Books read at school vs Books read after finishing school

[sanabas]

Occurred to me again after posting about Watership Down in the what are you reading thread. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I can't remember ever enjoying a book I read for school. Some of those include Taronga, by Victor Kelleher, 1984, by George Orwell, Watership Down, by Richard Adams, The Odessa File, by Frederick Forsyth, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. All of those are books that I have read multiple times since finishing school, and enjoyed immensely. Seems weird that reading a book while thinking about the essay/speech/assignment I have to do on it could affect my enjoyment so much, especially as some of the assignment topics are things I happily argue about now, and reasons I enjoy the book. The exception to the rule of not enjoying things I read for school was in Yr 8, when I read everything shortlisted for the Australian book of the year awards. I don't think that's the exact name of the awards, but it's close enough. Merryll of the Stones, by Brian Caswell, and Thunderwith, by Libby Hathorn, are two that I remember thinking quite highly of the first time I read them. I didn't have to do an assignment on those ones.

Anyone else have a similar experience, or is it just me?

 

[Syterion]

Some books require the analytical reading style that one uses when school forces them too, and then I'd say the school forcing me to read it like that helps the enjoyment, but books that do not require such a reading style are much worse when school makes you read it.

 

[Hauss]

I can think of 2 books I enjoyed from High School. Cathc 22 by Heller and 1984 by Orwell. I have read both of these books multiple times since and enjoy them just as much as the first time.

I also like Shakesphere so that wasn't so bad. Hamlet and Macbeth are especially great in my eyes.

The list of books I hated and read every 10 pages or so so I could get a good grade on the test is a bit longer.

The Scarlet Letter - Yawn. Although the guilty priesy/ reverend whipping himself was kind of interesting

The Glass Menegerie - I guess this was just too deep for me at the time, but I could never really grock the whole metaphor thing they had going on

Lord of the Flies - This one was OK but we dissected it so bad in class that it was ruined for me. It was also sad what happened to Piggy.

I cant really remember anything else they had us read in school, so I guess those were just kind of boring but not horribly so.

 

[Irish Caesar]

I enjoyed a lot of what I read in school, but I think I enjoy Inferno (which I'm currently reading on Cleopatra's recommendation) a lot more. Perhaps it's because I can read it on my schedule when I feel like it, as opposed to being told, "You must read this book and you must take a test on it!"

Even in school, I enjoyed stuff like Shakespeare and Paradise Lost, but the majority of what I read in school I don't remember much about. I think it's that mentality of needing to know something for a test vs. knowing something because you want to.

 

[Masquerouge]

I mostly enjoyed what I had to read for school. And I think that the books I did not enjoy, I would not have enjoyed them anyway even outside a school setting.

 

[MrCynical]

I have to admit that not only didn't I enjoy any of the books I read for school, but I can't stand reading any of them now either. I strongly suspect this is direct cause and effect, as I find nothing kills a book like dissecting it, and memorising an essay on what the exam board has decides it means this year.

There were a few books/plays which I'd read or seen prior to having to study them at school, and they certainly suffered as a result. Macbeth I quite enjoyed at first, but it was never the same after studying it. Julius Caesar I didn't think much of, but have only read in school.

As to other books; Lord of the Flies is I think still the only book I've ever thrown away (while still in a readable condition), which gives you some idea of my opinions on it. I think this one was downright awful even before it was dissected, and I've no idea why it ends up on so many study lists. I guess there's something in the approach that if you have to ruin a book by studying it, you may as well try to use books which weren't worth reading in the first place.

 

[Hauss]

Ahh, Paradise Lost. I forgot about that one. That was prety good if I remember correctly. Is that about a guy who makes a deal with the devil, or am I thinking about something else. It's been awhile since high school.

Ive been thinking about it since my last post and I think my issue with alot of the stuff I read in High School is that, outside of class, I was reading stuff like the Mission Earth series bu L Ron Hubbard and The Dune series by Herbert. These were great reads and related to the world today on a level that most of my forced reading just couldn't compete with. I almost became a cutter when they forced me to read just a part of the Cantebury tales. Today, though, I think I might enjoy it, at least some of the stories.

I guess you just learn to appreciate some things more as you get older...

 

[Irish Caesar]

Ahh, Paradise Lost. I forgot about that one. That was prety good if I remember correctly. Is that about a guy who makes a deal with the devil, or am I thinking about something else. It's been awhile since high school.

You might be thinking of Faust. Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by John Milton about God creating the world and Satan corrupting it.

 

[Old Spice]

I thought the books I had to read for my classes were okay, except for "To Kill A Mocking Bird" I hate that book so much. But out of school I was reading things about navel battles, wars and the likes.

 

[Masquerouge]

I thought the books I had to read for my classes were okay, except for "To Kill A Mocking Bird" I hate that book so much. But out of school I was reading things about navel battles, wars and the likes.

navel battles... sounds like fun!

 

[Sidhe]

Occurred to me again after posting about Watership Down in the what are you reading thread. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I can't remember ever enjoying a book I read for school. Some of those include Taronga, by Victor Kelleher, 1984, by George Orwell, Watership Down, by Richard Adams, The Odessa File, by Frederick Forsyth, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. All of those are books that I have read multiple times since finishing school, and enjoyed immensely. Seems weird that reading a book while thinking about the essay/speech/assignment I have to do on it could affect my enjoyment so much, especially as some of the assignment topics are things I happily argue about now, and reasons I enjoy the book. The exception to the rule of not enjoying things I read for school was in Yr 8, when I read everything shortlisted for the Australian book of the year awards. I don't think that's the exact name of the awards, but it's close enough. Merryll of the Stones, by Brian Caswell, and Thunderwith, by Libby Hathorn, are two that I remember thinking quite highly of the first time I read them. I didn't have to do an assignment on those ones.

Anyone else have a similar experience, or is it just me?

I've reread or read all of those for the first time, and I agree, when a mark counts on you reading it, you get less enjoyment out of it simply because your thinking in critical terms, read LoTR:Tolkein, without thinking critically, Crime and Punishment,Dostoyevsky, Nausea:Sartre, Day of the Triffids: John Wyndham, Lord of the Flies,Of Mice and Men, the Grapes of Wrath:John Steinbeck, The Long and the Short and the Tall:Willis Hall, The Illiad: The Odyssey:Homer.

Never read Watership Down at school but loved it. Read Duncton Wood: with mole ninjas, now that's great, reading was often a chore at school, but one thing it did show is that reading it again when you liked it the first time makes up for all the homework.

 

[Perfection]

I don't think I ever completely read a book I was assigned in school.

I sure as hell don't remember anything from them.

 

[sanabas]

I thought the books I had to read for my classes were okay, except for "To Kill A Mocking Bird" I hate that book so much.

Any reason in particular for your dislike of it?

 

[Heretic_Cata]

The books we had to read for school were INCREDIBLY BORING.

I did like Legends of Olympus tho.

The ones i read after school : .

 

[Hauss]

You might be thinking of Faust. Paradise Lost is an epic poem written by John Milton about God creating the world and Satan corrupting it.

Thank you. I was thinking of Faust. I think we read Paridise Lost as well but I remember nothing about it.

One author I can appreciate a little bit more is Jane Austin. I took my wife to see the new Pride and Prejudice that came out and I liked it better than her. I made her rent the 10 hour BBC series and enjoyes that as well. I know seeing the movie is not the same is reading, but I can say I might consider actually reading a Jane Austin novel now...

 

[Old Spice]

Any reason in particular for your dislike of it?

I feel everyone over rates it for its views on racism... it tends to be the only book that people have read that contains such views and thus winds up loved for it. The fact that it is claimed to be a love story bothers me as well.

 

[sanabas]

I feel everyone over rates it for its views on racism... it tends to be the only book that people have read that contains such views and thus winds up loved for it. The fact that it is claimed to be a love story bothers me as well.

Both of those are criticisms about what other people say about the book. Neither is a criticism of the book itself. Is there anything about the book itself that makes you hate it so much, or do you only hate it because others over-rate it?

I wouldn't call it a love story at all, and I've never heard anyone else describe it as one. It also raises a lot more issues than simply saying racism is bad.

 

[Old Spice]

The person who wrote it called it a love story... I dislike how some of the events affected the story's progression as some seemed to be outside of reality. Anyway I found the book to be okay but the way people go on about it causes me to hate it more then I other wise might.

 

[Ansar]

I liked the books that my English teacher assigned (except To Kill a Mockingbird).

 

[Tomoyo]

I'm fresh off an English Regents test. (A standardized New York State test that asks you to write four essays in six hours)

One of the essays gives you a general quotation about life and asks you to use two works of literary merit to support or refute the quotation. (I actually used To Kill a Mockingbird as one of the books -- A Tale of Two Cities was the other one)

There are some books that I've read at school that I've liked. Like um, hold on, I know there are some. Well, let's see what I remember. To Kill a Mockingbird was okay. I didn't really like The Catcher in the Rye. I read the Odyssey before reading it in school and school ruined it. Romeo Juliet was good. Ethan Frome would have been a great book had I not read it in school. The Crucible was boring. Macbeth was okay. A Tale of Two Cities was excellent.

If books that the school assigns, but does not analyze extensively count, then there are many that I've read for that and enjoyed, like Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, Animal Farm, Ender's Game, et al.