Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Book Books I was Forced to Read.
The Positives!
1. Jane Eyre — And I’m so glad I read this! Freshman year of high school in my Honors English class, we were covering nineteenth-century literature (I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back it’s very obvious what the theme was). I was new to the school and felt a bit like an outcast, similar to Jane. Soon enough I was participating in discussions and acing the quizzes, and went far beyond our report project requirements. I re-read the book every winter, and it’s a dear favorite of mine. Thank you, Ms Clark, for inspiring me and guiding me towards my favorite genre.
2. Great Expectations — Again, this was in my Honors English class freshman year. I was curious as to why everyone — adults, students, pets — complained about reading Dickens. “He’s wordy, he has too many characters, the settings are dark.” One complaint after another, and I just plain didn’t understand why. His descriptions are marvelous, his characters are…caricatures, and the settings are reflective of the time! I loved it.
3. Dante’s Inferno — The AP Language and Composition project required that we create 15-minute video of the circles of hell. My group read Inferno deeply and literally, and placed Harry Potter characters in the levels. It was fascinating, entertaining, and what’s more: my teacher pointed out all the fart jokes. He made epic poetry fun.
4. The Awakening — My AP Literature and Composition class theme focused on transcendentalism. You know, Walden and the like. I was bored to tears and worried that maybe literature wasn’t my forte when we began reading Kate Chopin’s book. And then everything changed back again. I love it. I haven’t re-read it recently, though I should.
5. Brave New World — Soma holidays? Commentary on the nature of technology and genetic enhancement? Not my cup of tea…till my Honors English teacher my sophomore year created a fantastic unit that mirrored the book. For a week we were divided into the different castes, assigned different tasks, and somehow, someway, we ended up experiencing the book in real life. It was a wonderful week (even though I was Epsilon), and I’ve never understood a book or genre so fully till this.
The Negatives!
6. Grapes of Wrath — Honestly, the turtle chapters were my favorite. And even then I hardly skimmed.
7. Oroonoko — Or any 18th-century British literature. Shoot me now.
8. Ethan Frome — This unit in freshman Honors English was torturous. Edith Wharton and I are not friends.
Surprisingly Never Read for My Education!
I’m tossing this in here because most students are forced to read these books, but I never had to.
9. Frankenstein — I’ve only just recently read it for my graduate thesis. I wanted to see how long I could go in my education before I read the book, because somehow I missed it throughout high school and in all of my British literature / Victorian literature / Gothic literature classes. The professors always said, “I know you’ve read this book so I didn’t add it to the syllabus.” Little did they know…
10. Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird — Never read them. Don’t even have a desire to read them.
Which books were you forced to read by teachers, friends, or family members?
Scribbles & Wanderlust 
18 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Books I was Forced to Read”
kelley
you’ve read some tough ones. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
Laura
I looked at your list — the only one I’ve read (but wasn’t forced to) was The Help! You’ve read some tough ones too!
Becky
Ha! I have a ton of never had to reads – some of them I’m really glad never appeared on my school reading lists! I never had to read CATCHER IN THE RYE either. Almost did voluntarily but I never finished it.
Laura
Haha which books can you think of off the top of your head have you never read? There’s a lot for me, too, but the three I posted are the ones that always come to me.
megan
Oh joy! I am not alone in never having to read Catcher in the Rye! People look at me like I am crazy when I say that I have never read it and probably never will! I am jealous of your Brave New World lesson…sounds fabulous.
Laura
It really was a fun unit. We dressed up in our caste’s colors, Soma was in the form of Skittles, if we did something wrong we were punished with a small squirt gun. My assignment was to always get up to open and close the door for people, and to hand tissues to everyone.
Hurray for not being alone!
Amy M.
I actually haven’t read many of the books on your list. The one book I did read was The Awakening, also for an AP course. Personally I didn’t like it. It’s possible I’d have more of an appreciation for it now, but back in high school it was totally not my thing. Then again, most of the books I read for that AP course I didn’t really connect with.
Laura
What other books did you read for that AP course? We might have had a similar unit.
ChrissiReads
I really love Great Expectations. It’s definitely one of my favourite Dickens novels. I’ve read it several times since school. I really enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird. I read that book once I’d left school.
Laura
I want to re-read Great Expectations soon. See if there’s a new perspective I can gleam from it.
caitlinstern
I’ve read most of these books, some in school, some out of it. I’d say my biggest challenge was not on this list. It was Moby Dick–not that I don’t like the book, because I do, minus the anatomy of the whale chapters–but because I read it a total of three times for high school and college.
Three times…
Laura
I’ve never read it, but I’ve been told it has everything I would love in a novel. Three times, though? I can’t even begin to IMAGINE having to read that three times — required! Did the teachers/professors introduce new topics/themes/ideas, at least?
caitlinstern
Yes, I think so, though I’ve mostly blocked it out. 🙂
If you do read it, you might skim/skip the chapters with titles like The Sperm Whale’s Head–those are just Melville showing off his whaling expertise.
Laura
Hahaha great, thanks for the pointer!
comehometobooks
I despised CATCHER IN THE RYE when I had to read it for college, but loved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. I also adore JANE EYRE, which I only read recently. I WISH someone had pushed it on me sooner!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Laura
You get something out of Jane Eyre at different ages. What I remember at 14 is different from how I felt at 20 reading it.
Books, Tea & Me
Ugh, I hated Grapes of Wrath too — actually, I never finished it! Haha. And Brave New World is great!
As for Jane Eyre, I love that book, but I was never told to read it.
Laura
How did you stumble across Jane Eyre, since you weren’t forced?