Classics Without All the Class discussion

For me there was one book which, when I was just starting to read, set my imagination on fire. It was Kipling's 'Jungle Book'. I'd like to ask, what is the book that you've always remembered? The one you dreamed about more than any other, maybe even tried to model your life on? There must be some interesting answers out there....

Les enfants du capitaine Grant from Jules Verne

Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis. I read it early in high school, and it definitely influenced my decision to study medicine.

The Hobbit, which I first read at age 8.

Comme Les Six Doigts De La Main by André Melançon. I started reading in French. In English, Charlotte's Web.

Tessara wrote: "The Hobbit, which I first read at age 8." That's some achievement! I was only just starting on the classics then,as I recall. I don't think I would have taken on Tolkien.

The only book I've ever read that made me cry hard is Where the Red Fern Grows. And I'm not even an animal person! And I read it to each of my sons, and bawled like a baby with each reading.

Adam wrote: "The Cat in the Hat was my favourite childhood book. I wonder how that has influenced the person I grew up to be." Hmmm. I wonder? A very competent role model!

That would be Black Beauty. I cried so much at how cruel humans can be.

Michelle wrote: "The only book I've ever read that made me cry hard is Where the Red Fern Grows. And I'm not even an animal person! And I read it to each of my sons, and bawled like a baby with each reading."


I will never forget this book. I read it when I was in fifth grade and remember it moved me to tears. I cried as I finished the end and cried for a good deal after I finished it. Old Yeller is another one I read as a kid that I'll always remember and it had a similar effect.

Moby Dick was my life changing book. I read it when I was 11 and after that I knew teaching literature was going to be my path because it was so fabulous that I needed to share it.

Eesh. I still haven't got to the end of Moby Dick -- it is quite daunting.

One of the most impactful books for me was The Pianist. I remember being so moved not only by Wladyslaw Szpilman's story but his passion/love/emotional connection to Chopin's music. There is a scene at the end...everytime I read it I feel like saying, "Yes, that is exactly how I feel about music too."

His story is something I recommend reading to anyone. He was afraid for his life, but his biggest fear was the fact that, for so long, he lost his best friend (the piano). I find that beautiful, to love music that much.

Jessica wrote: "One of the most impactful books for me was The Pianist. I remember being so moved not only by Wladyslaw Szpilman's story but his passion/love/emotional connection to Chopin's music. There is a scen..." I just looked him up - what a story! Now I really have to buy the book.

I'm sure I've had many formative books in my life but the one that really stands out is Emile Zola's Germinal. I read it as a freshman in college and it just blew my mind open. It is not a happy book but it is so well-written and gripping that I had to love it. It may have been a combination of the book and the program I was in, but I've never forgotten how that book made me feel.

I also love Zola. His writing has such depth and feel that even in translation it reads perfectly

The Book of Virtues It taught me the power of a story.

Of Human Bondage ...S Maugham. I think it was 8th grade. I don't remember what so impressed me ...but it stays with me as the first "memorable" book. He's a favorite author to tbis day. I did reread it years later but the first reading couldn't be topped. An awakening to good writng.

The one book I remember reading over and over as a child was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I still want a walled-in garden. I also became interested in the culture and people of India because of The Secret Garden.

I can't really say that the book has had some kind of influence on my personality, but it has had quite a bit of influence on my interests as an adult.

'Of Human Bondage' is one of the few Somerset Maugham's I haven't read. I must get into it!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. I think Nancy's adventures really piqued my interest for mystery and suspense.

The book I read over and over as a young person was _A Wrinkle in Time_by Madeleine L'Engle. I wish I'd had more guidance as a young person to read the great classics. We mostly got twaddle published by scholastic in our school.

School can either nurture a love of literature or inspire one to hate it. It took me five years to return to Shakespeare after 'taking it for GCE'. Dickens, on the other hand, because I'd begun reading him before I went to school, remained a constant thread, even though they foisted 'Hard Times' on me for exam preparation. Those who compile the reading lists for schools and exam boards are not, cannot be, lovers of literature. Their souls are utterly devoid of poetry.

Rose wrote: "Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. I think Nancy's adventures really piqued my interest for mystery and suspense."

I LOVED Nancy Drew when I was a girl. I would check out loads of these books from the library, and would hardly sleep or eat, just spend all my time reading them.
I also loved the Little House series. These stories are so wonderful, reminiscent of a time when things were so much simpler.

Frederick wrote: "School can either nurture a love of literature or inspire one to hate it. It took me five years to return to Shakespeare after 'taking it for GCE'. Dickens, on the other hand, because I'd begun ..."

I have been thinking about how school does make a student sometimes not like classics. However, what books should teachers recommend students read, if not the books of all time? This is not a rhetorical question, as I really wonder the answer to this question.

LaLaLa Laura wrote: "Frederick wrote: "School can either nurture a love of literature or inspire one to hate it. It took me five years to return to Shakespeare after 'taking it for GCE'. Dickens, on the other hand, ..."

I've often pondered this. The conclusion I think I have come to is that books are simply not suitable as an academic exercise. As art, they are as susceptible to taste as, say, a Picasso or a Rodin and need an equivalent approach. No-one, surely, would dream of offering a critique of 'Guernica' without first learning a little about Basque resistance in the Spanish Civil War. So it must be that 'Hard Times' is viewed very much as the outcome of a history lesson, or series of lessons focusing on social conditions in the England of the Industrial revolution. So few schools co-ordinate in that way, and very little social history is taught for that period; yet most 'classical' literature revolves around it, from 'Vanity Fair' to 'The Mill on the Floss'. How much background is needed to arouse interest in 'Julius Caesar'? Not only something of our balding little general's exploits, but also a savor of Shakespeare's London at the time the play was written.

I know good teaching can remedy much of this, but the choice of works will often militate against anything that can be done in class. Personally, I believe the safest course is to discard any title over fifty years old. We have enough richness in our modern literature: classics should be left until at least University level, when the reader can approach them on a more informed basis.

When I was in high school we were the first class in an experimental advanced class that blended history with literature so we would be learning about a particular historical era and reading a major piece of literature going along with it. I really enjoyed that and thought it was a good way to teach not only the classics but the history that inspired them.

When I was in high school we were the first class in an experimental advanced class that blended history with literature so we would be learning about a particular historical era and reading a major piece of literature going along with it. I really enjoyed that and thought it was a good way to teach not only the classics but the history that inspired them.

The Name of the Rose. I read this book almost twenty years ago and I lked the medieval setting and the large amount of details.

Alana wrote: "When I was in high school we were the first class in an experimental advanced class that blended history with literature so we would be learning about a particular historical era and reading a majo..."
Very interesting, and gratifying to know that someone out there is prepared to experiment with things that might otherwise be thought 'set in stone'. I believe, in English schools anyway, that history tends to be trivialized and limited to political considerations in the face of the ever-increasing demands of curriculum. A shame.

Andrew wrote: "The Name of the Rose. I read this book almost twenty years ago and I lked the medieval setting and the large amount of details." A lovely book - you can almost feel the cols seeping through the stones!