Musing Monday 1/11: Assigned Reading
Today’s Musing Monday asks about assigned reading:
How did you react to assigned reading when you were in school? How do you think about these books now? What book were you ‘forced’ to read in school that you’ve since reread and liked?
This line of questions could fuel many posts for me. I remember that I looked forward to English and reading-based classes the most in school. When I encountered a book I disliked, I felt especially put-upon, almost offended. Reading was fun. To have to slog through an assigned book, page by page, made reading into a chore, rather than a much-sought pastime.
I remember being annoyed, sometimes, by the level of analysis forced upon some of the books we read. Sometimes, if I enjoyed reading an assigned book I felt as though dissecting it class later, looking for conflict, character development and meaning, bled the book dry. I remember having a choked-up, sad, visceral reaction to Carson McCullers’ “A Member of the Wedding.” Discussing it in class and writing a paper on it deadened the book for me.
I loved “Anna Karenina” but the class syllabus, and my other homework meant I had to read it in two weekends. Even with plodding through class discussions afterward, I never felt that I got to do the book justice. Same thing with Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man.” It was so violent, and so beyond anything I had ever read, that I wanted to read it slowly. but there was a class discussion to keep up with.
On the other hand- I remember having to read Thomas Hardy (Far From the Madding Crowd, thank God, not Tess) one summer, and reading that took a miserably long time. yuck.
I wish I’d never been assigned Hemingway novels. The short stories get the point of his craft across. His writing style is so terse and unwavering I suffer whenever I read him. And “The Catcher In The Rye” made me so miserable I never tried reading any other J.D. Salinger, because I loathed the character of Holden Caulfield so very much. I spent the entire book wanting to reach in and slap him silly.
I haven’t gone back to the books I read in school. I’ve picked up the Odyssey a few times- but read a book here, a book there, nothing structured, and I’ve never finished it. (Mr. Mulgrew, my 9th grade English teacher, made the Odyssey into a wonderful adventure. So much so that I forgave him for “The Catcher In the Rye.”) I still remember most of the story of the books I was assigned in school, and most of my reaction to them. I’m waiting for that to fade a little more.
There are also the books I wasn’t assigned, but friends, family and colleagues have read. I know that I’m missing a few of the Classics. I’d love to figure out some kind of consensus viewpoint on which important books I should go read.
For example, I have on my shelf:
The Age of Innocence
Tender Is The Night
The Gangs of New York
Cannery Row
lots and lots of complete works of various poets, I’ve browsed but not really read.
and I know I should read some Salinger, because I can tell he’s a great writer, it’s just Holden Caulfield who’s a big jerk.
I’m open to suggestions. Leave a few comments. Cast your votes! I’ll read something. And blog about it.
That’s Intersting. In my high school we did little if any literary analysis. I think I would have enjoyed class more if we had.
My post is up.
Musing
I’m SO glad you feel the same way about Catcher in the Rye!! I’m still traumatised by that book I cannot touch another Salinger. One day…
And I have Tender is the night on the TBR too. I hope I will like that book because I’m so in love with the title.
Too funny about Salinger, whom I loved from the get-go. I’m one of millions who wished he continued writing. Perhaps it’s a generational thing?
Great post! My high school reading classes were not as in depth as yours. We had discussions, but I don’t remember much else. It was so long ago!! I haven’t read any of the books you mentioned. But I hear the same sentiments about Hemingway from so many people. It’s great that you have such a strong memory of all those books!
Great post! I laughed out loud at your thoughts about Salinger. I hated “Catcher in the Rye” with a passion. I’ve never actually attempted any Hardy since high school either because unfortunately our selection was Tess and I couldn’t get past the first chapter. The only thing I loved in high school English was Shakespeare and that was only because we usually got to go to Stratford to see a live performance of whatever play we were reading at the time.
Still I can’t stand Hemingway.
Here is mine
I couldn’t agree with you more about the analysis…not so much in high school as in college. I know I have to give Jane Eyre a second chance but my literature professor picked it apart which made reading it very uninteresting. I kept asking myself, what does this mean? I have moved away from the analytical/critical way of reading literature and the joy of finding a good yarn has slowly returned. I still think about what I read but on a level that I believe is more in line with the author’s intention.
The Age of Innocence and Tender is the Night are two of my favorite “classics.” There’s a good movie of the Age of Innocence too, with Michelle Pfeiffer.
I’m not a Hemingway fan either…
I think I missed a lot of the classics in school that were just not on our lists. I should go back and read some that I’ve missed- Hemingway being one, even if a lot of people aren’t fans.
It always gratifies me to find another person who hated Catcher in the Rye. Because man, did I hate that book. If it were possible to punch Holden Caufield, I would have taken the opportunity.
Being a smart and quick reader, I tended to just burn through my assigned reading in high school without giving it too much thought. I was also misplaced into some pretty dumb classes for a couple of years, which meant I could pretty much coast through without a lot of effort.
Oddly, and blasphemously, I’ve always hated reading Shakespeare. I love WATCHING Shakespeare, mind you, but the process of actually reading a play bores me to pieces. It just doesn’t work for me.