Books - Required School Reading #1

kaykayelle · 10-30-2004, 12:19 AM

I've never posted on here before, but I am curious as to what everyone thinks of the books they have to read for school.

Generally I hate it; I hate being told what to do. The worst thing though is the deadlines. Usually I'd get a month or two to read it and I'd still be up until 10:30 reading the night before the assignment is "due."

Nothing is worse than reading aloud in class, though. Talk about going way too slow and being oh so very boring.

Anyway I am rambling. Any thoughts?

alli balli · 10-30-2004, 01:45 AM

I seem to just end up hating anything written before, oh, say, 1920. The only books I've liked that I've read in school were The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Catch 22, All the King's Men, Animal Farm and Night. I did like Pride & Prejudice, too. But otherwise...blegh.

kaykayelle · 10-30-2004, 03:23 AM

The only books that I have really and truly hated were Lord of the Flies and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Everything else, actually, was pretty OK.

My absolute favorite was 1984. It was kind of a chore reading it, but once I got into it I really loved it.

portkey00 · 10-30-2004, 04:03 AM

I'm actually ok with required reading. I generally love reading (unless the book is completly horrible, but I'm usually not that picky.), so required reading is just requiring me to do something I already love doing. Although I HATE taking orders, in school I'm more ok with it.

Stars_And_Sunsets · 10-30-2004, 06:56 AM

I don't usually like required reading, in years 7-11 I got these really awful books to read (except for the first "Harry Potter" book, which actually started me reading the whole series), but this past year, I've gotten some really great novels to study, so I enjoyed them.

I'm a good reader myself, so when we're in class and people to asked to read aloud and they aren't up to the same level as me, I get slightly impatient which I know is wrong, but I can't help it.

Kimberly · 10-30-2004, 08:21 AM

I usually love the books that we had to read in both high school and college. I always finished them before the other people

I think the key is having a good teacher who knows how to
A. pick good books.
B. discusses them in such a way that if you were struggling you are interested.

As for reading aloud in class I agree I always hated doing that.

Good luck with all of your books

Soz · 10-30-2004, 05:48 PM

I didn't like too many of the things I had to read in high school, mostly because the teachers told the students how to interpret the books. I didn't mind The Scarlet Letter even though I had to read it twice (I moved mid-way through high school). I didn't like A Tale of Two Cities when I had to read it in high school, but I re-read it as an adult and really enjoyed it. Animal Farm was pretty good, but I read 1984 on my own and liked that a lot better. We also had to read a lot of Shakespeare in school and I didn't really understand it very well at the time. Now, though, I pick up my Shakespeare collection and actually understand what I'm reading.

I liked most of the books I had to read in college though, with the exception of The Old Man and the Sea, which I will always hate. I had to read it twice in high school too. If I hadn't gone to college, I don't know if I ever would have discovered Kate Chopin. I especially love her short stories, although The Awakening is pretty good.

bballplayer30 · 10-30-2004, 07:13 PM

I generally like to read, but I don't like to read when it's required. I go through dry spells where I won't read anything for weeks, and then there are times when I can read an entire book in a day or two. But I hate being assigned reading. I always do terrible in English class because I don't read the books.

I read The Catcher and the Rye when I was 13 or something, and liked it, but then I had to read it for school and I hated it, just because I had no choice about reading it or not.

22 Umbrellas · 10-30-2004, 10:27 PM

I have this really bad memory, esp. when it comes to characters and plots of books and movies. Therefore, when I'm required to read something, I know there's going to be a quiz and/or test to follow, and I'm frantically trying to cram as much information into my brain as possible. Point being, I don't get to enjoy the book.

But other than that, required reading isn't bad as long as it's something I would read anyway or something I've already read. Some examples: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.

Nily · 10-31-2004, 11:13 AM

Usually I read a lot and I love it. But like it was said before I hate it if someone tells me that I have to read whatever by next week or something. It's just that I like to choose what I read and when myself. So I hated reding 1984 in school when otherwise I probably would have quite enjoyed reading it.
Now that I'm going to university it's not that bad anymore. The books are much more interesting than they were at school. But again I have to have read Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Scarlet Letter by mid November and I'm still reading Heart Of Darkness. I find it quite hard to concentrate on my reading schedule when there are so many other books I'd love to read...

Star5 · 10-31-2004, 01:32 PM

I've loved nearly all the books I've had to read for English. I'm a huge Shakespeare fan so I never minded reading The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew or The Winters Tale. I had to also ready The Return of the Native which I didn't think I was going to enjoy but soon changed my mind. I've even read it several times again since then.

I'm currently in the midst of reading a whole list of books that I need to get through before January. 3 Shakespeare plays, A Doll's House, The Colour Purple, Frankenstein, Fathers and Sons, Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations. I'm on Frankenstein at the moment which is fantastic

MalloryKeaton · 11-01-2004, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rain Candy
Some examples: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

I didn't read the book, but I had to see the movie for a Sociology course I took this Spring. The movie was complicated because there were so many characters to have to keep up with. I thought the movie was ok. NOt something I'd watch a second time though.

Books I had to read in school that I liked:
12 Angry Men - Good book, read it twice
All Quiet On The Western Front - Good book
Animal Farm - Good book
Diary Of Anne Frank - Good book
Helen Keller - Good book
The Crucible - Good book
To Kill A Mocking Bird - Good book
Great Gatsby - If I'm thinking of the right book, it's a good book

MalloryKeaton · 11-01-2004, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kaykayelle
The only books that I have really and truly hated were Lord of the Flies and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Everything else, actually, was pretty OK.

My absolute favorite was 1984. It was kind of a chore reading it, but once I got into it I really loved it.

Hi kaykayelle

Katherine Behr · 11-01-2004, 06:06 AM

I hated Animal Farm when i read it at school...

But I read it on my own a couple of years ago and I love it.

It's the same story with Pride and Prejudice...I HATED it with a passion...I refused to go past the 1st chapter...but now it's one of my favourite books...

Books I've actually liked:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Lockie Leonard
Aurora

Hmmm...can't recall any others...it was too long ago...

LMS · 11-01-2004, 08:04 AM

Those I hated when I read them in school
Catcher In the Rye - I would have been indifferent to it normally but writing loads of essays on the character of Holden Caulfield made me hate the book especially since I detested Holden.
Merchant Of Venice and Anthony and Cleopatra - I don't have anything against Shakespeare but I hated both these plays (we've read others that I liked). between the two plays, the only character I liked was Shylock. I hated the main characters from both plays. Both plays were very quotable though.
Grapes of Wrath - I found the ending quite weak and I disliked the filler chapters (I understood their purpose and in a way it was clever but urg could have done without) and I disliked all the speech was spelled phonetically to show that the characters came from poorer backgrounds.

Those that I lovedbecause I read them in school
A Tale of Two Cities - Before this book, I wasn't so keen on Dickens. I'd already read Great Expectations at school but to me, Dickens was so formulaic (self-titled orphans meets benefector). This was until I read A Tale of Two Cities. I did end up skimming all the lengthy descriptions, but analysing it in class and finding that the novel was relevant to every single essay question I got afterwards, I loved the book.
Goodnight Mr Tom - This was one of the first books I'd ever read at school.
Richard III - If we hadn't studied it at school, there would have been so much that I wouldn't have understood.

I liked most of the other books I've read in class.