Let us now read about depressed white males with no lives!

[rj_anderson]

Shannon Hale has just written the most insightful and accurate description of what high school and college reading lists do to many passionate young readers that I've ever read. Her experience mirrors my own in many ways, on the high school side at least:

How Reader Girl Got Her Groove Back

But how about you lot on my f-list? Do you find that the books you were made to read in high school and the way your teachers approached them whetted your appetite for reading and literature, or stifled it?

ETA: As is her gift, sartorias has linked to the same essay with much more thoughtful comments and a more interesting topic of discussion. I'll just send you over there, shall I?

Comments

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

What who knows what you might have appreciated? You only know what you did. No, I didn't care for The Mayor of Casterbridge in 11th grade, but I remember lapping up Julius Caesar like it was made of custard. Some others here have said they wouldn't have liked Austen in high school; I loved it. Maybe there are kids who adored The Mayor of Casterbridge. Like you say -- balance is all. We have to understand that reading is fun, but we also have to learn that reading can be challenging, and that the challenge can be rewarding.

While I agree that a snobbish mindset does nobody any good, I felt like there was way too much backlash against "literature" voiced in the article. Probably it's a matter of emphasis/inference more than anything else.