Classic Novels

[arkiewriter]

I'm working on some new classics for the boys to read, as they've plowed through the basic list for middle schoolers I had.  Anyone want to give me input on the "To Read" section of whether or not I'd be torturing the poor munchkins or if a book was just one of your youthful favorites?   (I have Jane Austen on there, but considering the boys hated

Comments

[kay_brooke]

Wow, bringing back memories of school. :)

Books I enjoyed when I read them:
Pride and Prejudice
Don Quixote
My Antonia
Lord of the Flies!!!! <--highly recommend this one
Brave New World
To Kill a Mockingbird
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (and it has a couple sequels as well whose titles I can't remember)
Tolkien
The Once and Future King

Anything by Thomas Conrad is dull, dull, dull. I don't care how profound anyone says he is.

I'm not a fan of Hemingway, but The Old Man and the Sea is a good one.

Ethan Frome is quite depressing and I personally didn't like it.

Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most overrated play ever, but I suppose it's one of those things everyone should read, and it is a fairly friendly introduction to the language of Shakespeare. Maybe start with that one and move on to his later works. I like the other ones on the list. Twelfth Night is my personal favorite play, although I don't know how appropriate it would be - we read it in both the Shakespeare classes I took, though. We also read Julius Caesar, which is a decent one as well.

I know I've read Around the World in 80 Days, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about it, which I guess shows how much of an impression it made on me.

[arkiewriter]

I actually own a copy of Pride and Prejudice, so I guess I need to break down and reread it to assess for the boys. Unfortunately, I am a fan of both Bronte sisters and was rather surprised to find the boys found the books sluggish and non-entertaining. Sheesh - they devoured Moby Dick of all things... after that, the rest are easy reading. ;-)

The boys like Verne, which is how we added 80 days (they helped with the list initially).

Not sure how much Shakespeare I'm going to heft at them, but if nothing else, this list will last me a few years! In high school, we had a Shakespeare play a year, so I got to cover Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, Hamlet, and MacBeth. (I've read many of the others independently.)

Thanks!