Books We Read In School And Actually Liked!

Warbsywoo

Warbsywoo

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Any books you'd like to throw out there that were actually quite enjoyable despite the fact that the it was assigned in school?

Mine would have to be:

1.) The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. At first glance, this behemoth of a paperback looks pretty intimidating but the main storyline is actually beautifully written. Despite the fact that it looks like one of those books that employs indecipherable Victorian English...it's not. Pretty enjoyable read for those who like to intersperse good social novels with romance.

2.) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Horrible read apparently, but I liked it. I don't know why, but it sounded pretty good to me.

3.) The Crucible. It's a play, but it's also a good one. Set in Salem in Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials, it shows how the effect of rumors can influence large groups of people.
 
To Kill A Mockingbird was rather good. What else...

Hm. That's all I can think of. I read the Crucible as well, but I didn't enjoy it much.
 
I read a book in school and enjoyed it? :P Heh, I dunno if there is one... Unless poetry counts? The World's Wife by Carol Anne Duffy was hilarious to discuss in class.

The annoying thing is they've changed the books the younger kids have to read. Back when I was in year 7, 8 and 9 we had to read books like Z for Zacchariah (sp?), Buddy, Pride and Prejudice and Day of the Triffids. Old books. NOW, they set books like Noughts and Crosses and Knife Edge! I read those of my own accord and loved them. Darn changes. ¬_¬

Oh, and if I can include plays, An Inspector Calls was great!
 
I liked To Kill a Mockingbird

This year I am doing this book called In The Forest, about 3 murders which took place in Ireland by this pyschopathic dude. It's rather depressing...
 
The Great Gatsby - A masterpiece. At first I didn't pay attention to the story, and I was actually behind class readings. But when I finally read it wholeheartedly, I really enjoyed it, especially the characters. The movie was quite good too, but the book's better.

To Kill A Mockingbird - This book kinda made me sad. It is highly controversial, but I do appreciate the book for what it is and what it has to offer. Outstanding.

A Separate Peace - Well, this book was actually quite a bore, but I still like it, mainly because the teacher made us analyze each chapter and write down philosophical words that would help us understand the book more. It did made me think a lot.

The Scarlet Letter - Ah, one of my favorites, especially the ending of the book. Very well-written and truly a classic.

Lord of the Flies - Heh, despite the grotesque scenes that your mind pictures, I actually found the book very entertaining and kept me guessing what would happen to the those boys.

The Pearl - I actually didn't finish reading this book since I went on vacation while we were in the middle of the plot, but from what I've gathered, I can tell it was a good book as well.

There were so many more titles but I can't remember them. In all honesty, those books we read in school can be quite boring sometimes, especially if it's class reading where each person takes turns reading. But give it a chance and read by yourself in a quiet environment and you'll really appreciate them more.

...I couldn't stand Oliver Twist and Moby Dick though. =/ Frankly, I find Charles Dickens and Herman Melville's books boring, although I know they are very popular. I think I failed every quiz we had about Moby Dick, lol.
 
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Princess Aighurhmnw said:
I liked To Kill a Mockingbird

This year I am doing this book called In The Forest, about 3 murders which took place in Ireland by this pyschopathic dude. It's rather depressing...
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I was gonny say that was such a coincidence ... but then I realised who you are and that you're in my English class :wacky:

I really liked To Kill A Mockingbird. In The Forest, however ... I'm not even going to pretend - I actually despise this book. I don't care that it's a true story. I don't care that Edna O'Brien has cleverly left Michen's state of mind open to interperetation. It's a horrible book - both in content and in ability to grasp my attention.

I did a personal study on Of Mice and Men and that was really good. Short, sweet and easy to write about. Thumbs waaaaaaaaaaaay up.
 
Mitsuki said:
...I couldn't stand Oliver Twist and Moby Dick though. =/ Frankly, I find Charles Dickens and Herman Melville's books boring, although I know they are very popular. I think I failed every quiz we had about Moby Dick, lol.
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Hahaha, oh dear. Two books which i have recently bought but not got round to reading yet :P
 
Tsk, good luck with that. Really though, those books are so damn long and boring, I couldn't keep my eyes open. The authors tend to dally every single page, and I'm like, "Get to the damn point, already!!!"

I know I did a presentation report of Oliver Twist (thank goodness the audience was just my English teacher) and oh boy, I just about embarrassed myself. Lol she could tell I skimmed through pages because she asked me questions like, "What happened when this girl blah blah blah, what did you think about that?"

I panicked and thought of something up, "Well, Oliver was...and this girl...and I think..." She looked at me and said, "Well, you need to actually read the book and pay more attention to details." That was our last day to do reports, and I didn't finish the stupid book, but had no choice but to do the report anyway, otherwise I get no points. =/

Oh well, getting embarrassed wasn't so bad. Better than having no points at all, eh? xD
 
Riku said:
I did a personal study on Of Mice and Men and that was really good. Short, sweet and easy to write about. Thumbs waaaaaaaaaaaay up.
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I absolutely love Of Mice and Men. I read it in 10th grade and it's still one of my favorite books.

I also enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, The Crucible, Heart of Darkness, The Catcher in the Rye and most of The Great Gatsby (it dragged at times). And of course, I enjoyed all of the Shakespeare plays.

I'm surprised that there are people that actually enjoyed The Scarlet Letter. I thought it was terribly boring. And Mitsuki, I agree with you about Charles Dickens. I hated his books. They were all extremely long and dull.
 
We read Of mice and men as the book we'd do our mock exams on...loved the book, especially the ending, although i didn't particulary care for the way the teacher read it to us, using voices, for each different character, when half the class ended up with a B or higher in the exam :dry:

Hobsons choice, however, is one of the most boring plays/books we've ever had to read. By the end i didn't care what happened to any of them and the story was lame.
 
I really enjoyed the book "The Outsiders". It was such an interesting book that had alot of twists and turns. They made a movie about it its soo good! I serouisly recommend this book to read its incredably enjoyable. Trust me i dont read alot of books and i loved this! Its basically about a gang named the Greasers (get there name from the gel they use to put in there hair) and there struggles. It is a kids book and it was exciting and sometimes sad!
 
Oh Jesus. I need to think....I liked almost EVERYTHING we read in English class except for freaking Hemingway, Dickens, and Melville. HATE. -_-

Lord of the Flies (I LOVE the part with Simon and the pig's head. You can really sense the madness)
The Pearl
The Grapes of Wrath
Dubliners (Gorgeous writing)
Brave New World (I thought a lot of the writing was poetic. Also, interesting to read)
Heart of Darkness (Mmm, gorgeous writing)
Catcher in the Rye
The Great Gatsby (Amazing)
Anything by Shakespeare (I'm a sucker for him)
A Street Car Named Desire
Beloved (Gorgeous writing and story. Gave me chills)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (Holy shit. If you haven't read it, read it now. And I mean like...right this instant. John Irving is brilliance and a half.)
Demian (Mmm homoerotic undertones ftw)

That's all I can really remember. I'm a huge English nerd D:
 
Oh snaps! I remember the Outsiders from way back in 8th grade. We saw the movie right after that but it really never compares to the book. The ending was sad in the way, but it was highly innovative and original in that the ending words are also the introductory words. Neat-o.
 
Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare novel which was much more entertaining than the overkill choice of Romeo and Juliet.

Winter: A Berlin Family: For when we were studying world history based on looking a events that happened and seeing it in a new perspective.

Famous Five:...well...I just liked reading them ^^

Macbeth : A classic novel report on a famous writer , it was tedious at first for me, still don't know why but it was worth it.

War and Peace: It was a challenge set by senior members for newbies of the drama club (real drama here) . Condense an accurate account of the book and it's many aspects that the author wished to invoke into the mind of the reader....I "condensed" some of their forehead with it afterwards XD
 
Lord of the Flies, Brother in the Land and Romeo and Juliet are the ones I remember. Our class was the only one in our year to read Lord of the Flies. The rest read Of Mice and Men.
 
I also really enjoyed the outsiders, but that was a whiiiiiile ago.
 
Most of them...

Of Mice and Men
The House on Mango Street
Joy Luck Club
Night
Macbeth
Jane Eyre
The Crystal Cave
The Great Gatsby
A Separate Peace
The Crucible
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Lord of the Flies
Siddhartha
Othello
Hamlet
Much Ado About Nothing
The Scarlet Letter
Henry IV Part 1
Henry V
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Foucalt's History of Sexuality Volume I
Lolita
Plato's Symposium
They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky

It's not a complete list, but this is a decent sample.
 
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - I agree that this was a wonderful book. Though I never did read it for school, nor did I ever finish it. The primary reason I didn't was because a very big part was ruined for me toward the end and it had to do with Roark, the guy I was reading mostly to learn about...

The Crucible - Loved the book format and the movie. It was just great.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Never read the whole thing here either, I think i abandoned it toward the end for something else. Probably video game related. However I did manage to read the first half which was actually somewhat enjoyable.

Lord of the Flies - Never read it because in middle school I didn't read much at all. But I know its a good book and that if I did read it I would like it...

Of Mice and Men - I throughly enjoyed this book and found myself so entranced by it that I finished it in the first half a day I had it. Sure it was short, but it was just that good.
 
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