Books That You're Supposed To Like But Don't...

[duchess of malfi]

You know, I had a long talk with my older son about [i]Red Badge of Courage[/i] when he read it in high school a couple of years back. He hated it. I read it for the first time about the same time, and I loved it.

I think he went into it thinking it would be historical fiction, with great battle descritions, and when it turned out to be a psychological portrait/study of one soldier's reactions to an unspecified battle, his expectations got turned upside down, and that contributed to the hate.

I have worked for a VA hospital for more than twenty years and I thought that the book was, perhaps, the closest thing I could ever personally experience that could give me even a tiny taste of what some of our patients went through on the battlefield. And I think that contributed to the love.

But we both hate [i]The Scarlet Letter[/i]. :lol:

[S John]

[quote name='duchess of malfi' post='1332179' date='Apr 28 2008, 11.54']I think he went into it thinking it would be historical fiction, with great battle descritions, and when it turned out to be a psychological portrait/study of one soldier's reactions to an unspecified battle, his expectations got turned upside down, and that contributed to the hate.[/quote]

This was my problem with it, I think. I was in HS when I read it, and I remember thinking, 'sweet we're going to get to read something with a little action for once.' Plus the Civil War is a subject that I had more than just a passing interest in. As it is though, I really don't remember much about the book beyond not enjoying it, I'll have to read it again.

I did have one English teacher back in 8th grade who tried to assign books that were a bit more fun. I remember one assignment was [i]Jurrasic Park[/i], which was a lot more fun to read and discuss than say, [i]The Scarlet Letter[/i]. When we did have to read things that will inevitably be lost on most public HS students, he at least tried to spice things up a bit. We acted out Shakespeare in class, for example, rather than read it for homework. That kinda took us through it step by step so we could figure out what the hell was going on.

[Maid of Tarth]

[quote name='LessThanLuke' post='1332072' date='Apr 28 2008, 07.22']:agree:

I learned everything from reading what I want to read. English lessons are very overated lol. I passed all my english exams with flying colours and I hardly attended because they were so boring. Saying that I did like To Kill A Mockingbird when we read that but that was because I read it independently and didn't disect it word by word like everyone else had.[/quote]The worst part (and this has happened in two high school english classes that I know of, one that I was in, and one that a friend was in, two different teachers, though mine was one who was subbing for a month- thank goodness that was all.) is when the teacher actively doesn't allow students to read ahead of the class. You are literally scheduled as to when to read each chapter of the book and not allowed to go beyond that point. Read a chapter, answer the numbered questions provided, then the teacher whisks the books back into the cupboard. That is no way to read a book! I can't even fathom the type of thinking that goes into making a rule like that- that is exactly how to get the students to despise the book in question.

And don't get me started on how they make you dissect the books for their "meaning".....English is not math. Not full of exact answers, interpretations can vary! (within reason) Yet so many seem to think it is and if your interpretation of the text isn't identical to the answer key..... :rolleyes:

[S John]

[quote name='Maid of Tarth' post='1332254' date='Apr 28 2008, 13.46']And don't get me started on how they make you dissect the books for their "meaning".....English is not math. Not full of exact answers, interpretations can vary! (within reason) Yet so many seem to think it is and if your interpretation of the text isn't identical to the answer key..... :rolleyes:[/quote]

You know, thats a good point. I stayed pretty well clammed up when we were discussing meaning, especially when that meaning isn't explicity stated. In English class, if you don't gather the exact same meaning as the person with the answer key then you are wrong. I can remember taking tests and answering meaning or theme based questions by writing what I knew or had been taught would be the 'correct' answer, not what I actually thought about it. And yea, that kinda misses the whole point. I guess there are some examples where there is a clear cut answer, but it does kinda suck to see a big red 'X' over the paragraph you wrote on your thoughts about some work of literature. :lol:

[Lord of Oop North]

[quote name='S. John' post='1332260' date='Apr 28 2008, 12.52']You know, thats a good point. I stayed pretty well clammed up when we were discussing meaning, especially when that meaning isn't explicity stated.[/quote]

If there is one thing I learned from English class, it is that there is [i]always[/i] gay subtext. Always. Every book.

It is the one universal correct answer.

[Maid of Tarth]

[quote name='S. John' post='1332260' date='Apr 28 2008, 09.52']You know, thats a good point. I stayed pretty well clammed up when we were discussing meaning, especially when that meaning isn't explicity stated. In English class, if you don't gather the exact same meaning as the person with the answer key then you are wrong. I can remember taking tests and answering meaning or theme based questions by writing what I knew or had been taught would be the 'correct' answer, not what I actually thought about it. And yea, that kinda misses the whole point. I guess there are some examples where there is a clear cut answer, but it does kinda suck to see a big red 'X' over the paragraph you wrote on your thoughts about some work of literature. :lol:[/quote]And working to what your teacher would interpret as the correct answer is possibly the most damaging thing you can start doing to your thought process. I had a very lazy teacher in grade seven who read one student's major project on "A Wrinkle in Time", then told the rest of us to exchange and mark ours as the student read out the "correct" answers from her paper, while he sat behind his computer with a cup of coffee playing solitaire. To date the worst display of "teaching" I have ever seen. Several A students "failed" and he did nothing about this until parents showed up at his door making a fuss. I've since heard that parents have been pulling their kids out of that (otherwise excellent) school once they get to that grade in order to avoid that teacher- to the point where the school can't make up a full class of that grade! There is something [u]very[/u] wrong with that picture. :rolleyes: Why nothing has actually been done about this I can't imagine.

But not to diss English teachers everywhere. I had some very good, very positive influential English teachers who were stuck working with a broken system, but did their best to work around it to make their classes worthwhile and quite enjoyable, and introduced some very good books. :thumbsup: Unfortunately the bad ones really stick in the memory. :stunned:

[lessthanluke]

[quote name='Maid of Tarth' post='1332254' date='Apr 28 2008, 18.46']The worst part (and this has happened in two high school english classes that I know of, one that I was in, and one that a friend was in, two different teachers, though mine was one who was subbing for a month- thank goodness that was all.) is when the teacher actively doesn't allow students to read ahead of the class. You are literally scheduled as to when to read each chapter of the book and not allowed to go beyond that point. Read a chapter, answer the numbered questions provided, then the teacher whisks the books back into the cupboard. That is no way to read a book! I can't even fathom the type of thinking that goes into making a rule like that- that is exactly how to get the students to despise the book in question.

And don't get me started on how they make you dissect the books for their "meaning".....English is not math. Not full of exact answers, interpretations can vary! (within reason) Yet so many seem to think it is and if your interpretation of the text isn't identical to the answer key..... :rolleyes:[/quote]

Oh yeh we were supposed read like one chapter a lesson as well. Out loud no less lol. I just ignored the teacher and I think when we were given To Kill A Mockingbird I read it by the next lesson lol. Then I slept(yes literally) or read a different book while theclass was reading.

You would think the the teachers would actively encourage your reading though.

[Devil Hanzo]

Lord of the rings, wheel of time.

[Dumas]

[quote name='Lord of Oop North' post='1332267' date='Apr 28 2008, 13.00']If there is one thing I learned from English class, it is that there is [i]always[/i] gay subtext. Always. Every book.

It is the one universal correct answer.[/quote]

In the case of Moby Dick, it's not so much gay subtext as modern sensibilities misinterpreting common practice in earlier days. Though the chapter about processing spermaceti by hand was kinda funny since he just called it sperm. Then again, it is a story about sailors on a ship that might not touch land for years at a time.

I really hated reading things aloud in class since I read a good deal faster than most of my classmates and tended to wind up a couple pages ahead of wherever I was supposed to be when the teacher called on me. Also, the cinderblock anthologies are terrible for studying longer pieces since they tend to print excerpts; usually the least interesting parts.

One thing I learned from a Victorian Lit class my last semester in college is that crap novels have dominated the press at all periods. Or maybe I just like my books with more blood than the professor was willing to assign.

[Mad Queen]

[quote]When I was a kid, reading Nancy Drew, I loved everything I read. In my early teens, I loved nearly everything I read. By the time I was in my late teens - early twenties, I loved about 40% of what I read. In my later twenties - thirties (inclusive), that had dropped to perhaps 10% of what I read. I'm now 47, and I've read exactly eight books that I loved since 1995.[/quote]
You just described me, except I'm still 30. I used to like everything I read too, but now few writers can make me finish their books. I'm sad to know it's going to get worse as I age. :(

[TheLoneliestMonk]

as someone who loves LSD and tie die craziness i couldnt get into electric koolaid acid test. however, i loved bonfire of the vanities. (both tom wolfe)

[Guy Kilmore]

[quote name='Lady Blackfish' post='1331498' date='Apr 27 2008, 16.54']I have to say, I don't know many people who love [i]The Scarlet Letter[/i]. Respect in some fashion, sure, but love? It was probably most universally suffered-through book we ever did in high school, and speaking to my English teacher about it, it seemed like it was that way every year.[/quote]
I went to a bunch of different highschool growing up. I not only had the joy of reading that book once, but 3 freaking times. When I approached the 4th, I asked my teacher if I could do something else and she said that rereading literature is a good way to gain new insights. She also said it was part of our paper writing assignment. The next day I brought her the 3 papers I had previously done on it and asked her to pick the one she would like to grade. I got to read something else.