Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A Look Back on Required Reading

A couple of weeks ago, Angie from Angieville, did a post where she listed her favorites and not-so-favorites from her high school English required reading. I thought this sounded fun to look back on, and so I found a file that I've saved all these years that lists all the books I read for all three English classes in high school, complete with the essays I wrote for most of the books. Very fun to look back and remember.

Anyway, so here's what I thought of them:

Books I Loved:
  • The Odyssey (mythology has always been a favorite)
  • The Scarlet Letter (we watched a movie adaptation and I was completely in love with Dimsdale)
  • Tess of the D'urbervilles (the book where I fell in love with tragedy)
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (loved this story)
  • The Good Earth (one of the first books that I remember being teary at the end)
  • Wuthering Heights (Heathcliff got to me even back then)
  • The Grapes of Wrath (I think the re-read of this one later made a bigger impression)
  • Crime and Punishment (I learned this one inside and out and used it on every essay I could!)
  • Hamlet (oh the drama!  I memorized lots of passages.)
  • The Mayor of Casterbridge (I decided I really liked Thomas Hardy...)
  • The Return of the Native (.... so I did my paper on him and read even more of his books.) 
  • Julius Caesar (March 15 will never be the same for me and I remember "the Ides" every year!)
  • Huckleberry Finn (what's not to like?)
  • A Tale of Two Cities (we read this in 9th grade and I didn't understand a thing, but loved the discussion on it. Later, it was on PBS TV and once again, I completely fell for the dude playing both Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, though I loved him as Sydney Carton the most. I wish I could figure out which version and actor that was....though I'm quite sure it's not this one below.)


Books I Hated:
  • The Great Gatsby (I just didn't/don't get it.)
  • The Old Man and the Sea ( boring)
  • The Secret Sharer (much fogginess)
  • The Heart of Darkness (there was a dude on a boat in the Congo and I think he was scared.)
Books I Can't Remember What I Thought:
  • Of Mice and Men (It's sad I remember, but nothing that overly moved me.)
  • Arms and the Man (I don't remember reading this one, so whatever.)
  • Tender is the Night (It was okay, I think.)
  • This Side of Paradise (Yeah, okay again.)
  • Main Street (Another one I don't even remember reading, but it's on the list.)


What books did you love/hate from school days?

16 comments:

  1. I never even heard of Arms and the Man. And I hated Gatsby, too! But it was reading Grapes of Wrath in class that made me fall in love with Steinbeck's writing.

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  2. I fell in love with The Odyssey in high school. Then I read The Iliad in college and was like . . . WOW. So good.

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  3. Ooh. There were so many books that were required reading in high school that I LOVED. Might have to make a list as well!

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  4. Hmm...You got me thinking about my high school English classes. I think I will make a list too.

    Great list btw...

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  5. The only required reading I didn't like was BILLY BUDD.

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  6. Gosh - you had to read a lot more than we do in Scotland! Or perhaps I've just forgotten more than I ever learned?

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  7. Ha, I actually really like Gatsby. I would have to say that the Scarlet Letter was my favorite high school book.

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  8. I love your description of Heart of Darkness--so funny and so accurate.

    I hated Catcher in the Rye. I don't get what the big deal is. Some kid is pissed off about life and cussing a lot. So what?

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  9. If the same actor played both Carton and Darnay, it must have been the 1980 version with Chris Sarandon, as that's the only major film version that fits that description.

    Personally, I have to say that's my least favorite adaptation of ATOTC. But to each his own. :-) If it encouraged your love for the story, that's a good thing!

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  10. Gina: So is that the only version where the same actor plays both parts? Interesting. The year would fit... course back then I didn't know Chris Sarandon, and now all he is to me is Prince Humperdink! Hard to think of him as Sydney Carton. Weird. So, which version of this movie/book is your favorite? I'll check it out!

    Emille: I read Catcher in the Rye just awhile back and while I thought it was weird, I liked it anyway!

    Heidi: I need to read Gatsby again and I wouldn't be surprised if I liked it better now.

    Notjustlaura: I only "remembered" this many because I had the file!

    Carline: Eww. That one does sound sort of... dull.

    Tanu: I hope to see your list!

    Clover: As you can see, I loved most of them too. I miss those days really.

    Angie: I can't remember if I ever actually read the Iliad. Hmmm....

    Jeane: Glad to see there's another Grapes of Wrath fan! So many people hate that one!

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  11. Wow that's a lot. The ONLY book you read that I also read was The Great Gatsby. I kind of liked it but I'm not sure why. I was in advanced English in high school so we read lots of Shakespeare and other plays whereas the general level read Of Mice and Men and The Pearl

    Loved:
    The Giver by Lois Lowry
    A Separate Peace by John Knowles (?)
    Lord of the Flies
    Romeo and Juliet
    Macbeth
    The Hobbit

    Liked:
    Othello
    Death of a Salesman
    The Glass Menagerie

    Didn't like:
    Guys and Dolls

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  12. I remember being bored by Fail-Safe.

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  13. I really liked Lord of the Flies too. And I don't really know why I like Gatsby so much. I did read it twice (same with the Scarlet Letter); once during the summer before my junior year and when I actually had to read them during school.

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  14. I think my favorite from high school was The Scarlet Letter, though I also really liked Ethan Frome. I plan to read The Grapes of Wrath eventually, having just finished East of Eden.

    I didn't get The Great Gatsby either. I keep trying to figure out what's so great about it; I've read it three times now. I think I've finally given up. I just don't get it.

    Oh, in my first college level lit class, we read The Complete Short Stories of Zora Neale Hurston.. absolutely amazing.

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  15. I loved Gatsby, but Thomas Hardy? *Shudder*
    Return of the Native was okay, but Far From the Madding Crowd was one of those where not enough of the characters died!

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  16. Suey -- I'm actually still figuring out which "Two Cities" movie is my favorite. :-) But it's either the 1935 version with Ronald Colman, or the 1958 version with Dirk Bogarde. (As a matter of fact, I'm currently working on a comparison of the movies and their lead actors -- I'll send you a link when it's done!)

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