Utah Prison Education Project Reading Group: Classic Models, Contemporary Models

The University of Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP) is sponsoring a reading group in the Lone Peak facility at the Utah State Prison. The group meets one day a week (sometimes every two weeks, depending on the length of the novel). Books are provided to individuals free of charge due to generous donations from friends, family, and others. The goal of the reading group is to facilitate critical thought and discussion while building community. This is the first UPEP offering in the Lone Peak facility.

Each Reading Group consists of novels with some sort of theme or unifying idea in mind. For the first group, we will pair one classic novel with one contemporary novel; in other words, novels that are associated by theme, genre, and other characteristics. We will discuss the contemporary texts with a focus on determining whether they have the makings of a classic novel. We'll also talk about what makes the classic novel classic. Dissecting stylistic and structural choices made by each author, we will talk about the effectiveness of each text and how it highlights universal themes and/or resonates with broader issues and ideas.

Here are the book pairings:
Set 1:
Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad (1902 & 1910)
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (1962)

Set 2:
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
The Martian by Andy Weir (2011)

Set 3:
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley (1990)

Set 4:
Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
On Such A Full Sea by Change-rae Lee (2014)

I hope you enjoy following along. Feel free to share your own thoughts on these novels, and if you have suggestions for other books that would pair well, please share those as well!

If you'd like to learn more about the UPEP, please click here.
If you'd like to contribute to the UPEP general fund, click here.
If you'd like to buy some supplies for classrooms at the Utah State Prison, check out this Amazon wishlist.
And if you'd like to buy a book for the book drive, check out the wishlist here.

Thanks! And keep reading.


-Elliot