High School Books

[AJWARPED]

Hello everybody,

Inspired by PickleMan's post on the Great Gatsby I thought I would bring up the subject of High School Books. Not books about High School but rather what are the best books that you read in High School.

For me it was Sinclair Ross' As For Me And My House. This is a little Canadian book set in rural Saskatuan (spl?) and is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It's about a priest that moves to this little town and is told through his wife's diary. very powerful.

anybody else?

[Magill]

Right now I can't think of a best one (maybe Brave New World), but I definitely know the worst--Ethan Frome. Awful, terrible, book. I had to read it junior year. The next year some of us complained about it in our senior English class (which was taught by an awesome guy who also happened to be head of the department). His incredulous reply--"[Name of teacher]'s still teaching that book? It's awful!"

[DocD83]

I remember hating Great Expectations. It might have been ok before the English teacher sucked the fun right out of it though.

And I know it's cliche, but Huckleberry Finn was good.

[Ms. Jellybean]

Well. Hm. Haven't read any that I really enjoy, but when we spent a day discussing Sylvia Plath's poetry I was actually happy. Ironic, considering the vein her work is in.

But the WORST, the absolute WORST... As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Oh. My. God. I was ready to lay down and die when I was reading that!

God. It was three months ago, when the Dragon Lady assigned us that book... and when we finished it I sang Hallelujah at the top of my lungs! Next up, buy my own copy of it and burn it in her face.

[/end rant]

[DocD83]

I had to read Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" for my college English class, so I'll join your book burning. In spirit, anyway...I can't burn a book I paid for. I'm too cheap.

[pfrsue]

Moving the thread back in the direction of books we actually sort of liked...

All Quiet On The Western Front, One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich and To Kill A Mockingbird are the ones that come to mind as books that I either enjoyed immensely or that have stuck with me over the years.

[AJWARPED]

I haven't read any of Faulkner's novels but I did read a short story for English that I thought was amazing. Maybe his books just aren't as good but A Rose For Emily was a great short story with a wicked twist at the end.

[ThePickleMan]

I just read "A rose for Emily" a few weeks ago for my american lit class. Disturbing.

[TheLuckyOne]

Cliched as anything, but The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and A Catcher In The Rye were two that really, really stuck with me. I was also really grateful that my high school teachers saw the merits in plays- I loved The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, and Master Harold and the Boys is one that really stuck with me.

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is one I didn't have to read for a class until college, but I first read it in high school and loved it; one of my all-time favorites.

-D

[duckie]

I'll second To Kill a Mockingbird - great book, and excellent movie adaptation.

Also on my list of required books I enjoyed in high school English class: Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, 1984, Animal Farm, The Stranger, Catch 22, Farenheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, and Death of a Salesman.

I'm sure I'm missing a few, but I will say that Shakespeare is absent for a reason...

[AJWARPED]

A couple more that I have read recently and others I have just remembered.

Lord of the Flies, Amadeus, The Man Who Was Thursday, Wuthering Heights, Heart of Darkness

On my own I have read Catcher in the Rye and am right now reading Catch-22 and loving it. Next year I am taking a course on Tolkien, should be good.

[PoolMan]

AJWARPED said:

This is a little Canadian book set in rural Saskatuan (spl?)

Saskatchewan. Just saying.

In terms of books that were part of the curriculum, I really enjoyed Lord of the Flies (so hard not to type "Rings"!). There's just so much gravity to that story, and to read it as a young adult was a challenge.

In terms of books that were NOT part of the curriculum, about a half dozen of us in Ms Kirkham's class introduced ourselves to The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy all at the same time. When we'd read silently on Friday afternoons, the silence was usually punctuated by snickers and the sound of people sharing their books with the people next to them, pointing out the good bits.

[Ms. Jellybean]

I liked Lord of the Flies. Forgot that.

[TheLuckyOne]

duckie said:

I'm sure I'm missing a few, but I will say that Shakespeare is absent for a reason...

Philistine. You hate the Rolling Stones too?


-D

[Al]

I support all condemnation of Ethan Frome! It is vile garbage that should be stricken from our literary consciousness!

Stuff I enjoyed, however, included The Chocolate War, Frankenstein, Deliverance, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Beowulf, To Kill A Mockingbird, Siddhartha, Apt Pupil, and, not to be a dork (again), but I really, really loved Hamlet.

Looking at the previous posts, it dawns on me how much stuff I didn't have to read in high school. Gatsby, Huck Finn, Lord of the Flies, Death of A Salesman, Catcher in the Rye, Old Man in the Sea... it's a wonder I ever became an English major. Let's hear it for public education!

Al

EDIT: And for the record, I also hated Brave New World, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Crucible. And I loved As I Lay Dying.