Best thing you've had to read for a class?

[Sonicron]

Michael Kohlhaas
Die Räuber
Ecotopia
Fahrenheit 451

And my personal favorite...

Brave New World

 

[Veldel]

The book called The Giver I love that book

 

[DSEZ]

romeo and juliet ive always liked the book

 

[ajb924]

Spoiler: -snip-

I liked Catcher in the Rye. And Lord of the Flies, for that matter.

-m

I just remember my class had a strange obsession with the pink rocks from Lord of the Flies. I think for some reason they thought it meant Piggy was gay...? Who knows?

Aaaanyway, I had to read "All the King's Men" by Robert Penn Warren for a course and it became one of my favorites pretty much instantly. Oh, also "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon for the same course. Both fantastic.

To the OP, i just wonder why anyone would hate Shakespeare...I forget where i heard it, but this quote is appropriate. To paraphrase: When you read Shakespeare, it is not his work that is being critiqued, but you.

It's not that I don't see how is work is good, it just doesn't intrest me. To be honest, I've only read Hamlet, Julius Ceaser, and Romeo and Juliet. But, aside from Hamlet, I hated them. The stories were bland and uninteresting, the characters were sort of boring, and the premise wasn't too great. I see how they were good works and would have been better had I seen them instead of read, I just don't care for them.
But Hamlet didn't have those problems. The story was ingulfing, the characters were alive and colorful, and the premise was amazing.

You know, i think part of the problem is that so many people now go to Shakespeare for inspiration that his ideas now seem completely played-out for anyone that saw all the new stuff first. ...That isn't to say that Shakespeare's plots or characters were new even then. Lord knows he stole the crap out of most of the popular stories told back then for ideas, but he portrayed them and characterized them so differently for his day.

I really just like his use of the language. Take all of the story out of everything and you're still left with some of the wittiest and most beautiful words you can find. That's just me, though. I 'm aware that it's no shocking claim to assert that Shakespeare is good hehe

Well, yea. The writing is witty and often funny, but without a good story it's just not my thing. So, I can really see why you would wonder why I don't care for Shakespeare. But, I just didn't like the few books I've read. I'm going to give a few of the ones people have suggested to me a chance though. Othello and The Taming of the Shrew sound interesting.

 

[lukemdizzle]

probably Grendle or of mice and men

 

[Tanto-chan]

I'd have to say mine was Macbeth and Hamlet and a short story called 'The Yellow Wallpaper' though for like third grade we got to read Harry Potter and that was kinda cool at the time.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

For me I guess it would be Hamlet, On War, The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, The History of China (Which is just a simple course survey textbook that I surprisingly liked reading.) and The Odyssey.

 

[Keivz]

Crime and Punishment.

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned thus far.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

The only books we've read so far feel so mediocre and predictable. I think the best so far was S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.

But books I did enjoy:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Around the World in 80 Days
The Time Machine
Farenheit 451

 

[CK76]

Brave New World

I hated it at the time (age 13) but as I got older I came to appreciate it on a second reading (age 19). I use to think Orwell's vision was what would come to pass, but now I see Huxley has been vindicated when I see how society is.

 

[Mr.Gompers]

Band of Brothers, The Giver wasn't bad and neither was Cyrano De Bergerac... A Land Remembered (Should be required reading for everyone in Florida) Maus 1 and 2, The Gates of Fire (More factual version of The Battle of Thermopylae). I think that's about it.

 

[blindthrall]

High School- Time Machine by HG Wells, narrowly beating The Hobbit.

College- Siddharta by Herman Hess, narrowly beating Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut.

Ones I hated- Catcher in the Rye, Great Gatsby(mainly because of the narrator), Native Son, The Cay, and The American. Pray you never have to read the last one. Faulkner and Melville are good if you can get to the decent parts.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

The only story I've ever slightly liked was the Outsiders. It was nothing great, but it sure beats everything else. The Odyssey, Lord of the Flies, and To Kill a Mockingbird were all terrible books and I really want someone to explain to me what made them so good. And don't even get me started on Romeo and Juliet.

The book called The Giver I love that book

Ok, I will admit the Giver wasn't that bad. But mostly because I liked the society that they live in and alternate reality is always interesting to me.

 

[ultrachicken]

Fahrenheit 451 and American Born Chinese, which is a comic book

Spoiler

 

[AmayaOnnaOtaku]

Welcome to the Monkey House-Kurt Vonnegut

 

[Denamic]

Hitch-hikers guide, for my English class.
Among the best book(s) I've ever read.

 

[Oriana132]

Watchman and the Dark Knight Returns - required reading for survey of sequential art. ^_^

 

[Double A]

The Hunger Games.

That was last year in 9th grade when I was in private school.

 

[Sakurazaki1023]

The Iliad and the Odyssey were really good, as was Catch 22 and The Count Of Monte Cristo.

My favorite of those would defiantly have to be Monte Cristo, probably because I have a soft spot for someone committing horribly appropriate retribution on the assholes who wronged him.