# What books you were "forced" to read for school did you actually enjoy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701 "2019-03-29T01:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/41 "2019-03-29T19:38:56Z")
Making up Freshman English in '84: The Shining. Still have mine. Don’t remember any of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/42 "2019-03-29T20:24:41Z")
Surprisingly, The Brothers Karamazov and Doctor Zhivago. I had never read any Russian lit before that, and I enjoyed both. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/43 "2019-03-30T00:57:40Z")
Let’s see… taking into account that growing up in PR I had required lit in \*both \*English and Spanish, and each with some “universal” components… On the English side Required Reading list we had quite a lot of SF (Bradbury: _Something Wicked…, Martian Chronicles, Illustrated Man_; Clarke: _Childhood’s End, 2001_; Asimov: _I, Robot_; and as well _A Chanticle for Leibowitz, Alas Babylon, On the Beach_), so of course I was a happy boy (though a bit concerned I’d be nuked to oblivion any day now); plus Shaw and Orwell, and Ionesco just because hey, people being weird. _Catch-22_ and _Slaughterhouse-5_ during a unit on satire. And of course we got some good Shakespeares (_Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth_). Solzhenytsin in translation was a bit tough to chew though interesting at first. However, Holden Caulfield went through my life leaving nothing but the regret of unrecoverable time spent. So there’s that. In Spanish I got a kick out of the Argentinians - Hernández, Guiraldes, Bioy Casares, Borges. OTOH, to be honest, García Marquez and Vargas Llosa were something of a schlep at the time and only the latter got much easier with time. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/44 "2019-03-30T01:29:49Z")
Loved Othello and Billy Budd. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/45 "2019-03-30T01:40:14Z")
\*\*\*When the Legends Die \*\*\*by Hal Borland. I reread it as an adult and enjoyed it just as much as I did in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/46 "2019-03-30T02:14:08Z")
I read _Of Mice and Men, Huckleberry Finn_, and _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in middle school, and really enjoyed all three. I’ve reread them as an adult as well, and all three hold up very well. I’ll admit to not liking the end of _Huckleberry Finn_ very much–the addition of Tom sawyer and his schemes doesn’t work very well, IMO–but the rest of it appealed to me then and appeals to me still. In high school _Catcher in the Rye_ stands out, and like **pulykamell** upstairs I was not at all a Holden-type kid. I reread it at about age 32 and again in my mid-forties, and found it excellent both times. The story seems sadder with each reading. I did like _My Antonia_ as well. That’s one I liked less well when I reread it years later–didn’t dislike it, but didn’t like it nearly as much as I’d remembered. Oh well! Not sure if college is counted, but I read _Absalom, Absalom!, Ragtime,_ and _Oliver Twist_–loved the first two and very much enjoyed the third (though the whole Rose Maylie gang could be a little hard to take). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/47 "2019-03-30T02:41:52Z")
“1984” was awesome. Had to write a paper on it in the 12th grade, 1 year later was assigned it again as a freshman in college and submitted the same paper (with revisions). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/48 "2019-03-30T02:44:25Z")
Of the works of literature I had to read in college, I most enjoyed _ **Lord of the Flies** _, _ **The 480** _, _ **Animal Farm** _, and _ **1984** _. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/49 "2019-03-30T14:21:17Z")
I enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel and re-read it occasionally - a lot of my others have been mentioned. I discovered Watership Down because one of my teachers taught a couple of grades, and the book was assigned to the kids a year older than me. I saw a copy lying around, with a bunny on the cover, and being obsessed with all animals I picked it up. That was 7th grade and it’s still my all time favorite. And I don’t pick favorites easily for almost anything. ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/50 "2019-03-30T17:38:35Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird - Pleasantly surprised, was fully expecting to loathe this Gulliver’s Travels ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/51 "2019-03-30T18:04:49Z")
_ **The Good Earth** _ by Pearl S. Buck. _ **On the Beach** _ by Nevil Shute. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/52 "2019-03-30T19:10:07Z")
I had to read the graphic novel “Maus” for a college literature class. Due to the content, I can’t say I enjoyed it, but it’s something everyone should read, as they should with “Maus II” which came out not long afterwards. [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=maus&ref=nb\_sb\_noss](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=maus&ref=nb_sb_noss) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/53 "2019-03-30T21:12:21Z")
As far as short stories go, I remember liking “To Build a Fire” and “Leiningen versus the Ants”. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/54 "2019-03-30T21:22:00Z")
**Lord of the Flies** A great read from start to finish. I ended up renting both movies after I finished the book. **Brave New World** Kind of racy at the time for a middle school book. But I loved it. **Flowers for Algernon** The short story for me too. I didn’t appreciate it as much as I did when I read it later as an adult, but I still liked it at the time. **Harrison Bergeron** Pretty weird short story that I thought was very out-the-ordinary for what we usually read. **1984** We read this either before or after Brave New World. The Huxley book was better, but this one was good too. I really wanted to know what was going on and who was behind it all. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/55 "2019-03-31T12:48:06Z")
“Gods, Graves and Scholars” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/56 "2019-03-31T13:30:45Z")
Not forced to read. But read to. I had an 8th grade Social Studies teacher (circa 1973) that read to class one day a week. He read Kurt Vonnegut. Welcome to the Monkey House. Well, that didn’t just turn me into a huge Vonnegut fan, it made me an avid reader as well. I couldn’t get enough. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/57 "2019-03-31T14:26:46Z")
[_The Girl Who Owned A City_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_Who_Owned_a_City). > [@Isamu](#): > > I was forced to read Johnny Tremain in High School. They should call this book _Johnny Deformed._ ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/58 "2019-03-31T15:14:07Z")
In the 8th grade, we were given edited copies of ‘Flowers In The Attic’ for a class reading assignment. (I’m sure you can imagine my surprise a couple of years later when I read the full story) For 9th grade English class, we read ‘The Dove’. That one appealed to me because, hey a kid close in age to me and he’s sailing all the way around the world alone, by himself. Thought that was the coolest thing ever. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/59 "2019-03-31T17:51:37Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > For 9th grade English class, we read ‘The Dove’. That one appealed to me because, hey a kid close in age to me and he’s sailing all the way around the world alone, by himself. Thought that was the coolest thing ever. Hmm. The film was nothing like the book… :dubious: 😕 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L1TlAd6M-xU/hqdefault.jpg "In 1968, this Bergman parody was up for Best Short at the Oscars.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1TlAd6M-xU) ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701/60 "2019-03-31T18:50:17Z")
“Of Mice and Men” (to this day one of my all-time favorites) and “The Catcher in the Rye”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-you-were-forced-to-read-for-school-did-you-actually-enjoy/831701.md?page=4)