Past Horrors – The Sequel .
The Ladies of The Blue Bookcase, are fine promoters of all thing Literary and every fortnight they run a Blog hop, where bloggers can get together and discuss all things of a bookish nature, posting a different question every time. The question this time is--
Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university. Why did you dislike it?
This was an easy question for me, anyone that read my last blog hop reply- “Past Life Regressions” may remember my classics reading & how it related to schooling. The Book that would fit this question has been arbitrarily chosen from several that featured in my secondary school years (11 – 16) but it’s the one that sticks most in my mind.
1984
Now this is not really a case of me hating the book (because I don’t) more a case of disliking, not liking, had displeasure with, did not agree, Bl&*$£^! well hated the teachers and their attitude to not just this book, but the very subject. To say a corpse had more passion than my English teacher, would be a gross understatement. I mean it’s very subject matter of mind control & the individual, always subordinated to the state, should have appealed, it reflected the subliminal, if not public mission statement of the establishment. Also, The Ministry of Truth, could have been my EngLit teachers name, if one deigned to have an opinion on this book (or any) that varied from the text in front of him - well to say that it was frowned upon, is a bit like saying an AK47 Assault rifle blows kisses, and as I said in my last blog hop I was not only GOBBY, but raised to question everything & express my opinion freely, with the obvious result that, the assault rifle & I were nearly married.
In 1979 Pink Floyd released an album called “The Wall” and lead single off that album was called “Another brick in the wall”
It’s chorus went “ We don’t need no education ……..” which although I now realise is not true, I remember Singing my head off to the sentiment expressed with great glee.
Ha! I love the feeling of glee there. Strangely enough, this might have been the first grown-up book I ever read--when I started reading it over the shoulder of my family's babysitter and then borrowed it from her. I was in fourth grade and found it utterly eye-opening. Although particular scenes of stuck with me, it is quite difficult to imagine how on earth I could have liked the book then.
ReplyDeleteYour post just made me laugh so hard. :) ... I remember some teachers much like your dreaded english teacher (of course who but the insanely lucky haven't). Also nice touch with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall." :)
ReplyDeleteYour English teacher sounds old school in a not cool way. Scary. 1984 is one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing your story!
ReplyDeleteI hate when a teacher ruins a piece of literature. I didn't like 1984 when I first read it, but it was mostly because it terrified me. It's a book that I think deserves another chance
ReplyDeleteI was lucky in that my high school English teachers were really very good. But I can see how a bad one could ruin a great book (which, in my opinion, 1984 is).
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think of my lit teacher who can make even the most boring works sound interesting. We discussed Beowulf (which I hate) in class, and he made me want to listen somehow.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think 1984 deserves another read. I haven't read it yet, but I loved Animal Farm. :)
Sadly, I haven't even been able to get through this one yet.
ReplyDeleteHI Lifetime Reader,The Glee was hysterically joyous & pitched in volume somewhere around the range of several boeing 747's.
ReplyDeletedragonfly419- Glad you enjoyed this, it was fun to write, with that childish hint of revenge against the teachers, who obviously have no knowledge of it.
Hi Chelle,my teacher was so old school, he'd taught Dicken's when he was a lad.
Hello Red, The books fine,nay fantastic. it never was the problem.
HI Pete, the only teacher that I admired during my schoolyears was a Mrs Steel who was my teacher when I was somewhere between 9-11 & was a passionate amatuer dramatist with a deep love of Shakespeare & helped instill my love of Lit.
Hello Darlyn. mine was the opposite, he could make any book sound like it was a guide to ironing creases in bedsheets.
Hi Adam, Shame, as it's a good book, another one of its ilk is Brave new world & its sisterbook Island.
Although I loved 1984 (I want to read it again in the original language), I never managed to get past the first few pages of Brave New World. Maybe it's time to give it another try as I'm convinced I would like it?
ReplyDeletehi Em if not Brave New World give Island a go, it's the opposite of the technocrat society, it's huxley's answer to his own book.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate on the teacher. The one that really did me in was a long term substitute that didn't even enjoy English, and made sure to spread her opinion.
ReplyDeleteI liked 1984 as I read it a few years before 1984! It was so different from what I used to read then.
ReplyDeleteSome books are so difficult to get into. And those put us off that author too, for always.
And my teacher spoiled A Passage to India for me. But I did go back and loved it!
Here is my Literary Blog Hop: Disliked Book post!
Hi Melody, maybe I'm being naive, but why teach a subject that you despise & if you have no choice wouldn't professionalism 7 pride in your work make you at least fake an interest.
ReplyDeleteHello Gautami, i like 1984, the books not at fault here, just the way it & others were presented
Well if you are being naive then I am as well. I can't help but think that it is a little selfish to not consider the lives you are affecting. Like you said, regardless of your personal feelings, put some effort into your work, make it something to be proud of. Luckily, most of my teachers did enjoy what they were teaching (or pretended to!) It does make a difference.
ReplyDeleteHow did I ever get through high school without reading that one? Don't feel too inclined to read it now either.
ReplyDeleteMelody, am in total agreement with you.
ReplyDeleteHi JoAnn, shame it's a good book, although I must admit that I do prefer Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, & better still Is Island, his own answer to a technocrat society.
My read was STONEHENGE DECODED...uggh. Did anyone else have to suffer through it?
ReplyDeleteStop by my blog if you like to see my full answer...I also have a giveaway that isn't very literary, but check it out.
http://silversolara.blogspot.com