What book were you required to read in school that you actually ending up liking?

[mark&sue]

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy and the Hobbit


Susan

 

[DisneyDotty]

The Awakening
Jane Eyre
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mrs. Dalloway
American Tragedy

many more, but it's been a while...

 

[punkin]

I liked almost everything we had to read. There are some exceptions. I hated A Seperate Peace; The Sun Also Rises and The Heart of Darkness. I reread the heart of darkness and I chaned my mind. That is some great book. I loved everything else ever assigned to me. I guess I had some great teachers.

 

[Aurora63]

I enjoyed reading Tom Sawyer...I also read a lot of Shakespeare's work, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Twelth Night, The Taming of the Shrew...loved them all.

The only two I didn't care for were Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce and Brave New World. Other than that I loved to read, still do, but never have the time.

Except for DISboard posts, of course.

 

[Aurora63]

I liked almost everything we had to read. There are some exceptions. I hated A Seperate Peace; The Sun Also Rises and The Heart of Darkness. I reread the heart of darkness and I chaned my mind. That is some great book. I loved everything else ever assigned to me. I guess I had some great teachers.

I remember Heart of Darkness! Good read, very deep though.

 

[buddy&wooz]

Huh, The Sun Also Rises is on my "liked" list. Also Rebecca and The Great Gatsby.

 

[Laura]

Huckleberry Finn
A Farewell to Arms
To Kill a Mockingbird

 

[Karibeth19]

Another vote for Pride & Prejudice. I'm an English major and we just finished this one. I LOVED it!!! So, of course, had to go buy the movie Tuesday when it came out and it wasn't half as good as the book. Oh well!

You need to read the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy by Pamela Aidan. It's the story of Pride & Prejudice as seen through Mr. Darcy's point of view and it is wonderful! The first one ends just after the ball at Netherfield, the second one is about Mr. Darcy's time in London (the "lost" time in P & P), and the third one begins with his failed proposal to Elizabeth at Rosings Park and goes to the end. The story is so much better than any other P & P "sequel" I've read since it is basically the same story, just from a different point of view.

 

[missypie]

I think I'll pick up "To Kill a Mockingbird" on my way home. I've read a lot of the books on everyone's lists.

My son is in 9th grade and has been in excellent G/T English classes. He has read a lot more cool books in school than I ever did. He had an English teacher who was just ga-ga over the Odessy...she was going on and on about it on parents' night, as if we all had read it and loved it, too. Hmmm...never read it, although DS explained it to me when we rented "O Brother Where Art Thou." I really got into Shakespeare in HS and now DS is, too.

 

[missypie]

You need to read the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy by Pamela Aidan. It's the story of Pride & Prejudice as seen through Mr. Darcy's point of view and it is wonderful! The first one ends just after the ball at Netherfield, the second one is about Mr. Darcy's time in London (the "lost" time in P & P), and the third one begins with his failed proposal to Elizabeth at Rosings Park and goes to the end. The story is so much better than any other P & P "sequel" I've read since it is basically the same story, just from a different point of view.

Ah, I don't want to READ about Mr. Darcy...I want to gaze at him (Colin Firth) in the BBC version!

 

[DisneyDotty]

You need to read the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy by Pamela Aidan. It's the story of Pride & Prejudice as seen through Mr. Darcy's point of view and it is wonderful! The first one ends just after the ball at Netherfield, the second one is about Mr. Darcy's time in London (the "lost" time in P & P), and the third one begins with his failed proposal to Elizabeth at Rosings Park and goes to the end. The story is so much better than any other P & P "sequel" I've read since it is basically the same story, just from a different point of view.

This sounds perfect! I so love this story (P & P). I'll have to look for this.

 

[DisneyDotty]

Ah, I don't want to READ about Mr. Darcy...I want to gaze at him (Colin Firth) in the BBC version!

Oooooohhhh yes! (I think we're going OT now, but can't help it.) Isn't he just divine?
I'm going to have to watch that show again RIGHT NOW.
Excuse me...

 

[mrsv98]

A Separate Peace (really loved that one)
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Midsummer Night's Dream

OTOH I despised Richard Wright and DH Lawrence

 

[Mandabella]

Many gothic novels and short stories....
I did both my HS term papers on this subject, using different books though.

Also liked:
Beloved
Othello
To Kill A Mockingbird


Can I just state (again) how much I hated Tess of the d'Ubervilles? I always found that having to write on specific themes sucked the fun out of reading for school. I've enjoyed books more since I have been out of school. It's nice to be able to read a book without having to worry if I am picking on the symbolism here and whether my opinion will agree with the teacher's ideas, etc.

 

[Cyndiu]

I absolutely loved Dante's Inferno & Animal Farm!

Those are the only two I actually took the time to read when they were assigned in High School. I got away with listening to the lectures and Cliff's Notes. (I was a lazy student.) I wish I had read some of the others though, I never find the time to read now.

 

[skuttle]

I was also an English major in college and took honors and AP english in high school. I really enjoyed 1984, almost anything by Poe and Flannery O'Conner, Dante's Divine Comedy...those are the ones that really stick out. I also LOVED (and still do) Where the Red Fern Grows. Couldn't stand Heart of Darkness!

 

[Princess Dot]

Another vote for Pride & Prejudice. I'm an English major and we just finished this one. I LOVED it!!! So, of course, had to go buy the movie Tuesday when it came out and it wasn't half as good as the book. Oh well!

Try renting the old A&E miniseries with Colin Firth. Very faithful to the book (at 6 hours long!) and an excellent show!

 

[Princess Dot]

You need to read the "Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman" trilogy by Pamela Aidan. It's the story of Pride & Prejudice as seen through Mr. Darcy's point of view and it is wonderful! The first one ends just after the ball at Netherfield, the second one is about Mr. Darcy's time in London (the "lost" time in P & P), and the third one begins with his failed proposal to Elizabeth at Rosings Park and goes to the end. The story is so much better than any other P & P "sequel" I've read since it is basically the same story, just from a different point of view.

I just finished the first book in this series and I really enjoyed it. I was thinking if skipping the second book and going right for the third book. Is the second one worth the read?

BTW, if you haven't guessed, Pride and Prejudice was the book I had to read in H.S. that I really did not enjoy at the time but is now one of my all time favorites!

In H.S. I could never understand why Elizabeth Bennett kept being called Eliza then Elizabeth and then sometimes Miss Bennett! LOL! I couldn't follow which character she was talking about!

 

[DisneyGirl421]

The Crucible, Huck Finn, Inferno, and anything Shakespeare (except Julius Ceaser).

 

[Cor44432]

The Great Gatsby

Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)