Theme+-+Corruption

=**Yr 13 - Theme of corruption caused by money and power **=  Absolute Power / David Baldacci  The Great Gatsby / Scott F. Fitzgerald

Vile Bodies Decline and Fall (the latter two by Evelyn Waugh). All three deal LARGELY with the spiritual poverty of a (section of) society with too much money on their hands.

Great Expectations / Charles Dickens

Animal Farm / George Orwell ( 'all power corrupts' idea).

I, Claudius by Robert Graves might also work. Juno of Taris / Fleur Beale

Salt / Maurice Gee The Bonfire of the Vanities / Tom Wolfe The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld  
 * Millions ** by Frank Cottrell Boyce (When a bag stuffed full of ten pound notes comes hurtling out of the sky and lands at Damian’s feet, he doesn’t realise at first how hard it will be to spend it. And he has to spend it quickly as in 17 days time the Euro will be introduced and it will all be worthless.)


 * The colour of law** by Mark Gimenez (A. Scott Fenney is a hotshot corporate lawyer at a big Dallas firm. At 33, in the prime of his life, he rakes in $750,000 a year, drives a Ferrari and comes home every night to a mansion in Dallas's most exclusive neighbourhood. He also comes home to one of Dallas's most beautiful women, with whom he has a much-loved daughter, Boo. For Fenney, life could not be better. But when a senator's son is killed in a hit-and-run, Fenney is asked by the state judge to put his air-conditioned lifestyle on hold to defend the accused: a black, heroin-addicted prostitute - a very different client to the people Fenney usually represents. And, more importantly, she is not going be paying Ford Stevens $350 an hour for the privilege of his services. Under fire from all sides, Fenney drafts in a public defender to take the case on. Yet as Scott prepares to hand over to Bobby, he feels increasingly guilty about the path he is taking, because Scott still believes in the principle of justice. The question is: does he believe in it strongly enough to jeopardise everything in his life he holds dear. And to what lengths is the dead man's power-hungry father prepared to go to test Fenney's resolve?)


 * Temptation** by Douglas Kennedy (Like all Hollywood screenwriters, David Armitage wants to be rich and famous. But for the past eleven years, he's tasted nothing but failure. Living on the outskirts of Los Angeles with his wife, an out of work actress, and daughter, they struggle to get by on low paid jobs, each day bringing a fresh round of disappointment. Then, after ten years of rejection, one of David's scripts is bought for television and he suddenly finds that he's the creator of a hit series. Blinded by success, it isn't long before he starts an affair with a beautiful young producer, leaving his family behind for A-list celebrity status. Rich and successful, David is living the kind of life he always dreamed of, but when a reclusive billionaire enters into his life proposing a collaboration, he finds that one decision can destroy everything you've ever worked for.)