# Which assigned books did you love/hate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508 "2001-05-06T03:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![domina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@domina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domina)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2001, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/61 "2001-05-12T18:09:22Z")
You’re not alone, Kyla, I liked “A Separate Peace” a lot. The short story it was based on, called “Phineas,” is interesting to read if you ever run across it. We read the stage rather than the novel version of “Cuckoo’s Nest,” but I wasn’t crazy about it either (if you’ll pardon the expression). It was very much a product of its time, and its author’s gender. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/62 "2001-05-13T05:43:12Z")
Liked: Animal Farm Invisible Man Lord of the Flies Of Mice and Men One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest To Kill a Mockingbird Not bad: Fahrenheit 451 The Odyssey Hated: Clan of the Cave Bear The Grapes of Wrath The Great Gatsby A Separate Peace Watership Down ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/63 "2001-05-13T05:47:33Z")
D’oh. I also liked _All Quiet on the Western Front_, and I wish we’d been assigned _1984_ (which I read anyway) or _Brave New World_, like the neighboring school districts. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/64 "2001-05-13T05:54:21Z")
Count me in as a Scarlet hater…Yech. Hester Prynne, that wussy Dimmesdale, that non-child like imp Pearl. A full list of books I rather detested: Scarlet Letter Death of a Salesman A Tale of Two Cities All Quiet on the Western Front The Fellowship of the Ring The Bridge Over San Luis-Rei We might be reading The Catcher in the Rye in English, though I don’t know. Count that in as a definite hate, as i’ve already read it on my own. Some other books…meh… The Great Gatsby- Alright, I sort of liked it but I definitely didn’t love it… The Tempest To Kill a Mockingbird Dracula, sort of a fun read but I don’t see it as a great novel…more like sort of a trashy Victorian read. I mean, I really liked all the stuff that I learned about in class, but it does seem a bit over the top at times. I dunno, I guess I’m a bit ambivalent about this one. And now onto the really good ones… Flowers for Algernon (in eighth grade we read the short story, and I read the novel on my own) Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe (Fall of the House of Usher, Mask of the Red Death, Ligeia, and others) Ethan Frome (yes I actually liked this one) A Streetcar Named Desire The Lottery (again, we read in eighth grade, in class, but I’d already read it on my own so not sure if it counts) Where the Girls Are (something assigned over the summer for history class, but really fun, IMHO…) The Outsiders- and anything by S.E. Hinton (they were on the reccomended list one year at school and I read basically everything by her…) A couple of other books- A Man for All Seasons and MacBeth, I read those in ninth grade but didn’t really like them, at least not then…I may have changed my mind since then, as that does sometimes happen. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/65 "2001-05-13T06:00:35Z")
Instead of listing books I liked and hated, I’d like to list the books my students (5th grade AP reading) liked and hated. There are two categories: books I read to them, and books they read themselves. Top 5 books I read to my 5th graders that they loved, in their order of preference. 1. _Holes_, by Louis Sachar: This one is far and away the best recieved book I have ever read to a group of students. The local public library was flooded with students who wanted to check it out shortly after I finished it, and several students, in frustration insisted that their parents buy it for them. The great thing about this is that the book is even better the second time through, after you know what all of the big twists are, and there are a bunch. The kids loved it so much I am putting it on the reading list for next year’s students. 2. _Animal Farm_ by George Orwell: Students saw the book on my desk and asked what it was about, so I explained it to them. Several wanted me to read it, so I did, thinking that they would want to abandon it after the first chapter. To my great surprise and delight, they couldn’t get enough. 3. _Tuck Everlasting_ by Natalie Babbitt: Every time I read the final chapter, I do so with tears streaming down my face. I’ve read it a dozen times, and it never loses its power. 4. _Frindle_ by Andrew Clements: This one was a student suggestion. It is about a boy who, as an experiment, makes up a new word for “pen”, and the repercussions of his decision. 5. _The Phantom Tollbooth_ by Norton Juster. The best book about wordplay ever written for any audience. After enough time to get to know what’s going on, we take a vote whether to continue the read aloud of a given book. I’ve refined the list enough that this rarely happens, but out of the 18 read alouds I started this year, three managed to annoy students enough to make them want to change books. The three books students disliked enough to abandon: 1. _Abel’s Island_: Robinson Crusoe with a mouse as Crusoe. Just as boring as the original. 2. _Alice in Wonderland_ by Lewis Carrol: I think all of the bad adaptations of the story have ruined it for many readers. 3. _Johnny Tremain_ by Esther Forbes: I love this book enough to keep trying, but only one class in the past five years has not voted to abandon it. Top five assigned books, in order of student preference: 1. _Maniac Magee_ by Jerry Spinelli: What I find most interesting about this is that both the favorite read aloud and the favorite assigned book each have a character who teaches another character how to read. 2. _Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH_: This one regularly changes places with _Maniac Magee_ as favorite book, although I suspect _Holes_ will be at the top of this list next year. 3. _There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom_: An unusual book about school in that it truly captures the flavor of what a modern elementary school is like. 4. _Matilda_ by Roald Dahl: Yet another book that celebrates reading. 5. _Island of the Blue Dolphins_ by Scott O’ Dell: A long-time favorite of the girls in my classes. There were only two assigned books that a majority of the students disliked, and they will most likely not be on next year’s list. Hatchet will be replaced by Holes. Any suggestions for the second? 1. _Hatchet_ by Gary Paulsen: Class concensus–booorrrrrriiiiinnnnnngggggggg! 2. _It’s Like This, Cat_: See comment on 1. Many of the favorite books on my list celebrate reading, or the ability to read being empowering is at least a theme. Four of the top five in each category have reading as a theme. Not quite sure what to make of that. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/66 "2001-05-13T06:45:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > **1. _Holes_, by Louis Sachar** That book is wonderful! My whole family read it and we all loved it. I recommended it to all of my friends (I doubt any have read it, though). > [@](#): > > **1. _Maniac Magee_ by Jerry Spinelli** Well-written! > [@](#): > > **3. _There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom_** I cry every time I read it. It’s so sweet. **Number Six** : Have you read A Wrinkle in Time to the students? My brother and I really liked that one. Also, Bridge to Terabithia and Walk Two Moons. I remember loving all of those when I was littler. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/67 "2001-05-13T07:53:02Z")
_Bridge to Terabithia_ is already one of the assigned books. I’ve never read _A Wrinkle in Time_, so I’ll read it and consider it for next year’s list. Right now, I already have two SF books on my list–_The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_ and _The Giver_. I’d be reluctant to add a third unless it is really good. But I’ll consider it. ---
**Author:** ![Home\_of\_the\_Braves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Home\_of\_the\_Braves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Home_of_the_Braves)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/68 "2001-05-13T11:41:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\*_Bridge to Terabithia_ is already one of the assigned books. I’ve never read _A Wrinkle in Time_, so I’ll read it and consider it for next year’s list. Right now, I already have two SF books on my list–_The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_ and _The Giver_. I’d be reluctant to add a third unless it is really good. But I’ll consider it. \*\* I’d rethink _The Giver_ for 5th graders. It’s required here for our 8th graders, and sometimes they can’t handle some of the subject matter A book I loved as a kid was \* From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler\*. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/69 "2001-05-13T15:21:10Z")
Loved: 1984, The Jungle, The Handmaid’s Tale, Catcher in the Rye, A Canticle for Leibowitz, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Screwtape Letters (which wasn’t for school, but my 11th-grade English teacher recommended it). Hated: Faulkner! (bleah!) Mary Barton (just boring). I liked A Christmas Carol, and I expected and wanted to like the rest of Dickens, but I just couldn’t get into it. Shakespeare either. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/70 "2001-05-13T17:13:51Z")
You guys had Handmaid’s Tale in school? Cool…Sort of wish I had, I had to pick it out on my own, man…Though i’m actually kind of glad. Usuaully when I read something in school my tendency is to not like it. We don’t seem to read too many modern books, though…nothing from the 1980’s in high school, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Rubin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billy_rubin/32/3622_2.png) [@Billy\_Rubin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Rubin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/71 "2001-05-13T17:30:33Z")
Billy Budd. Biggest piece of crap ever committed to paper, over and over again. Also thought Moby Dick was full of gross thinly disguised sexual references (Ishmael and other sailors squishing out the lumps of whale oil in their hands-yech!) There were hundreds of others but they were gladly all too forgettable. On the good side: Tales from the White Hart(Sir Arthur C. Clarke) All of Verne All of Wells Most of Clemens Divine Comedy- well, it got tedious but man, what a trip! Monte Christo- WHat a great story! A guy gets shit on and gets a big chunk of cash so he can live like a king and travel around the civilized world ruining his opressor’s lives- GOD I love that book… And the best- by far- Jean Shepard. Not least because he writes to my heart, having grown up in the same northwest Indiana, but also because a lot of his stuff was published in Playboy, making me the most popular kid in school for a few months there… b. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/72 "2001-05-13T21:24:12Z")
Zoggie, Handmaid’s Tale was in college; its subject matter was too much of a hot potato for high school. (Public school anyway). although now that I think about it, it wasn’t even published till after I graduated HS. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/73 "2001-05-13T21:37:32Z")
Oh. I wish we read sizzlingly controversial books in high school. Though there is always…\ _afterschool…_ ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/74 "2001-05-13T22:13:12Z")
In the sixth-grade my teacher read us a chapter a day of “The Hobbit” I knew I was going to HATE it, and so did the rest of the class. But at some point(which we never would have admitted) we began looking forward to the next chapter, and ended up LOVING it! And this teacher also had us write sci-fi stories, and introduced us to other works of fantasy and sci-fi. THANK TOU MR. BRADBURY!!! It has become a life long interest. In high school I thought I would hate To Kill a Mockingbird but it is actually on my top 20 list of favorite books ever(so far at least). I did hate “The Pearl” and “Great Expectations”. Romeo and Juliet was fun in junior high, but the feeling was spoiled by some of the parents. That year the Franco Zefferelli film of R&J came out and we wanted to go as a class and see it. But I’ll bet you can guess why some of the parents(my own included) objected! I still think it is the best R&J ever filmed though(saw it later on my own(don’t tell the parents) I didn’t like Shakespeare back then because the teachers in my junior high and high school classes squeezed all the juice out and made it so dull. I only read Shakespeare again(and now love it) after seeing a BBC production of “Measure for Measure” All those sex jokes and sneaking around in the dark! If they had taught it that way I would have liked it sooner. “Death of a Salesman” HATED IT! ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2001, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/75 "2001-05-14T02:43:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Home of the Braves \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > > \*\*_Bridge to Terabithia_ is already one of the assigned books. I’ve never read _A Wrinkle in Time_, so I’ll read it and consider it for next year’s list. Right now, I already have two SF books on my list–_The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress_ and _The Giver_. I’d be reluctant to add a third unless it is really good. But I’ll consider it. \*\* > > I’d rethink _The Giver_ for 5th graders. It’s required here for our 8th graders, and sometimes they can’t handle some of the subject matter > > A book I loved as a kid was \* From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler\*. \*\* First, this is an honors 5th grade class. Students are expected to read more books and more challenging books than in a typical 5th grade. Second, I’ve been teaching _The Giver_ for five years now, and I’ve yet to find any other book that as effectively raises and deals with the same issues in a thoughtful, balanced manner. Students are always given the option of reading an alternate book if they or their parents find any assigned reading objectionable, and only two students have opted for the alternate in the case of _The Giver_. I get more objections to _Maniac Magee_. _From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler_ is on the summer reading list for students coming into honors 5th grade. It’s one of my favorites, too. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2001, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/76 "2001-05-26T10:34:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Katisha \* > **Loved: > (snip) > Oh, and _Henry VI_ – I can almost certainly say I’m alone in that. 😃** No, you can’t! I’ve seen the BBC version of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III multiple times at the UCLA media lab. Instilled an interest in the Wars of the Roses. I tried to buy the BBC versions of these plays, but they don’t license them to sell to private individuals in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/77 "2001-05-27T00:39:45Z")
That’s cool – but I imagine the Henry VI trilogy doesn’t get assigned all that often, except maybe in grad-level English. The only reason I read them for class was because of the RSC visit to Ann Arbor. But they’re really cool plays, I think. (I haven’t seen the BBC version, though I’ve heard they’re good. I’ll have to check the library when I get to school in the fall…) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/78 "2001-05-27T04:05:05Z")
I _liked_ Ethan Frome. And Tess of the D’Urbervilles. And almost all of the Shakespeare. I adored To Kill a Mockingbird. And The Princess Bride, and Lord of the Flies… I didn’t much care for - oh who am I kidding. I detested them enough that I blocked them out. “Out, bad writing! You shall not clutter up this young impressionable mind! Begone!” Ginger ---
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/79 "2001-05-27T04:32:57Z")
I’d like to join **Kyla** and **domina** in saying that I also liked _A Separate Peace_. It was one of the few books assigned in high school that I actually read completely - over a single weekend in fact prior to my English teacher assigning it. Also liked (in high school and college): _The Great Gatsby The Crying of Lot 49 To Kill a Mockingbird The Outcasts of Poker Flat_ Did not like: \*The Scarlet Letter The Pearl Death in Venice \* ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2001, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508/80 "2001-05-27T07:33:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Katisha \* > **That’s cool – but I imagine the Henry VI trilogy doesn’t get assigned all that often, except maybe in grad-level English. The only reason I read them for class was because of the RSC visit to Ann Arbor. But they’re really cool plays, I think.** I was assigned parts of Henry VI and Richard III in the one Shakespeare class I took. I wasn’t required to watch the videos for any of the plays–I did that on my own. \*\* > [@](#): > > (I haven’t seen the BBC version, though I’ve heard they’re good. I’ll have to check the library when I get to school in the fall…) \*\* Highly recommended: though not as good as Othello, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Richard II or the two Henry IV plays. No big stars in these productions, but a few names who might be recognized: David Burke played Dr. Watson alongside Jeremy Brett in a Sherlock Holmes TV series. Mark Wing Davey played Zaphod Beeblebrox in “Hitchhiker’s Guide”. Bernard Hill (a personal favorite of mine) had a small part in I, Claudius, was Shirley Valentine’s husband, and had a part in Titanic. Let me know what you think of the screenplays! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-assigned-books-did-you-love-hate/64508.md?page=5)