemporary book  about the poor and their problems.

IDK if it's a novel.

I haven't read it
It could hardly be your favorite then!
And it's also not a novel.

mrmoonymartian

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #109 on: June 08, 2019, 11:04:01 PM »
1984 - George Orwell
+1. Also Darkness At Noon by Arthur Koestler.

Budgie

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #110 on: June 23, 2019, 09:54:05 PM »
In the 1940s Lois Lenski wrote the "American Regional" series of books for children that are well worth an adult's read.  Each is about a family in a different part of the country, mostly rural, and the goal of the series was to introduce children to the variety of the American experience.  The one I remember best is Cotton In My Sack, about a cotton sharecropping family. As a child of frugal parents, I was horrified by how each week the family got paid for their week of picking and then immediately spent all their money in town on eating out and "play pretties." Even at age 7 or 8, I knew this was not sustainable year round.

I loved these books, and I remember just what you're talking about. Strawberry Girl is another one I recall had some pretty pointed lessons in it.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/80052-american-regional

A Fella from Stella

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #111 on: June 29, 2019, 10:53:17 AM »
Angela's Ashes, though not a novel, an absolute treasure.

marble_faun

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #112 on: July 01, 2019, 07:35:57 PM »
The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy.  A story of poverty and desperation, set in the slums of Montreal during the Great Depression and early WWII years.

Also, +1 to The Glass Castle.  Not a novel, but a memoir of a woman who grew up in extremely poor and difficult circumstances, with neglectful/nomadic parents who fancied themselves free spirits.  It's really good.

Dicey

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #113 on: July 02, 2019, 06:23:02 AM »
Angela's Ashes, though not a novel, an absolute treasure.
It's been a very long time, but this book kinda pissed me off. IIRC, Angela never stood up for herself. Who teaches women that taking this kind of abuse is the right thing to do?

OurFirstFire

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #114 on: July 02, 2019, 07:31:22 AM »
I recommend Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.  It's a quazi-true story of a man who escapes from prison in Australia and starts from nothing in the slums of Mumbai, India.

LaineyAZ

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #115 on: July 02, 2019, 07:38:34 AM »
Angela's Ashes, though not a novel, an absolute treasure.
It's been a very long time, but this book kinda pissed me off. IIRC, Angela never stood up for herself. Who teaches women that taking this kind of abuse is the right thing to do?

The Catholic church and its anti-divorce stance gives the bully absolute power. 

Anecdote from my own family:  my grandfather was a functioning alcoholic and occasional wife-beater.  One time after getting hit, my grandmother fled the house and encountered a policeman in the streets.  When she asked for help, he turned her away saying, "Woman, be glad you have a husband."  Happened in a city in America in the 1920s.

Dicey

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Re: Favourite novels that have poverty?
« Reply #116 on: July 02, 2019, 08:52:05 AM »
Angela's Ashes, though not a novel, an absolute treasure.
It's been a very long time, but this book kinda pissed me off. IIRC, Angela never stood up for herself. Who teaches women that taking this kind of abuse is the right thing to do?

The Catholic church and its anti-divorce stance gives the bully absolute power. 

Anecdote from my own family:  my grandfather was a functioning alcoholic and occasional wife-beater.  One time after getting hit, my grandmother fled the house and encountered a policeman in the streets.  When she asked for help, he turned her away saying, "Woman, be glad you have a husband."  Happened in a city in America in the 1920s.
LaineyAZ, I was writing during a bout of insomnia and didn't have the brain power to make a cogent argument, but I could not agree more. Thanks for phrasing it so pithily. I do feel the need to add that this phenomenon is not limited to the Catholic Church. It happens everywhere that women are oppressed, or even simply lack economic opportunity.

 

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