Books you liked that you were forced to read in school

[Gwenfrewi]

Has anyone mentioned Animal Farm yet? I love that book so much but my whole class couldn't care less about it. After high school I got my own copy...........and a shirt.

[Jo498]

But isn't one of the points of the "Curious incident..." that the protagonist is autistic and linguistically somewhat challenged (although mathematically gifted) therefore writing in a very simple style?

Whereas I remember that as a 17 yo non-native speaker I found the 1950s teenage slang of Holden Caulfield quite difficult when we read this in school. I didn't like that book very much...

[Buckwheat]

But isn't one of the points of the "Curious incident..." that the protagonist is autistic and linguistically somewhat challenged (although mathematically gifted) therefore writing in a very simple style?

Whereas I remember that as a 17 yo non-native speaker I found the 1950s teenage slang of Holden Caulfield quite difficult when we read this in school. I didn't like that book very much...

It is the point of the book. But I still do not see the point of making this book obligatory for students who are supposed to know some advanced English (and supposed to understand better and more complicated literature too).

I did not find Holden's language difficult either. I was also very annoyed with that book.

[Jo498]

Holden's language is not difficult per se but the idiomatic slang was sometimes hard to understand without a commentary. IIRC quite early there is a girl mentioned who "keeps her checkers in the back row" (or sth. like that). Maybe I knew about the game checkers when I read this first but the teacher had to explain that it means she is somewhat coy at a date and would not allow too much kissing, necking etc. (I might have this backwards).

[Neumond]

When I was twelve (I guess) we had to read Anne Frank. And it was a very interesting read. (I´m trying to avoid the word to like in this context.) I also liked "In dreihundert Jahren vielleicht" (I don´t know if this was even translated into english...).

And I also liked Iphigenie auf Tauris and Die Räuber.

We´ve read Romeo and Juliet in english class which I ended up liking.

And I was very determined to hate it.

I didn´t like english in school and took just the "basic-class" that I absolutely had to, for my curriculum ;).

But the read was surprisingly (for me at the time) quite good.

[The Reckoner]

Authors:

Toni Morrison

Zora Neal Hurston

Flannery O'Connor

[eyespy]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that most people on this forum are going to have enjoyed most of the required reading. I recall that most of the kids who didn't like the books usually didn't like *any* of the books and weren't avid readers in general.

I personally can't remember not liking any of it...except Beowolf. Without context and taught by a terrible teacher, that was just plain boring.

[RandomUser191]

Erm. Did you happen to go through the same school system at around the same time as myself? (Hint: I had to analyse the both books for the end of high school too.)

possibly. though i've heard these 2 books were often requiered for the final english exams. i'm from slovenia btw.

[Grayce Hornwood]

In order of my favorite:

1.) Much Ado About Nothing (9th grade)

2.) Wuthering Heights (9th grade)

3.) Beowulf (12th grade)

4.) The Divine Comedy (12th grade)

5.) The Great Gatsby (10th grade)

6.) Death of a Salesman (10th grade)

7.) The Tipping Point (11th grade)

8.) In Cold Blood (10th grade)

9.) The Merchant of Venice (12th grade)

10.) Twelfth Night (8th grade)

[Zoë Sumra]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that most people on this forum are going to have enjoyed most of the required reading. I recall that most of the kids who didn't like the books usually didn't like *any* of the books and weren't avid readers in general.

I personally can't remember not liking any of it...except Beowolf. Without context and taught by a terrible teacher, that was just plain boring.

Actually, I disliked or was indifferent towards almost all my school reading. I tended to get to the set texts a few years too late for them to be age appropriate. The only one I remember that I liked that I haven't mentioned already was Pygmalion. (Did I mention Shakespeare? I thought the plays were ok but the teaching of them could have been better.)