Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
I already did this topic last July during the Freebie post that week that asked us to pick an old topic from the Top Ten Tuesday archives. Had I known it would be repeated so soon, I would have picked a different option from that list!
Therefore, I’m going to be making a list of books I was not assigned to read in school but wish had been on the syllabus. I ended up borrowing some of them from the library and reading them on weekends on over the summer. It would have been helpful to have a teacher around to explain certain cultural norms that have since changed or references to other works I didn’t quite get, for example.
1. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
2. The Iliad by Homer
3. Native Son by Richard Wright
4. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
5. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
6. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
7. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
9. Beloved by Toni Morrison
10. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Which classics – modern or otherwise – do you wish had been taught in school?
Kindred is on my list of books I want to read before I die.
This is an excellent list, I think.
Thank you. Kindred was such a great read.
This was a fun take on the topic! A great list for students 🙂 I had The Odyssey and not the Iliad in college and I did really enjoy it – I think some Homer would be great for required reading. Dorian Grey is another one I wish I had in school. Generally a bit more Oscar Wilde would be nice – I had The Last Leaf which was nice as well!
Thank you. Yes, more Oscar Wilde would be fantastic.
Beloved is such a fantastic book.
Yes!
I love your take on this topic! I was never assigned The Catcher in the Rye in school, and I feel like everyone else has read it. As I Lay Dying has been on my TBR for quite some time; I’ve read other works by Faulkner, but not that one.
Thank you, Karis. 🙂 The Catcher in the Rye was an interesting read.
Faulkner? You’d punish high school students with Faulkner?! XD As a southerner I should love his work, but I’ve only managed one of his shorter pieces (The Unvanquished) and never tried his huge ones.
I’ve heard he’s a good writer. 😄
Hmm… I feel like we did read The Iliad (or at least parts of it) in school but I can’t remember that well. I have Beloved and Kindred on my TBR but I think those would’ve been great and really interesting books to read in school. Great take on the topic today!
Thank you, Dini. I hope you love Beloved and Kindred.
I’d have loved to read some of these in school. Also, I hate that I didn’t discover James Baldwin until I was an adult.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Thanks, Cholla.
Totally forgot about reading William Faulkner. This is a great list! I hope you’re having a good Tuesday, Lydia!
Thank you. You, too Stephanie!
Very good list–important books, too. I went to school in the late 60s/70s. I don’t recall any Black or African American authors except for Lorraine Hansberry’s play, Raisin in the Son. I was happy that my kids read a much wider range of books in school than I was given.
Thank you, Lisa. Glad to hear things have changed so much.
Wish I had thought of the books I “hadn’t” been assigned during school. Really creative! The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Illiad are books I definitely want to read one day. Great list :))
Feel free to use this idea for a future freebie post if you wish. 🙂
Love your take on the topic! I can’t remember for sure whether or not we read The Iliad in school, but in any case we definitely should have.
Thank you!
This is a great tweak to today’s topic!
Thanks!
I agree with you on Kindred and Twelve Years a Slave. Reading lists for schools are often not updated frequently enough and kids lose interest FAST having to read books written centuries ago. Sigh.
My TTT: Books I Should Have read in School
That is so very true.
I’ve read KINDRED, but that’s all from this list. I took a great African American Lit class in college and I wish KINDRED had been part of it. Maybe I would have understood the book better if it had been discussed in a class instead of just me reading it on my own.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
That class sounds so cool!
I remember reading The Odyssey in 6th grade because it was on my bookshelf, and I wanted to read something. I took it to school one day because I didn’t understand something and asked my teacher. Instead of answering my question, she told me I should read something more age-appropriate. And refused to answer my question.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/books-i-think-they-should-discuss-in-school/
Oh, I’m so sorry that happened to you. How unkind.
I remember watching the Troy movie at school, but I don’t remember if I read the Iliad on my own or if it was the school. I think on my own, but at school they first gave us fragments
That’s cool. 🙂
The Iliad was on my reading list for college, but I didn’t add any of my college reads. I wish Call of the Wild had been taught in school, maybe Dracula. Although I’m not sure I would have enjoyed Dracula as much if it was in a classroom. CotW I can enjoy anywhere.
I liked Dracula and Call of the Wild! Good picks.
I definitely could have used a teacher to help me understand The Picture of Dorian Gray as a kid
🙂
“Cat’s Eye” did not exist when I was in school, but it might have helped us skip a few years in therapy later. I didn’t have emotional problems caused by a dysfunctional family; I learned “social skills” from premature socialization, as so many of us did, that were counterproductive and had to be unlearned later. We could do with more attention to the way in which premature socialization, a.k.a. bullying and being bullied, teaches us BAD social skills.
Oh, Priscilla. I’m sorry that happened to you. I was bullied, too, and it absolutely is terrible for a child’s development.
I love the Iliad! I had to read it in college and was so happy. haha. I have Kindred on my list as a need to read! Great list
Thank you, Leslie. I do keep trying to leave comments on your posts but can’t get through.
This is an interesting list for sure. I haven’t read any of them but hope to try a couple of them at some point – including 12 Years A Slave and Beloved
Thank you. Hope you like those two.
I like your twist on the topic. It’s interesting seeing everyone’s books they were assigned, but I also feel like school reading lists should be updated (and probably should have been updated when I was in school). I hope you have a great weekend.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-to.html
Thank you. And totally agreed there.
I like this approach!
I read Twelve Years a Slave in college for my minor about the English speaking world. We were assigned a film but I asked for a book instead because of my visual impairment. I read this one for the American part and Monica Ali’s Brick Lane for the British part of the minor. Where we had to read a book LOL. I started White Teeth by Zadie Smith but that didn’t suit me.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/10/15/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-fall-vibes/
I hope you liked Twelve Years a Slave.
I didn’t read The Picture of Dorian Gray, but wish we had. I am quite fond of this work and also The Importance of Being Earnest.
Cool. 🙂
Great list. I didn’t have a whole load of assigned reading but I certainly would have loved anything else than what we got haha.
Heh, I hear you there.