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What book should be REQUIRED reading for everyone?

Required Reading Is Boring...

My 14 Year Old Son Is In Freshman Honors English. He Is Required To Read Farenheit 451. I Bought This Book Months Ago. I Kept Asking Him If He Is Finished With The Book, He Has Yet To Start It. I Read The Book Myself. It Is Boring! It Is Ridiculous To Make These Kids Read Books They Couldn't Possibly Find The Least Bit Interesting. It Seems Like Teachers Would Give The Kids Books That Would Make Them Want To Read.
 
MYRASIMS said:
It Is Ridiculous To Make These Kids Read Books They Couldn't Possibly Find The Least Bit Interesting.
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Maybe the idea is to teach them when they should use capitals.:D
 
As kids we thought Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song would be boring but it was a great book. I don't think you can say kids will find anything boring because you do.
 
Farenheit [sic] 451.

MYRASIMS said:
I Read The Book Myself. It Is Boring! It Is Ridiculous To Make These Kids Read Books They Couldn't Possibly Find The Least Bit Interesting. It Seems Like Teachers Would Give The Kids Books That Would Make Them Want To Read.
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Hm. Well, I’m not a fan of Bradbury nor did I enjoy the book but I wouldn’t be that harsh on it.
And a book about censorship, book banning and book burning, sorry, *is* at least a “bit interesting”. Espeially in an English course.
Maybe your non-enthusiasm for the book can help your son to write a nice paper on it. As I’ve said before, not everyone has to “love” a book.
However, I’d advise that in the paper you not capitalize every word (interesting effect though).

Or maybe you could do a dissertation on how even the spelling of the book is really useless. And then campaign for the much easier _Celsius 232.7_

But don’t worry, there’s a film version (and rumour of a new one coming), so you know, no one has to read it anymore.
j
 
jay said:
But don’t worry, there’s a film version (and rumour of a new one coming), so you know, no one has to read it anymore.
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What a horrible, horrible thing to say.
 
I remember some of my friends loving Fahrenheit 451 when it was on our reading list. I have never actually read it, but obviously some students do find it interesting.
 
MYRASIMS said:
My 14 Year Old Son Is In Freshman Honors English. He Is Required To Read Farenheit 451. I Bought This Book Months Ago. I Kept Asking Him If He Is Finished With The Book, He Has Yet To Start It. I Read The Book Myself. It Is Boring! It Is Ridiculous To Make These Kids Read Books They Couldn't Possibly Find The Least Bit Interesting. It Seems Like Teachers Would Give The Kids Books That Would Make Them Want To Read.
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How is this book not interesting? You have a book critical of censorship, written in a time where McCarythism was running rampant. You also have Bradbury's distate for editors, whom he believed did nothing but to stifle the creativity and vision of writers. It is a great example of science-fiction "dystopia" writing at its best. the book is still highly relevant today as many libraries and schools still face issues regarding censorship every day. It's also relevant in contemporary American culture in that Guy Montag's society in some ways, is similar to ours. The leaders making light of books and of ideas while telling everyone else what the "facts" are is occuring. I won't get into a political discussion, but there are many avenues of discussion that could be created using this book.
 
Stewart said:
I think she meant to say I mostly read shitty romance novels found in airports.
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Very keen observation Stewart, very prescient if I may say so. I can understand not liking the book for reasons such as how it was written, it's lack of complexity, or some other reason like that. At the same time, I doubt this book is one that will be forgotten in the next hundred years or even two hundred years. This is one of the most important books written in the 20th century IMHO. I can certainly think of more dreary and uninspiring books that "honors" students read.
 
sirmyk said:
What a horrible, horrible thing to say.
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[watchin’ films instead of readin’ books]
Shirley you know it was sar-casim…

While I certainly don’t want people to feel they can’t post their thoughts in fear of being verbally assaulted by a few of us, but since it’s gotten a bit whacky already, one of the things I was thinking of commenting on yesterday was the mentioning of the student being an “honors” English participant. And that mom has nicely bought the book for him “months ago” but he has yet to even “start it”.
I therefore question what is ‘honorable’ here.

Among other things.
j
 
MYRASIMS said:
My 14 Year Old Son Is In Freshman Honors English. He Is Required To Read Farenheit 451. I Bought This Book Months Ago. I Kept Asking Him If He Is Finished With The Book, He Has Yet To Start It. I Read The Book Myself. It Is Boring! It Is Ridiculous To Make These Kids Read Books They Couldn't Possibly Find The Least Bit Interesting. It Seems Like Teachers Would Give The Kids Books That Would Make Them Want To Read.
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How can he find it boring if he hasn't even started it? This just sounds like a lazy kid leaving his homework to the last minute and a parent who is looking to blame someone else. Undoubtedly it is the teacher's fault for assigning something so horrible that kids can tell it is boring without cracking the cover. It should be noted that this book is short. I think it is roughly 200 pages. We aren't talking about War and Peace here, the Sparks notes are probably longer.

I find it truely sad when parents take attitudes like this one toward their children's education. As much as Harry Potter may make a kid want to read, it isn't classic literature. Bradbury has a lot to say and I remember loving him at that age.
 
jay said:
[watchin’ films instead of readin’ books]
Shirley you know it was sar-casim…

While I certainly don’t want people to feel they can’t post their thoughts in fear of being verbally assaulted by a few of us, but since it’s gotten a bit whacky already, one of the things I was thinking of commenting on yesterday was the mentioning of the student being an “honors” English participant. And that mom has nicely bought the book for him “months ago” but he has yet to even “start it”.
I therefore question what is ‘honorable’ here.

Among other things.
j
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You've grown on me Jay. :eek: You are correct about people posting and I agree that they are free to do so up to a point. When that point is reached, necessity demands a response. Feel free to fire away--I have come to see the value of your sarcasm. :) :)
 
jay said:
[watchin’ films instead of readin’ books]
Shirley you know it was sar-casim…
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(tired and covered in ash from all the libary book burnings held late last night)
Of course...
 
The books that I remember having to read were The Crucible (plays are for watching, not reading), and The Scarlet Letter which was incredibly boring.
I was the type that would blow stuff off to the last minute (just plain blow it off) but I ended up doing pretty well in school and read more than most people (then and now).
That said I tend to agree with mehastings.
 
"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov

Everyone should read this. Not only is it hot, but there's an elegance about his writing. The language is eloquent and beautiful. Nabokov is passionate in his writing. Definitely a fun read off of the "adult menu" :p .
 
I didn't enjoy Lolita that much. I kept having to look up a lot of words in the dictionary and some weren't even in there. This probably has been said before, but I thought he could use easier words and the book would've been a lot better. Also at the end, when he was looking for Lolita, I had no idea what was going on. I heard that some of Nabokov's other stuff was better, I don't know if that's true.
 
SFG75 said:
You've grown on me Jay. :eek: […] Feel free to fire away--I have come to see the value of your sarcasm. :) :)
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Some of the young Jedis are now sighing about ‘losing another one to the Dark Side’…

[I actually can’t stand Star Wars but didn’t know what else to say other than a possibly cocky, “I knew you’d come around”, or something…]

cgw said:
The Crucible (plays are for watching, not reading)
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Agreed. But when one does have to read them, read them aloud. Read them with others. Climb up to your roof top and belt out the soliloquies until you are threatened with sniper rifles….

and The Scarlet Letter which was incredibly boring.
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I disagree. Although Hawthorne can get long winded.
And did your teacher point out the association between “The Crucible” and this novel?
(not that this would alleviate your boredom, it’s just a nifty degree of separation.)

ecks said:
I heard that some of Nabokov's other stuff was better, I don't know if that's true.
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“Better”? Tough to say.
Maybe _Invitation to a Beheading_ and/or _Pale Fire_ and/or _Bend Sinister_ would more suit your taste.

Although in my little fantasy “Uncle Jay’s What is Good; What is Bad?” class Nabokov’s short story “Signs and Symbols” would most assuredly be on the sillybus (syllabus).
Since the class wont happen, for those that can’t find said story I can send a photo copy. We can pretend my ‘teacher’s pet’, the lovely Miss MonkeyCatcher, is daintily passing them amount among the students.
She will also grace us, in her unwavering, softly sonic voice, in starting the story:
“For the fourth time in as many years they were confronted with the problem of what birthday present to bring a young man who was incurably deranged in his mind.”…

Oh, Sirmyk, I have that thingie en route. ‘bout 3 weeks.

j
 
ecks said:
I didn't enjoy Lolita that much. I kept having to look up a lot of words in the dictionary and some weren't even in there. This probably has been said before, but I thought he could use easier words and the book would've been a lot better.
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So, did you not enjoy it because of the story or simply because the author's vocabulary was more developed than your own?
 
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