Power

This curated selection of titles examines the concept of power and its role in shaping society. The texts in the Power Collection draw upon a wide range of literary traditions and genres to explore concepts related to power and its pursuit, such as equality and injustice, colonialism, authority, and conflict.

Shadow and Bone

by Leigh Bardugo

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Power & Greed

Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Action & Adventure, Middle Eastern Literature, Romance, Religion & Spirituality

Shadow and Bone (2012) by Leigh Bardugo is a young adult fantasy adventure and romance novel. It is Bardugo’s debut novel and the first book in her Shadow and Bone trilogy, also called the Grisha trilogy. Inspired by 19th-century Tsarist Russia, Bardugo creates a darkly magical world characterized by strange armies, extreme wealth and poverty, and personifications of light and shadow. The novel was a New York Times best seller, a Los Angeles Times best... Read Shadow and Bone Summary

She Said

by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Power & Greed, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity

Tags Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Journalism, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

... Read She Said Summary

She's Come Undone

by Wally Lamb

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mental Health, Coming of Age, Family, Power & Greed

Tags Coming of Age, Dramatic Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness

She’s Come Undone is a realistic fiction novel written by Wally Lamb and originally published in 1992. Lamb demonstrates his penchant for creating detailed psychological character portraits in his debut novel, which is a coming-of-age story about a woman named Dolores Price. As the novel traces Dolores’s life from childhood through middle age in the mid-20th century, Lamb examines imbalanced power dynamics within relationships, intergenerational trauma and healing, the loss of innocence, and body image... Read She's Come Undone Summary

Shift

by Hugh Howey

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Truth & Lies, Power & Greed, Fate, Science & Technology, Safety & Danger, Appearance & Reality, Future, The Past, Death, Community, Politics & Government, Order & Chaos, Trust & Doubt, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Good & Evil

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Survival Fiction, Health, Education, Food, Technology, Horror & Suspense

... Read Shift Summary

Shogun

by James Clavell

Publication year 1975

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Loyalty & Betrayal, Language, Shame & Pride, Power & Greed, Politics & Government, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Asian History, Politics & Government, Military & War, American Literature, World History, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Classic Fiction

Shogun is a 1975 novel by American author James Clavell. It is one of six books in Clavell’s Asian Saga, which chronicles the ways Europeans interacted with countries in Asia from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The novel tells the story of English ship pilot John Blackthorne, loosely based on the real life navigator William Adams, who becomes intimately involved in the rise to power of Yoshi Toranaga, a fictionalized version of Tokugawa Ieyasu... Read Shogun Summary

Shooting an Elephant

by George Orwell

Publication year 1936

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Order & Chaos, Colonialism, Power & Greed

Tags Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Biography

“Shooting an Elephant,” is an essay by British author George Orwell, first published in the magazine New Writing in 1936. Orwell, born Eric Blair, is world-renowned for his sociopolitical commentary. He served as a British officer in Burma from 1922 to 1927, then worked as a journalist, novelist, short-story writer, and essayist for the remainder of his career, going on to produce celebrated works such as Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949). Before penning this... Read Shooting an Elephant Summary

Siege and Storm

by Leigh Bardugo

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Power & Greed, Wins & Losses, Safety & Danger, Religion & Spirituality, Good & Evil, War, Self Discovery, Animals, Loneliness

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Leadership, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, Politics & Government, Trauma & Abuse, Religion & Spirituality, Romance

... Read Siege and Storm Summary

Sister Carrie

by Theodore Dreiser

Publication year 1900

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Good & Evil, Power & Greed

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, American Literature, Gender & Feminism, Naturalism, Education, Education, World History

Sister Carrie is a novel published in 1900 by the American author Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser uses the story of Caroline Meeber, a naïve young woman who gets caught up in the gaudy venality of the city, to explore the emptiness of materialism, the tension between flesh and spirit, the inevitability of loneliness, and the role of women in the emerging America of the new century. Now recognized as one of the defining expressions of American... Read Sister Carrie Summary

Sister Outsider

by Audre Lorde

Publication year 1984

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Hate & Anger, Mothers, Equality, Power & Greed, Sexual Identity, Race, Community

Tags Race & Racism, LGBTQ+, Social Justice, Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government

... Read Sister Outsider Summary

Six Feet of the Country

by Nadine Gordimer

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Justice

Tags Race & Racism, Relationships, African Literature, Grief & Death, Education, Education, African American Literature, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Classic Fiction

Nadine Gordimer’s “Six Feet of the Country” is one of the seven short stories in her collection of the same name (1956). Gordimer, who was born and lived in South Africa, often explored the country’s racial issues in the context of apartheid. She received numerous literary awards, including the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature. This short story concerns the death of a native of Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe). When the young man’s family wants to give... Read Six Feet of the Country Summary

Skin

by Roald Dahl

Publication year 1960

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Equality, Power & Greed

Tags Poverty, Children`s Literature, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Classic Fiction

... Read Skin Summary

Slade House

by David Mitchell

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Love, Death, The Past, Siblings, Power & Greed

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy

Published in 2015, Slade House is a literary fantasy horror novel by British author David Mitchell. The book is a companion piece to Mitchell’s previous novel, The Bone Clocks (2014), which features an invisible war between immortal beings known generally as Atemporals. Mitchell wrote the first chapter of Slade House as a writing experiment on Twitter, limiting himself to the social media platform’s 140-character limit to render the protagonist’s thoughts. The novel, which spans around... Read Slade House Summary

Slob

by Ellen Potter

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Memory, Regret, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger, Justice, Science & Technology, Equality, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Appearance & Reality, Food, Gender Identity, Mental Health, Family, Siblings, Friendship, Mothers, Teamwork, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Community, Education

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Humor, Children`s Literature, Coming of Age, Bullying, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse

... Read Slob Summary

Snow Crash

by Neal Stephenson

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Language, Power & Greed

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Classic Fiction

Snow Crash is a 1992 cyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. The novel is set in post-collapse Los Angeles in an imagined version of the 21st century, in which a young man becomes embroiled in a criminal scheme involving technology. As well as being credited as a foundational text in the cyberpunk genre, Snow Crash was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Stephenson was a relatively... Read Snow Crash Summary

Solitude and Leadership

by William Deresiewicz

Publication year 2009

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Power & Greed, War, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Courage

Tags Philosophy, Leadership

“Solitude and Leadership” is a speech by William Deresiewicz delivered in October 2009 to the freshman class of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Deresiewicz is an author, essayist, and former professor of English at Yale University. The lecture was published in The American Scholar in spring 2010, and this guide refers to the version hosted on the periodical’s website.Deresiewicz opens by acknowledging the apparent contradiction in the title of his speech, given... Read Solitude and Leadership Summary