What books you were "forced" to read for school did you actually enjoy?

[CalMeacham]

@terentii

I find it hard to believe it was turned down by at least one publisher on the grounds “We already know that he fails.”

The whole point of the book was to describe in detail *how *he planned and prepared for the hit.

It was turned down by a LOT of publishers, I heard. I’m still surprised at that. Gives me hope for my own efforts.

But I’m surprised that Day of the Jackal is required reading for somebody’s classes. Really?

[salinqmind]

@Sangahyando

I’ve been interested to see a couple of mentions of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. Have never read it, nor anything else by this author – literally the only thing that I know re TGE (I think) is that it’s about China.

I recall seeing somewhere in the past few years – possibly on the Dope – an opinion stated by someone: to the effect that they were rather amazed that some two-thirds of a century ago, several authors whom they named – including Pearl S. Buck – were held in high regard; with at least the implication that these authors were of extremely low quality, and had subsequently and deservedly been consigned to the dustbin of history. One certainly doesn’t hear a lot about Ms. Buck nowadays. Possibly the opinion-giver above, considered his selection of stuff which was worthy only of contempt, to be hopelessly “square”; and reckoned admirable, only material which was hipster-smart and/or complicated and abstruse.

At all events, am thinking of giving The Good Earth a try.

I don’t know what all that is about, the book was written based on much of Pearl S. Buck’s experiences living in China. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and was said to be influential in her receiving the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938. As a young teen, I read the book (on my own time) straight through, astounded at how un-put-downable, how harsh and heart-rending this foreign culture was. The movie was absurdly cast, though enjoyable…as for it being looked down upon by some snooty jerks, for being old and square - Shakespear is old and square, as is The Canterbury Tales, and those two works are difficult to plow through without Cliff notes. ‘The Good Earth’, though set in a strange place and time, is instantly understandable and relatable. These people become as familiar to the reader as the dumbass ‘Friends’ on tv do to their adoring viewers.

[ZonexandScout]

As a freshman in college, I took an expository writing course on the Russian Revolution of 1917. Surprisingly, I found Trotsky’s The Russian Revolution to be fascinating…even more so than Dr. Zhivago and some other works we read for the course.

[Sangahyando]

@salinqmind

I don’t know what all that is about, the book was written based on much of Pearl S. Buck’s experiences living in China. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and was said to be influential in her receiving the Nobel Prize for literature in 1938. As a young teen, I read the book (on my own time) straight through, astounded at how un-put-downable, how harsh and heart-rending this foreign culture was. The movie was absurdly cast, though enjoyable…as for it being looked down upon by some snooty jerks, for being old and square - Shakespear is old and square, as is The Canterbury Tales, and those two works are difficult to plow through without Cliff notes. ‘The Good Earth’, though set in a strange place and time, is instantly understandable and relatable. These people become as familiar to the reader as the dumbass ‘Friends’ on tv do to their adoring viewers.

Thank you ! I’ll definitely seek out The Good Earth. (Didn’t know a film had been made of it; but I don’t “do” films to any great extent.)

[ekedolphin]

@pulykamell

Also, in seventh or eighth grade (we had the same English teacher for both, so I can’t remember which grade it was), we read Flowers for Algernon, which I remember both enjoying very much and being creeped out by. In retrospect, it did seem a bit of an odd choice for a somewhat conservative Catholic school due to its sexual bits, but I don’t remember any parent complaining or any kids snickering about it. I’d be curious to revisit it to see what I think now.

(Snipped for relevance.)

I’d be most curious to have you revisit it as well and share your thoughts. Perhaps in a new thread? I found a .pdf version of it online. Happy reading!