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*weep* Forced to read boring school approved books...

JackCrack

JackCrack

New Member
Signed up for an elective class to do some reading but they are making pick a book from their list :mad:

They gave me a list of about 20 books but I have read most of them, these are the ones I haven't:

Bean Trees
Black Boy
Bless Me, Ultima
Farewell to Manzanar
Joy Luck Club
No Promises in the Wind
Roll of Thunder
Summer of my German Soldier

I have not heard of any of these and have no idea what they are about. The books I prefer are:

>Action(Sword not gun), Sci-fi, Fantasy
>Magic, Psionic, Romance, Realistic Futuristic(Yhea, I'm a computer nerd, don't make me hack you! :p )
>Authors: JRR Tolkien, Aspirin Roberts, Terry Goodkind, Ursula Leguin, RA Salvatore, Sandra Brown, Unknown Net Authors
>Magic/Fantasy is definitely my favorite with a little romance mixed in.

Any recommendations of what I might like or what I should definitely avoid, please say. I have to pick 3 books, and since I didn't have time to look them all up so I randomly picked my first book and ended up with Brave New World.
 
I don't know that any of those mentioned would fulfill your criteria, but I'm not really familiar with any of them but the Joy Luck Club. It's about an asian-american family's experience in the US. I enjoyed it.

You can look up books on amazon and usually get a bit of a plot summary.
 
That list reads like a multiethnic political correction. What's the big idea? Does every nationality on the planet have to be represented? Silly silly.
 
Could you pick one you've already read and just pretend that you haven't? Pick one you barely remember and re-read it.
 
Went through Amazon quickly as I haven't heard of any of those books. I'm very glad I'm not on your course.

Bean tree sounds bloody awful, Black Boy might be interesting, Bless Me, Ultima sounds passable, Farewell to Manzanar sounds worthy but dull, Joy Luck Club sounds girly, No Promises in the Wind didn't have a detailed description but sounds like a depressing version of Huckleberry Finn but that could be completely off, Roll of Thunder sounds unredeemably miserable, and finally Summer of My German Solder, Jew befriends Nazi, blah blah blah.

I'd either go with reading one of the old books again if you can bear too, or if they're all as rubbish as this bunch sound go for Bless Me, Ultima described as a poor man's Marquez or the Summer of My German Soldier simply because you can't go wrong with Nazis. Well, obviously you can go wrong with Nazis, there was that whole war thing, but when it comes to books and films everyone loves a good Nazi story.
 
Litany has a good idea. Go to amazon.com and read a wide variety of reviews posted for each book. Do not just read the 'good' reviews or just the 'bad' ones, but a few from each. Then make your choice, for this method gives you a more even and less biased approach. There's nothing worse than reading a bunch of 'This is the best book ever!' posts and finding that after reading, it definitely is not that.

You did say you picked this course as an elective? So you had some idea that the course was about open-minded reading?

You shouldn't be too discouraged about the book selections because I'm sure they're there for a reason and your teacher probably wants some of you in class to be able to discuss your novels with each other. This is hard to do if everyone goes off and reads their own stuff.

There's a multitude of incredible books to choose from that aren't sci-fi/fantasy. Many verdant individuals whom are attached to sci-fi/fantasy forget that and though I'll admit I enjoy reading this genre as well, the only path to erudition is to read a broad range of novels from a broad range of genres. Nary a single author will ever tell you otherwise.

Good luck.
 
I went to amazon.com and read some reviews/plot summaries for all the books... and I think I signed up for the wrong class :( I am actually the only one taking the class; it’s an adult school, with contract classes. Everyone in the room is doing a different class. Elective choices are limited, and I have taken most the other classes, it was: Novel I, Novel II, or Drama/Art, and I met the Drama teacher... he (yes a guy) was wearing tights, and what appeared to be a skirt. Gotta respect a man that loves his work :D

Litany I agree with your reviews for most of em... from bad to worse.

Jazzman, your right, there are a lot of good books besides those in my favorite genre, and some of the best books I have ever read where from school,
Of Mice and Men (first book to cause a 'lump in my throat'… Tell me about the rabbits George), Flowers for Algernon (changed my outlook on life), The Hobbit (lead me to read almost all of Tolkien's work), and countless other books.
A lot of these books were ground breaking work for bringing up new and exciting topics of the time in which they where written(most of which are 40+ years old). But that was then and this is now, most of the topics which these books are based on have been debated to death (by society and me personally).
Racism, WWII, Totalitarianism Governments, Segregation, Prejudice, Science, Ethics, History, and many more topics I have studied through the actually facts and lots of real boring books. It is people being forced to read books like this that can deter them away from reading for pleasure. I myself was almost lost to thinking that reading was boring because I was drowned in books like these, but now reading is my sanctuary, my way of escaping reality and seeking refuge in the pages of another world, with out the problems that plague this world every day.
Not to mention that these books tend to take the same tone. Not to be callous, mean or heartless, I know these people suffered greatly and had to go through horrible things but when you are reading these books, a violin should be playing ‘cry me a river’ in the background or a crackle of lighting as a lunatic predicts that the sky is going to fall (they where partly correct) but I just don’t want to waste my time reading about it.

Novella- it’s a school, every race has to be represented, except white males, we are evil and caused all these problems. :rolleyes:

Dele, I was hoping to save this option for a last resort, which it looks like I am going to be forced to do. Since I once studied Ancient Elvish Transcript so that I could write a whole essay in it, I hope I can say “No mam, I have never read The Hobbit before…” without a smirk on my face. :p

Thank you all for the advise, I think I will try to debate reading non-school approved books with the teacher, she is not very bright, so I am not sure how well I can communicate with her, but the art social engineering must be practiced, and what better genie pig then a teacher?? :p
 
I actually read Bless Me, Ultima... I can't remember when, or to what purpose, but it was for school as well.

It wasn't a bad book, from what I remember. (it was a while ago)

And Ultima might be a witch... so it's got some magic in there for you!

Good luck!
 
Well, I'm going to be totally uncool and actually endorse a book on that list, perhaps not for our young friend who wants to read sci-fi/fantasy for course credit, but just a general recommendation since many people said they were not familiar with it.

"Farewell to Manzanar" is a YA, first-person, account of the internment of Japanese Nationals and Japanese Americans in America during WWII. Back in the days when I read it, this was not a part of US History the public schools were addressing. It had been carefully swept under a red, white, and blue rug. In addition to dealing with life in Manzanar, a camp in the Sierra Nevadas of California (a desolate location, the ruins of which still exist along the side of the highway), it also deals with the aftermath, on a very personal level.

In today's climate of fear in America, and the wild suspicions that anyone of Middle Eastern ancestry is a potential terrorist, I think it would be a timely read: to see what happened when anyone who "looked" like the enemy was rounded up, robbed of their rights and property, and made to prove just how "American" they were.

Irene Wilde
 
JackCrack said:
Of Mice and Men (first book to cause a 'lump in my throat'… Tell me about the rabbits George)
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Now this was one book I could never get into at school - it was a part of our syllabus but after reading the first page I couldn't bring myself to want to finish it and certainly not to write an essay on it (which was highly unusual for me). I did have a fantastic English teacher though, so I didn't have to read it (or even do the essay :) ).

I may give it a go again one day.
 
summer of my german soldier was just terrible. it seemed so unrealistic to me and that just bothered me. why would america store nazis within their borders?

i have to read Bless Me, Ultima by next semester. bah
 
Ice said:
Now this was one book I could never get into at school - it was a part of our syllabus but after reading the first page I couldn't bring myself to want to finish it and certainly not to write an essay on it (which was highly unusual for me). I did have a fantastic English teacher though, so I didn't have to read it (or even do the essay :) ).

I may give it a go again one day.
Click to expand...

I read it last month. It was excellent, although I never did get round to writing a review.
 
Another idea might be to come up with your own reading list and see if the teacher will ok any of your choices. Be sure to pick titles covering various ethnic backgrounds, and be prepared to defend your choices. The teacher will either be impressed you cared enough to do the research and ok the new list, or they'll think you're just a trouble maker and turn you down. Is it too late to drop the class and replace it?

I second the votes for Farewell to Manzibar and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry-excellent books both.
 
Zolipara said:
Only a year too late....
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Yeah... I was waiting for someone to notice that! Pretty old thread to dig up.

I had to read Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry for Grade 8 English, and I recall it was really interesting and thought provoking. Yes, depressing in some ways, but educational. In Grade 11 we read 'The Kitchen God's Wife', which I despised, largely on account of the teacher. I understand that The Joy Luck Club is a little better, though on the same lines. I've avoided Amy Tan like the plague ever since, simply because my English teacher was a wanker and I just can't appreciate it. Both have extensive commentary on gender issues in China. If this interests you, also consider watching the movie, 'Raise the Red Lantern'.
 
I had the advantage of having two grade school teachers who read to us. The two fifth grade teachers and the two sixth grade teachers taught both levels in the subjects they liked best. So for two years we got these two teachers who loved to read to us. I got to hear: Summer on the Salt Fork, The Golden Impala, A Wrinkle in Time(Thank God for Mrs. Schoech!), Trouble River,Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry, My Side of the Mountain, and a couple of others I can't remember.
 
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