Books that you studied at school

mubaracus · Post by **mubaracus** » 26 Jul 2013, 12:35

I'm still in school and in my sophmore year (last year) we studied Fahrenheit 451, Julius Caesar, The great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, and The Scarlet Letter. My favorite was probably the Great Gatsby.

XxBelarusxX · Post by **XxBelarusxX** » 26 Jul 2013, 14:52

I had to study 3 books: Of mice and Men, How to kill a mockingbird and the absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. I thought I was going to hate these books but I absolutely love them I was happy when my teacher gave me the absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian I read it whenever I feel down because it makes me laugh

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TeeW · Post by **TeeW** » 27 Jul 2013, 17:00

As an English Major, I took a very interesting course in college. Its title was irresistible: "Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Mailer." It was the third author's name which beckoned to me. I never read a novel by him, and wondered: "how the heck would he tie in with the other two?" It turns out, Mailer wrote many novels about the famous "American Dream." In fact, the novel we read was, indeed, "The American Dream" by Mailer, along with "Absolom! Absolom"" by Faulkner and "Tender is the Night" by Fitzgerald. The rewards were high on this course!

Bella Rivkah · Post by **Bella Rivkah** » 27 Jul 2013, 17:09

There were many books that I had to study in school, especially as an English literature major. There were those that I liked more than others. I found myself most attracted to the works of Shakespeare and the poetry of Wordsworth. I found that I preferred British literature (the Renaissance, Romantics, Victorians) more than the American literature that I had to study in a survey course.

Snehal19 · Post by **Snehal19** » 12 Aug 2013, 19:54

One of the books that I discovered and have loved ever since, is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Wonderful writing, interesting situations and the witty repartee all made new and engaging reading for me at that time. I ended up devouring her other works, but this one beats all others hands down. I would recommend Emma and Mansfield Park also though.

Steve Freeman · Post by **Steve Freeman** » 12 Aug 2013, 19:58

I agree: P&P can be reread multiple times. You'll discover additioanl nuances with each reading.

Senserial_Publishing · Post by **Senserial_Publishing** » 13 Aug 2013, 06:41

We studied many classical books in the school, the one that come to my mind right now, is "Graf Monte Cristo". I liked it.

SLM-006 · Post by **SLM-006** » 13 Aug 2013, 19:16

I read "Great Expectations" this book changed me, not because of the story, but it gave me a love of the classics and at a very young age I started to gravitate towards more "serious" literature. Consequently, I read some books that influenced me at a young age as well.

collins_fan_10 · Post by **collins_fan_10** » 14 Aug 2013, 01:13

Some of my elementary school favorites were My teacher sleeps in school, The cul-de-sac kids, The Indian in the cupboard, Mice of the herringbone series, and the secret garden.
I recently re-read Oliver Twist and think I like the story even more now. The Diary of Anne Frank, A Raisin in the Sun, The Bluest Eye, House on Mango Street, The Devil came on Horseback, and Of mice and men are some books I read in highschool that I would re-read even now.
In college I had a world religions class in which the Tao of Pooh was assigned, and at first it sounded like a silly way to learn about Taoism, but I actually really liked the book and kept my copy.
Niesi daughter was another assigned book that I wasn't really excited about, but I ended up enjoying Stone's writing style and walked away with a much better understanding of what life was like for Japanese Americans during World Way II.

Reading other people's posts on this topic really made me miss the discussions I would have about these books in class, and now I've been reminded to re-read some old favorites.

babbsym · Post by **babbsym** » 15 Aug 2013, 02:26

I had to read To Kill a Mockingbird for school and I really loved doing it. It is one of my favorite books now. I am not sure if I would have felt the same way if I had just been reading for enjoyment rather than studying in depth.

fuhlaouer · Post by **fuhlaouer** » 15 Aug 2013, 16:46

1984 and Kurt Vonnegut were my favorites.

Ck1219 · Post by **Ck1219** » 16 Aug 2013, 09:27

I remember reading black boy. It was horrible. It was about, well, a young black boy, I believe in the early 1900's or 20's or something. Anyway, his life was awful. Horrible cruel things happened to him continuously and nothing ever worked out for him. I remember thinking, "who would write such a sad depressing book?" The boy wasn't a bad kid. He just had awful luck and wound up in the worst situations. That was when I told myself I'd never read a bad book again ( it wasn't a bad book per se, just not what I would choose. Ever. Even if a gun was held to my head. ) unfortunately I did read wuthering heights and Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Yuck.

ayotha1970 · Post by **ayotha1970** » 18 Aug 2013, 13:11

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga is a semi-autobiographical coming of age story about a young woman in modern Africa - my favourite at Varsity.

abrassell · Post by **abrassell** » 23 Aug 2013, 13:16

fiorabelle wrote:Although it was a compulsory read I loved "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. I thought Lee beautifully wove together two stories, that of a young girl growing up in the South in the 1930s and a story about prejudice, racial discrimination and of course bravery and standing up for what you believe in. I also agree with you BakerStreetJ, it was exciting going to class each day and analyzing the newest chapters with my classmates.

One of my favorite books