I didn’t mean to step on your toes there, Pep. I didn’t even intend my comments as a general disagreement–by and large I agree with you. I was frustrated beyond words by my non-reading classmates; I couldn’t imagine life without books. However, since my hatred for Faulkner was born in HS (8th grade, in fact), I wanted to point out that some of those kvetching kids may be right, and for the right reasons (IMHO). As for the others–yeah, they’re pains, but will forcing them to read books so roundly denounced by so many (supposedly older, wiser) people here really change that? Will it encourage any of them to start reading on their own?
Whoops. Better cut it off here, before it becomes an education debate. That way lies madness.
I guess this is so obvious and others have said it, but I think teaching makes such a difference. Hemingway left me cold even though I’d read a lot of his stuff. Then I took a short-story class where we read several of his stories, and the professor made me see why he was acclaimed. Or maybe it’s the repetition–Homer was ho-hum to me until the third time I read it.
Anyone read the entries for the Faulkner contest, or the Homingway contest sponsored by Harry’s Bar? There was a Hemingway satire that dead-on-perfect where in the end you realize the author is talking about Magic Mountain at WDW.
Salinger. Ye gods, what “crummy” tripe. Horrid. The lot of it. (Me mum says his short stories are actually quite good, but I’ll think a few times before I touch 'em). Ick ick ick. Makes me twitch.
I despised Russian writers in high school, but I read this last year and really enjoyed it.
I, too, had to read Dicken’s in high school and didn’t like him. And I still don’t really like him, however, I read “Dombey and Son” last year and, again, really enjoyed it.
Now, Mark Twain; there’s a man that could write.
::snob voice::
How dare you dislike Miss Jane Austen?! Why, she’s a delightful writer and I have all her books.
Maybe we’re askin too much of our high schoolers by expecting them to have the life experience to understand and appreciate what these writers are trying to say. I’m sure most of these books were not written for this age bracket and there are a lot of writers that I didn’t come to appreciate until I had a few ::ahem:: years under my belt.
Okay, I must come to the defense of Melville, pepperlandgirl style.
If you were forced to read Moby Dick by some pomo let’s quest for symbolism english proof, it sucks. If you’ve done some sailing, its one of the funniest books you can read. Trust me on this one, and always keep Pytharem(sp?) third theorum in mind.
Undoubtedly, JD Salinger. “I really think so, goddammit.” Lol. It is really “ironical” that Holden Cualfield is the biggest phoney ever. Anyone whose read The Catcher In the Rye gets what I mean. JD Salinger isn’t in hiding by choice if you “catch” my drift.
“Catcher” has no plot, it has no social value, its written by someone who isn’t fit to write porno, its supposed to be something that young people relate to, yet if I related to Caulfield, I would have to kill myself.
jaw drops, tears well in eyes Gasp! How dare you insult my Henry! slaps screech owl
Ahem. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit of a Thoreau nut.
sigh I LIKE most of the authors mentioned here, those that I’ve read anyway. I like Dostoyevski, Hawthorn, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, etc. Although the only one of these authors that I read for a class in high school was Steinbeck (Mice & Men, Grapes of Wrath) Read The Scarlet Letter for a 19th cen. American Lit. class in college, but all the other authors I read on my own. I think that makes a huge difference–one generally doesn’t appreciate what one is “forced” to read. I absolutely despised Lord of the Flies when I had to read it in 9th grade, but when I re-read on my own a year or two ago, I quite liked it. Besides, as someone else pointed out, I don’t know if the average high school kid has enough life experience to really grasp most of what goes on in great literature, which makes it all the more vital that the stories, poetry, etc., be accessible and be taught by well by teachers who give a damn. Pity there are so many shitty high school English teachers out there (I was lucky enough to have half-decent ones.)
A lot of the authors mentioned here I haven’t yet read–I am only 21–and ones like Dickens, Austen, etc., I have consciously avoided because I’m nearly positive I wouldn’t like them. Haven’t read Faulkner, but judging by the comments made about him here I think I might like to. What’s up with this aversion to “verbal gymnastics”? I’d be quite impressed by a 3 page sentence.
Which might explain my intense hatred of Hemingway. Last summer I tried to read… oh, some war story, I don’t know the title. I kept waiting for him to really “get into” it; I got about 40 pages in before I realized it wasn’t going to get any better. It was like he was bored with his own story. Mr. Hemingway should be dug from his grave and beaten for writing such utter shit.
I wonder if the majority of the books we didn’t like during our school days would seem more palatable without the constraints of a classroom. I hated reading many great works of literature simply because I knew I was going to be tested on it; I couldn’t read it for my own enjoyment. I know this doesn’t apply to everything, but I wonder if it might apply to some…
dantheman - works for me. I’m not in school anymore, but I belong to a couple of e-groups with writers as members.
When we’re asked to “review” something they’ve done, I go back into school mode and start looking for themes and motifs and references (not to mention typos and grammar problems and cliches).
That knocks enjoyment right into the crapper. I think you have an excellent point.
The heart of Darkness made a tolerable movie, but as a book it is not fit to read. It sucked the love of literature out of me for over a semester. Conrad’s writing can best be described in languange not fit for this forum. This should not be taught in schools lest it cause our youth to abandon reading entirely.
Jane Austen’s books irk me. Had to read two of them for summer reading assignments the past two summers. Ughh. How petty can one get?? So he likes her and not her, so what!!
I agree with those who don’t like Hawthorne and, especially, especially, especially, James.
His are about the only books I’ve ever thought should be burned. Every single last copy. The memory of their existence should be thoroughly expunged from human consciousness.
Dickens, and Great Expectations, are great, though. They do manage to kill it in English class, but wait 'til you’re 30 or so, like someone here suggested, and then try it again. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
I’ve only read one book by Faulkner, and I thought it was great. Something my Mom has. There weren’t any verbal gymnastics in it that I could remember, only a compelling plot, well-drawn characters, and a narrative that wouldn’t stop. Great stuff.
Maybe it was one of his younger works? (Don’t have the title handy. Sorry.)
Wow. Great thread! I’m smack-dab in the middle of The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway) as we speak. It is truly painful. And I’m reading it of my own volition, too. Next up, I have a choice of the following:
Babbitt, by Sinclair Lewis
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Or I could pick up A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Joyce again.
I think I’ll go for Babbitt. A book about a guy with shallow, materialist values will be perfect for Christmas.
I had to read that over last summer… possibly THE worst book EVER. It was SO BAD!!! And I had to write a paper on how Pearl Buck uses the land as a symbol in different ways (I did well on it though).
BTW, although I AM a high school student, I do read a lot on my own, I have a really good teacher, I like most of what we read in class (Mice & Men, The Princess Bride(not exactly classic literature but v. interesting to read as a book - better than the movie!)) I do well on my papers, and I think I might get “it.”
I know it’s beginning to sound like there’s an echo in here, but I’m going to agree with Faulkner, Hemmingway, and (especially) Joyce. Was James Joyce adept and brilliant with language? Probably so. Was he readable? Not unless you’re a pretentious lit major with PhD.'s in Comparative Religion and Linguistics. “Ulysses” and (again, especially) “Finnegan’s Wake” were just masturbatory, the literary equivalent of a 30-minute guitar solo.
However, I’m surprised at all the negative votes for Salinger. “Catcher in the Rye” was self-absorbed and not that well written? Well, it was supposed to be the memoirs of a (young) teenager; of course it was self-absorbed. And I hate books supposedly narrated by young people who sound as if they write editorials for the NY Times. I thought Salinger perfectly captured the mentality of a typical adolescent trying to figure his life out. Maybe it’s just because I read it when I myself was 15, but it sure struck a chord with me.
What’s up with this aversion to “verbal gymnastics”? I’d be quite impressed by a 3 page sentence.