Friday, October 22, 2010

Friday Wish-List: Required Reading

Fahrenheit 451I have this friend who adamantly assures me that I fell through the cracks of the public school system and the reality is that she's probably right.

I never took Geometry or Government or Economics and I only took a year of Physical Education.

However, in her opinion, none of those things remotely compares to the grievous sin the schools committed in allowing me to not read some of the greatest literature of all time.

You see while everyone else in the United States was required to read Fahrenheit 451 or To Kill a Mockingbird. I was reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Birds and The Pearl (::gag:: I hated that book).

So today for my Friday Wish-List I'd like to shamefully add a few of the fundamentals to my must-reads.


Sometimes people tell me that I'm 'well read,' and I've never argued, but inside I cringe and think of all the great books I haven't assimilated into my synapses.

So tell me... which ones are worth it and which ones should I just skip over?


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Friday Wish-List is going meme. Next week we'll be adding a link up (and grab-box) so you can participate. So find your list and start typing making sure you link back to us (next Friday) so we can all find some new stuff to enjoy!


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Books:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Pearl by John Steinbeck

5 comments:

Sarah said...

This is funny. When I was getting my Masters (in literature) a bunch of us had a confession night when we all admitted to what we hadn't read. I realized that no one has read everything :P And anyone who tries to convince you that you're lacking because you haven't read some book is just being a snob.

TisforTonya said...

HA! totally laughing because I have much the same problem - ManOfTheHouse about DIED laughing when I admitted that I'd never read "To Kill A Mockingbird" (I was too busy with my Shakespeare class that year) and hadn't even read The Great Brain books in elementary (that's when they made me read The Pearl... which I also hated... but not as much as I hated The Red Pony)

Cannwin said...

:) I'm still trying to figure out why 'The Pearl' is required reading. Isn't it horrid?

Wendi said...

I love "The Great Gatsby," but not so much "The Pearl."

I've tried to get through "The Sound & the Fury" about 10 times and just can't do it.

Teacher/Learner said...

Totally agree! I felt illiterate for getting an English degree & not having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, only 3 from your list...yeah, let's stop there before I really embarrass myself :D

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