Books you HAD to read at school

[spikeyhead]

I remember Macbeth, and Pride and Prejudice, and the spiteful bully who taught us Eng Lit.

I read now in spite of her, not because of her.

[aspender]

Most memorably for GCSE:

Equus - including watching the Sidney Lumet film adaptation of the play with attendant graphic male nudity. Interesting at an all boys school

Also Wuthering Heights which I got an A on mainly due to copious amounts of plagiarism from the Letts study guide.

[Derek Smith]

Ryyy said:

Of mice and men for gcse... about 10 years ago. Was a good book tbf but would rather watch the film again than read the book. Mrs ryyy loves reading but its not for me.

Good film, I agree.

I read Grapes of Wrath. I then saw the film and it was ruined for me by Ma. I'm not being fattist here, but she was obese despite the whole family having starved through the years of the dust bowl. She either must have been gigantic at the start or she was hoarding food, nicking from the rest of the family. I couldn't settle to the film, despite it being, reputedly, one of the all-time greats. I tried watching it a second time, but Ma just got in the way again.

[Yertis]

seyre1972 said:

Yertis said:

smmking1 said:

My journey began with the works of Mark Twain. He is just a brilliant writer of his time, if you ask me. I envy those who are not yet familiar with his work. I wish I could erase my memory and read it all over again.

Huck Finn was an Eng Lit O-Level book, so another Mark Twain fan here. I think I've read nearly all his stuff subsequently, the books anyway. Not a fan of Tom Sawyer though.

The only other book I loved from the school reading list was The Wind in the Willows, which is still my go-to book when I'm in the doldrums.

I only read this when I was about 25 years old - loved it and became one of my favourite books (up there with Danny Champion of the World) Read quite a few of the later books/stories - and read Willows in Winter - which touchingly deals with the death of several of the characters - highly recommended.

I couldn't deal with that

[RC1807]

I was the last year for O levels in 1986 .... we had
Lord of the Flies
Oliver Twist
Romeo & Juliet
I'm sure there were others, but those I remember - it's a looooong time ago!

[Silverage]

O level English lit, early 80s here.

Romeo and Juliet - hard work

A Christmas Carol - so so

Great Expectations - enjoyed it so much I read ahead of the rate we were going through it in class. Still a favourite.

[onomatopoeia]

'O' level texts were:
Novel - "A man for all seasons" (actually a play)
Shakespeare - Julius Caesar
Poetry - Prologue to the Canterbury tales. Written in Old and completely impenetrable.

Completely uninterested in any of them and failed my O level (passed the other 10). Being compelled to read fiction for study killed my interest in reading for pleasure and I didn't start again until I was in the sixth form.

An incomplete list of others we had to read - The machine gunners (this was a rare one that was good), Great Expectations (didn't enjoy at the time but came back to 20 years later and loved), The merchant of Venice (boring as), To kill a mockingbird (see Great Expectations), I am the cheese by Robert Cromier which I dimly remember and keep thinking I'd like to read again. Cider with Rosie (zzzzz).

I remain forever grateful that we weren't made to ready any Hardy or Austen at school, else I'd never have picked them up as an adult. To this day almost 40 years on I cannot contemplate trying to read Shakespeare or Chaucer, as a result of English Literature at school.

[abzmike]

In late 70s Scotland it was O grades and Highers, similar selections to the above. I didn’t really enjoy books much, but I recall these:

Merchant of Venice
Julius Caesar
Macbeth
- actually quite enjoyed them, in class we would all read a part
Brave New World - Great
Huckleberry Finn - Boring
Sons and Lovers - Turgid and so long
Lord of the Flies - not a great fan

[Kes Arevo]

From what I remember...

Death and the King's Horseman - Woke Soyinka (enjoyed this quite a lot)

MacBeth - That bloke (By far the best Shakespeare play for a teenage lad. We also watched the Polanski film in class, which cinched the deal)

Mansfield Park - Jane Austen (oh my fking god, when does it end?)

Watchers - Dean R. Koontz (granted, this was a summer holiday 'read and report' assignment. Everyone picked classics but I couldn't be arsed. Turns out the teacher, a superb fellow, Mr Lally, had also read it, and enjoyed it as much as I did!)

Measure for Measure - That bloke (dull as dishwater to read, but quite good performed. Saw it in Chester)

A Maya Angelou thing, can't remember. Full as dishwater.

Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Excellent book. Proper classic)

Anthony and Cleopatra - That Bloke (Ok. There should be a directors cut with all the battles)

Phillip Larkin, Wilfred Owen, and That Bloke's sonnets. Phil and Will get my vote.

[Silverage]

Early 80s GCE Eng Lit, we had Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol and Romeo and Juliet.

I'm still a fan of Great Expectations to this day.

[tribalsurfer]

There were probably more but of the ones I remember ......

Twelfth Night - Bill Shakespeare
Catcher in the Rye - J D Salinger
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I've not read any of them again with the exception of One dayin the life of Ivan Denisovich, which is my favourite book and I try to read at least once a year.

[vindaloo79]

Brooksay said:

One book my English teacher 'suggested' we read was 'The Machine Gunners' by Robert Westall..outstanding stuff.

I’ve just spotted this thread, and it’s coincidental I just purchased this for my soon to be 8 year old. This was one of my most memorable books from childhood. Not sure if he’s old enough yet, I’ll prob read myself first.

Z for Zachariah was one from GCSE English that I enjoyed. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-Zachariah-Robert-C-OBri...

That is next on his list when he matures enough.

[Skyedriver]

Eeeh there's some horror reminders here.

Macbeth - we went to Billingham Forum to watch the play, only bit I remember was one of the characters bounced the point of his sword on the stage and it bent like a banana - we all laughed

Tarka the Otter - nowt like Ring of Bright Water
Lord of the Flies - we were all taken to the pictures to watch the film. It was on with Brando in The Wild One - far better pic.

I managed to fail O level English Lit twice.

[Milkyway]

Janet & John...

Shardik... Richard Adams
Never really got into this book & somehow I always thought that Shardik was a giant otter or beaver.
( Not a patch on the Plague Dogs).

NB: Merchant of Venice & Twelfth Night were the obligatory books to study.

Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 18th October 21:22

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Turn of the Screw by Henry James, absolute crap.

30 years later my eldest lad had to read it for GCSE, so I re read it, thinking as I was now 45 and not 15, I'd appreciate it more. Nope, I was right the first time, complete tripe.

[Mercdriver]

Clive of India, needed a dictionary for every second word, very boring.

Got hauled out and ridiculed by literature teacher for reading James Bond, much better reading for a fifteen year old!

[fttm]

Macbeth Jane Eyre Canterbury Tales , riveting stuff for a car/bike/ sports mad 15 boy .

[itcaptainslow]

I had a pretty cool English Literature teacher (such a thing does indeed exist!) so we got Interview with the Vampire and, unbelievably, Christine, as well as the usual suspects.

Predictably, I dissected Christine rather well, being as I identified totally with the car possessed protagonist.

[Terminator X]

Lord of the flies. Must read it again as it sailed over my head at school.

TX.

[Randy Winkman]

Silverage said:

Early 80s GCE Eng Lit, we had Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol and Romeo and Juliet.

I'm still a fan of Great Expectations to this day.

See my "What are you reading?" thread post from yesterday.

At school I tried to read A Tale of Two Cities but didn't actually finish it. That meant I had to fake in front of the class that I had done when asked questions about it by the teacher. That's one of my "best" school memories and I had wonder now what Mr Wynn actually thought about the rubbish I came out with. I read Macbeth and liked it and also remember reading Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals which was quite fun. Also John Betjeman poetry for O-Level which was a fairly easy read.

The best memory I have of reading a book at school was The Little Grey Men by Denys Watkins Pitchford which I picked myself from the school library. I read it again recently 45 years later and enjoyed it just as much.