Books that do and don't suck

[Brendan Main]

I notice a lot of mentions of Orwell, Huxley, and even some Zamyatin. To those interested in dystopian lit, there's actually a rich tradition of utopian writing that engages the same ideas. I recommend Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward," if you can get your hands on a copy.

At the time, it was described as "Christian Socialism," but don't let that put you off - you can still enjoy it if you're decidedly neither. It's theological only in the sense of a humanistic moral philosophy by way of More, and its socialism has less to do with the hard-line of "The Communist Manifesto" than the gently utopic Marxism of "The German Ideology."

The book hails from that brief time in America when socialism was still a robust intellectual proposition, instead of a smear-tactic bogeyman.

To the readers of Aldous Huxley, I'd recommend his brother Julian as well, who was a father of humanism of the sort that Kurt Vonnegut espoused. His essays collected in "New Bottles for New Wine" are a fascinating look at what humanism could have become. So it goes.

I'm glad Salinger is still being read, though those of you in the States might have trouble finding "For Esme with Love and Squalor" by that name - it was published there (and here, up Narth) as "Nine Stories." The opening story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" still breaks my heart.

 

[Christemo]

doesnt suck: The Tales of Malus Darkblade by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. a warhammer-based novel. the best read(s)(its a 5 book series). ive had so far.

sucktastic: Twillight. havent read it and i already hate it.

 

[TheBurningFist]

good:last books of merlin
Bad:twilight... I got my opinion deal with it don't whine plz...

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

"Not appropriate for high schoolers." What, do they think you're still sensitive and impressionable little children? Most people at high school age aren't all that innocent anymore, whether they're moral or not. My high school made us read a few things from the "banned books" list, and I think that they were banned for pretty stupid reasons anyway. There shouldn't be any more "think of the children" thing unless you're talking about porn and graphic murder.

Good books: Animal Farm, The Giver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Catcher in the Rye (which was pretty much banned because they thought the protagonist wasn't a good role model and it had the F word in it, which he was crossing out so in-universe kids wouldn't have to see it.)

 

[wizzerd229]

LOTR

 

[matrix3509]

I actually asked my teacher if we could read Mein Kampf during my senior year. She got pissed at me.

Later I (slowly) explained to her that it would have served as a pretty good history lesson by showing what Hitler intended to do even before he rose to power, and that it all could have been avoided if people actually had read it.

She never got back to me...

What I discovered: teaching history is a no-no in English Class.

 

[Artemis923]

If you enjoy fantasy of any kind, GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire is a must read.

Michael McCormick's Elric books are also a good read, along with RA Salvatore's Drizzt novels.

Lovecraft is also a must read.

Books that suck include...idk. I hate romance books of any kind.

 

[bungcork]

I d suggest anything by Henry Miller

 

[Jedamethis]

Curse my adolescence, I read that as 'Boobs that do and don't suck'

I struggle to find a better mark of appreciation for awesome posts like this other than good old faithful and completely accurate in this case 'LOL XD'

Thank you very much, I'm here all night *bows*

 

[ioxles]

It's feels good to know that there are a lot of people out there who read so much, I live in a kind of insular society who's best effort at reading is deciphering the pictograms that come printed on "fun" toilet rolls.

It's depressing.

btw - I was referring to the film (sorry if I wasn't clear) I haven't seen the stage production of it.

 

[Sick boy]

we do Animal farm in year 9 at our school and it fits perfectly fine, it most certainly can be read at high school level. As for 1984, I haven't read it but I heard that you could read it in late high school years.

 

[literallyanythingelse]

In English Lit I'm reading poetry anthologies by Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy and they suck maaaajor donkey balls

But in English Language I'm reading Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs by various female authors and if you can get over the PURE FEMINISM then it's actually a pretty good read.

Also, I read 1984 and Animal Farm for recreational purposes and they were boring as fuck. Still way better than Larkin and Duffy though

Fucking Carol Anne Duffy. And Simon Armitage. Jesus Christ.

 

[Mikaze]

At the top of the suck pile where it shall remain for the rest of eternity and then some: Emma by Jane Austen. Hailed by critics for its 'accurate presentation of regency period life'. Basically what they're saying is that nothing fucking happens...ever.

On the good pile: My assigned text for year 12 (which I start in 10 days) is Romulus, My Father by Raimond Gaita, which is, according to my friend that's already read it, extremely good.

What I discovered: teaching [del]history[/del] is a no-no in English Class.

Thought I'd fix that for you.

 

[iJosh]

Good - Plato and the platypus walked into a bar :: Understanding philosophy through jokes
Bad - Fahrenheit 451 ? If that's what it was.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Those cunts in my English are making me read Artemis Foul. God how I want that kid to die horribly.

 

[Repulsionary]

The Scarlet Letter isn't really that bad. Then again, my English teacher was also the Drama teacher, and we "acted out" the scenes, but hey. The Crucible isn't that bad, either. And your English teacher needs to be slapped with a week-dead fish for saying that Animal Farm isn't appropriate High School-level material.

Another one that I read in high school and liked was Lord of the Flies. Then again, my 10th grade English teacher LOOOOOVED that book, and we spent an entire semester on it, going over how EVERYTHING in the book was a symbol of some sort, how that one kid who liked the flowers was a Jesus figure, how the conch represented order, how the fire was either comforting or destructive, how the forest was either friendly or hostile, how the...etc.

To Kill a Mockingbird was pretty good. Then again, it depends entirely on your tastes. Most of the girls in the class loved To Kill a Mockingbird, while most of the guys complained it was boring. Same with Of Mice and Men.

The Great Gatsby bored me to tears. A Streetcar Named Desire to a lesser extent. Not even the implied rape could get me interested.

That's about all I can remember for the readings I had to do in high school. Outside of the required Romeo & Juliet, which I did twice. Three times, if I count middle school.
Edit:

Those cunts in my English are making me read Artemis Foul. God how I want that kid to die horribly.

WAT. That's like reading Twilight for a college-level English literature class.

 

[Sven und EIN HUND]

Surprisingly good despite the ending being ruined by one of the sluts in my English class: Noughts and Crosses

That which I hate, and will never not hate: Fighting Ruben Wolfe

 

[SpAc3man]

I suggested 1984,Animal Farm, We, and a few other books, but the teachers and administration said the books were not appropriate for high schoolers.

1984 and Animal Farm are books that teachers at my school sometimes use in class. Teachers pick an extended text to study sometime during the year and we write an essay on it for part of our exam. About half my friends did Animal Farm last year. I recommend you tell your teachers they are compromising your education by being over pc.

Several of my English lessons have been spent discussing, as a class, the possible homosexual jealousy motive of the character Iago from Shakespeare's play: Othello
Now thats what I call studying a text. Suggest this to your teacher.


EDIT: Oh yea.. books um Im quite liking Stories We could Tell by Tony Parsons right now

 

[Mana Fiend]

Back at A-Level (16-18 for those not familiar with it), we had to read: Wise Children, Hamlet and poetry by Percy Shelley. All of them were dull except for Hamlet, though it's my least favourite of the Shakespeare plays (Othello for the win!) and I disagree that Shakespeare should be taught in English classes.

For our final module (we had four in total), we had to compare two books. I chose 1984 and Northern Lights, both of which I would highly recommend, on the subject of how power is abused.

Other books on my recommendation list:
- American Gods.
- Anything by Terry Pratchett.
- To Kill a Mockingbird.
- The Hobbit.
- About a Boy (as well as most things by Nick Hornby).