# What was the most interesting book you were ever forced to read for a class? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409 "2013-04-22T16:02:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/41 "2013-04-22T22:28:53Z")
My last year of high school: _The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_, _The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring_, \*Alice in Wonderland \*and _The Day of the Triffids_. Plus one SF or fantasy book of our choice (\*Dune \*for me). That was a good year šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/42 "2013-04-22T22:50:20Z")
The books which had the biggest impact on me were probably To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and 1984, which absolutely gutted me. I remember reading the last line: ā€œHe loved Big Brother,ā€ and just setting the book down on my bed and collapsing into a mess of tears. It was like being kicked in the stomach. My favorite book of my High School years was The Catcher in the Rye, but I didnā€™t read it for a class. Oh, and Bridge to Terabithia! _checks bookcase_ How do I not own that? I remember having that book assigned in the fifth grade, the whole class silently reading _that_ chapter to themselves, and the only sounds in the room were muffled sobs. I recently read Fahrenheit 451 on my own, and while Iā€™m glad I didnā€™t read it in High School (we had to choose either that or 1984), I am _so_ glad I decided to finally pick it up. Itā€™s easily one of my favorite books now. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/43 "2013-04-22T23:00:06Z")
Put me in with the To Kill A Mockingbird crowd. Not that Iā€™d read it again on my own, but it wasnā€™t a total chore to read like so many other forced books. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/44 "2013-04-22T23:51:35Z")
There was one, only one, enforced-reading book I just loved: Homerā€™s The Odyssey. I loved every page of it! The Cyclops, Circe, the Lotus Eaters, Penelope, going home in disguise to kick assā€¦also love mythology in general and movies of this type. We also had to read Romeo and Juliet, which I rather enjoyed. They took us to see the movie version with Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, which was a lovely experience and enhanced the book even amongst its haterz in class. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/45 "2013-04-23T00:07:48Z")
Wow, so many to choose from! Do Shakespeare or other plays count? If so, hereā€™s a list: _Hamlet_ - Shakespeare _Macbeth_ - Shakespeare _Romeo and Juliet_ - Shakespeare _Henry V_ - Shakespeare _Much Ado About Nothing_ - Shakespeare _Waiting for Godot_ - Beckett _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead_ - Stoppard _Grendel_ - Gardner _Dune_ - Herbert _The Power and the Glory_ - Greene \*The Return of the Native \*- Hardy _From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe_ - KoyrĆ© _Sand County Almanac_ - Leopold Of course Iā€™ve always been a massive reader for pleasure, but thatā€™s a short list of required reading up to my undergraduate degree that made a lasting impact on me. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/46 "2013-04-23T00:10:16Z")
Interesting in the sense that it was mind-bogglingly difficult to comprehend: **Milkbottle H** by Gil Orlovitz. Interesting in the sense that it opened my mind to a different kind of writing that I really enjoyed: **Breakfast of Champions** by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/47 "2013-04-23T00:13:53Z")
I disliked most stuff they forced us to read - it was more or less enforced by the State of NY, at the time they issued reading lists to schools and the teachers didnā€™t really have much choice. On the other hand, in 9th grade we had an english teacher walk us through Much Ado About Nothing, not to read at home, but we read it out loud in class and discussed it - he explained all the bawdy jokes in it instead of glossing over the rather obscene and earthy humor that was Elizabethan Englandā€™s answer to Soap Opera.šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/48 "2013-04-23T00:16:16Z")
High School: **Crime and Punishment** and **Candide** College: **Richard II** ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/49 "2013-04-23T00:25:56Z")
_Day of the Jackal_. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/50 "2013-04-23T00:50:28Z")
_ **Watership Down** _ - my favorite novel and one of the few Iā€™ve read multiple times. I remember when it was first assigned I was dreading having to read a book about a bunch of bunnies. The animated movie is pretty good, too. > [@hogarth](#): > > I think the same teacher assigned us **The Kon-Tiki Expedition** (which was another pretty decent book) way out of left field. +1 This book really captured my interestā€“I thought it was fascinating. I picked up an old used hardcover edition of it the other day so I can revisit it. I believe there was a recent movie made in Norway that retells the story. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/51 "2013-04-23T01:17:06Z")
My apologies to the OP: I didnā€™t see this thread. ā€œTo Kill A Mockingbirdā€ ā€œJulius Caesarā€ ā€œMacbethā€ Contemporary English translations of ā€œTroilus and Criseydeā€ and ā€œThe Millerā€™s Taleā€ by Chaucer ā€œThe Visitā€ by Frederick Durrenmaat ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/52 "2013-04-23T01:33:48Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > There was one, only one, enforced-reading book I just loved: Homerā€™s The Odyssey. I loved every page of it! The Cyclops, Circe, the Lotus Eaters, Penelope, going home in disguise to kick assā€¦also love mythology in general and movies of this type. I loved \*The Odyssey \*too. But what I loved even more was \*The Diary of Anne Frank, \*which was assigned to us in (Jewish) Sunday School. This was only about 15 years after the book took place. And I re-read it years later, before a trip to Amsterdam. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/53 "2013-04-23T01:35:24Z")
_Die drei Kameraden_, by Erich Maria Remarque, and _Silas Marner_, by George Eliot. We read parts of _DdK_ in my third year of German. Ended up getting the English version (_The Three Comrades_) from the library so I could read the whole thing. Read a couple chapters of _SM_ in 10th-grade English. Again, I ended up getting it from the library so I could read it all. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/54 "2013-04-23T02:13:14Z")
_The Washing of the Spears_, by Donald Morris. In high school, but I canā€™t remember what exactly the class was about. I definitely remember the book, though. Later, in a class on Victorian literature, anything by Thomas Hardy. Sorry, Procrustus and Roderick Femm, I have never been able to enjoy Dickens. I read _Great Expectations_ in high school (although Iā€™m not sure if it was for a class ā€“ I might have read it on my own), and more in college, and never warmed up to him. Hardy, on the other hand, has been a life-long love. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/55 "2013-04-23T02:15:17Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > There was one, only one, enforced-reading book I just loved: Homerā€™s The Odyssey. I loved every page of it! The Cyclops, Circe, the Lotus Eaters, Penelope, going home in disguise to kick assā€¦also love mythology in general and movies of this type. Yes, yes, yes. Thereā€™s a reason this book has stuck around for nearly 3,000 years. And I had to read it, or at least some of it, in the original Greek in high school. I _still_ loved it. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/56 "2013-04-23T02:51:11Z")
Mutiny on the Bounty was one of my favorite assignments. It was really a sad ending. Another great one was The Razorā€™s Edge by Maugham ---
**Author:** ![Tixenfleaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tixenfleaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tixenfleaz)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/57 "2013-04-23T04:14:16Z")
As a 16 year old male, I dreaded the idea of having to read _Wuthering Heights_ for English Lit. I absolutely loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Pops\_Negro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@Pops\_Negro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pops_Negro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/58 "2013-04-23T04:17:43Z")
I took an advanced lit class on Twain and rediscovered _Adventures of Huckelberry Finn_ as the true masterpiece it is. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/59 "2013-04-23T04:27:07Z")
In a college class on Russian folklore and literature, we read _The Master and Margarita_. I would never, ever have picked this book up on my own, but it caused me to read a bunch of Bulgakov. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409/60 "2013-04-23T13:44:14Z")
It started out as ā€œ1984,ā€ but was later surpassed by ā€œFifth Business.ā€ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-interesting-book-you-were-ever-forced-to-read-for-a-class/656409.md?page=4)