Catcher in the Rye...is this still controversial?

[Gumbo4x4]

Never read Catcher In The Rye or To Kill A Mockingbird, but did hate The Jungle & Grapes of Wrath.

The Great Gatsby is the only thing mentioned here I could tolerate at all, and I didn't like it enough to read again.

 

[Monykalyn]

I agree with you, who chooses Catcher in the Rye over To Kill A Mockingbird??

To Kill a Mockingbird-my all time, hands down, favorite book (have worn out paperback (not the Gregory Peck cover), hard back and a special anniversary bound hard back edition).

I, too, am a voracious reader and so are my kids. I do read a lot of books along with them (when Twilight came out I read the series along with my daughter - she was 11 at the time she discovered the books). Read Hunger games with them too (my middle was 11 when she read it). Read Percy Jackson and Harry Potter with them too. The Narnia series. Madeleine L'Engle series (these still frequently come up on "most banned" lists) In fact, we have a many many many "controversial" or "most banned" books in our house. Pretending this stuff doesn't exist or shielding them doesn't make it go away. Openly reading and discussing the content takes away the "forbidden" thrill though. I can remember the tattered copy of "Forever" by Judy Blume that got passed around by us girls in 6th grade....because we heard it had been pulled from shelves. Best way to be sure a book is read LOL.

 

[bcwife76]

I don’t know if it’s still controversial, but it certainly is one of the most overrated books in the standard high school literature curriculum. Much of its notoriety is due to the reclusive, eccentric life of the author. The book itself is a bore.

Agree 10000000%!!! Read this book when I was 16 and it was so BORING!!!!!!!! Controversial? Hell no, just boring as ****!

 

[Flight]

Middle School to high school reading lists - No wonder many kids do not like reading. With all the fabulous books availabe to draw students in and get them excited about reading, we make sure those books are not covered in class. Instead, we shove in front of them Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Beowulf, classics of all sorts....

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I don't actively dislike Catcher, I think I just expected something better, given all the hype. I didn't much like The Scarlet Letter, either. And I read both for fun after I was out of high school. However, nothing is as bad as The Octopus. That was the only book I ever really disliked reading in school.

I love most of the others that have been mentioned in this thread.

 

[Skywalker]

I liked Catcher in the Rye, but I think a lot of school make kids read these books before they are actually ready to get anything out of them. If they read them later in life its often a different experience.

(Catcher is also kind of infamous because Mark Chapman was carrying it when he murdered John Lennon...and I think another murderer of someone famous had a copy of it too when he was arrested.)

 

[Jennasis]

EVERYTHING we were forced to read in school bored me to tears. Adding to that was the burden of having to read at the GLACIAL pace of the rest of the class. God help me when we ad to read passages out loud...I wanted to jump out a window. I'd be done with the book while the class was still taking tests on chapter 10. Last of the Mohicans, The Scarlet Letter, Great Expectations (hate!), The Pearl, Call of the Wild, To Kill A Mockingbird, Beloved, and on and on. Blech.

I love to read. But I love to choose what I read.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Middle School to high school reading lists - No wonder many kids do not like reading. With all the fabulous books availabe to draw students in and get them excited about reading, we make sure those books are not covered in class. Instead, we shove in front of them Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Beowulf, classics of all sorts....

You just listed the most exciting books I read in school

 

[Kogo Shuko]

The Scarlet Letter? Oh, how I WISH there could have been a ban on that book at my HS

Edit: same teacher who LOVED that book was oh so convinced I'd just love The Chocolate Wars. Wrong again.

I hated reading the Scarlet Letter as well, but probably from a "this is boring writing" standpoint. I was forced to read it in grade 7, actually - and the book was at a grade 11 reading level.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Well I am another odd one out who loves The Catcher in teh RYe--I have ever since I first picked it up in 7th grade (and wondered even back then why it was such a big controversy). I am saddened to hear it is still considered controversial, though not surprised, when I wored as a librarian my eyes were really opened to how many books some people would rahter the world not see.

To Kill a Mockingbird is fine, but has never really struck a chord with me. Great themes but for me the writing falls flat (but I had to teach it and never got to teach Catcher--woe is me :lol)


The book that bothered me as a student back in junior high was Lord of the Flies--it was so violent (though better, I think, than the book my son had to read in 10th grade this year (Nothing, by JAnne Teller; he hated it because he found it so disturbing, poor kid).

 

[Flight]

We teach teach students in English class when writing an essay to use a "hook" in the first paragraph. A hook is meant to draw the reader to wanting to read more. It is basically an attention getter.

The same thing needs to be applied to the reading lists for the middle school and high school students. Let's hook them into wanting to read more by first introducing them to stories they would find fascinating - stories we choose for them. So have them read a story a teenager would find compelling. Follow it up with books that follow the same line. Now they are hooked on reading. Later on we can introduce them to the classics and other books that seem to be universally read in the public school curriculum. By then they are more receptive and perhaps appreciative to various sytles of writing.

Unfortunately many students are turned off to reading because we insist they read books that do not appeal to the teenage mind. Why do we do this? I do not know.

But now we have a huge mass of students that have no interest in reading and some of them will have no interest in learning the rest of their lives. How do I know this? Just look around the country and observe the alarming number of young people turned off to education.​

 

[scoutie]

Middle School to high school reading lists - No wonder many kids do not like reading

I don't find this to be true at all. The majority of my students love reading. Many of my students love To Kill a Mockingbird (they read it on their own). We also do a contemporary novel unit, where students get to choose which novel they are reading. We read The Outsiders (required core novel), and The Giver. Nearly every student I have ever had in class has adored The Outsiders. My elementary school aged son is reading WONDER in class, which is an amazing book that every adult should read.

 

[gemini2727]

Before starting high school we had a summer reading list of many of the classics listed here. I have such great memories of that summer, best reading I have ever done!

 

[Flight]

My experience over the years has exposed me to many students that are turned off to reading. Turned off to reading may sometimes equate to turned off to education.

What is the dropout rate in the United States? If you have some idle time, explore this very upsetting statistic.

I am only suggesting that there is a large group of students that are turned off to reading because of the books they must read. Certainly there are some students that have a natural love of reading and do well. But many are walking that precarious line were they can fall into the abyss or hopefully step into a world of wonder and joy.

 

[Kbee]

You just listed the most exciting books I read in school

I was thinking the same thing! My dd just finished Lord Of The Flies, which she liked. She must take after me

 

[Kbee]

I don't find this to be true at all. The majority of my students love reading. Many of my students love To Kill a Mockingbird (they read it on their own). We also do a contemporary novel unit, where students get to choose which novel they are reading. We read The Outsiders (required core novel), and The Giver. Nearly every student I have ever had in class has adored The Outsiders. My elementary school aged son is reading WONDER in class, which is an amazing book that every adult should read.

If I had to look back on what I read as a teen, I would say The Outsiders was my absolute favorite. It didn't hurt that there was movie filled with hotties either LOL

 

[Ambear]

I don’t know if it’s still controversial, but it certainly is one of the most overrated books in the standard high school literature curriculum. Much of its notoriety is due to the reclusive, eccentric life of the author. The book itself is a bore.

This a million times. I thought this book would be so good based on the hype, and Holden ended up being the absolute worst main character I've ever read about.

 

[Ambear]

Great Expectations (hate!)

I love a tale of two cities and considered myself a dickens fan. Then I saw this play. I agree with the hate.

 

[pooh4evr]

I found it to be incredibly boring and had a hard time finishing it, not controversial at all.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I don't find this to be true at all. The majority of my students love reading. Many of my students love To Kill a Mockingbird (they read it on their own). We also do a contemporary novel unit, where students get to choose which novel they are reading. We read The Outsiders (required core novel), and The Giver. Nearly every student I have ever had in class has adored The Outsiders. My elementary school aged son is reading WONDER in class, which is an amazing book that every adult should read.

I hated almost every required reading book from K-college, and so did almost everyone I know. The books I was allowed to choose were always much, much better. Maybe you're just a better teacher than the ones I had. I had a professor in college who was FINALLY able to get me legitimately interested in history, and it was all due to his presentation.