Prompt 25: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't

[Guylian]

Kurt Tucholsky "Schloss Gripsholm"

[Krista]

The only book that I was assigned and didn't read (Otherwise, i always read what i was assigned) was The Great Gatsby.

[Sadia]

I read every book I was supposed to read in school. Maybe I'll read a book that was assigned to another class

[Malgorzata]

This is going to be difficult. I read most of my assigned books, and I still don't feel like reading any of the ones I hadn't read back then. The books assigned in Polish schools are mostly incredibly boring, with a lot of patriotic pathos thrown in for good measure. There is one that I'm thinking of reading, but I'm not overly keen, so I just keep putting it off...

[Kerryann]

I've just finished The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

[Lauri]

Amy wrote: "Just finished The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald"

I hated the The Great Gatsby when I had to read it in High School, but I loved it as an adult. It is now one of my favorite books. Did you enjoy it, Amy?

[SANDRA P]

My book is Black like me, we had swap or English teachers in eight grade and the book was not reviewed, so I never moved through its pages. That is the one I'm reading right now.

[Christophe]

A tough prompt for the avid readers that populate this challenge! I eventually remember that, back in 1985, in High School, there was talk of an interdisciplinary project about Michel de Montaigne's travels in Italy, involving our teachers of French, History, Art history and Graphical arts, for which we would have had to read the Journal de Voyage en Italie par la Suisse et l'Allemagne en 1580 et 1581. The project was cancelled before we got our reading assignment; so that book sort of qualifies. It was a great (if belated) read, too.

[Alexis]

I technically wasn't supposed to read The Handmaid's Tale in high school. Half of my Humanities class was assigned "The Handmaid's Tale" and the other half was assigned Brave New World. The class halves were then joined and discussed these two different frightening futures. Now that I've finally read "The Handmaid's Tale" myself, I know that it is a view of a very near future dystopian society that is a huge departure from the US of today. Unfortunately, I see that this kind of horror could exist, but it would not happen in one fell swoop as described in the book. It would be the little by little removal of rights. No silver lining in this novel, just a sad future. I should probably read "Brave New World" again just for comparison.

[Tara]

The handmaids tale is one of my favourite books. Margaret Atwood is amazing. If you liked it, try the oryx and crake trilogy, it is also a quite believable not too distant future dystopia. Some of the themes that she imagines are so close to reality it is scary.

[Alexis]

Tara wrote: "The handmaids tale is one of my favourite books. Margaret Atwood is amazing. If you liked it, try the oryx and crake trilogy, it is also a quite believable not too distant future dystopia. Some of ..."
Thanks! I'll check it out. The Handmaid's Tale is one of my best friend's favorite books too; I think she felt a little ashamed of me that it took so long for me to finally read it.

[Luci]

Gabriella wrote: "Since I am from Italy I know I haven't read what an average American student has to read in school. So what would you say is a book I must absolutely read ? Also, if any of you are at a loss why do..."

I'm curious to know what you had to read in school! Did you read everything in Italian, or were you assigned books in English as well? thanks!

[John]

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

[Melissa]

I also read everything I was assigned. There were definitely some "classics" that I didn't get assigned, either because they weren't read in my school or a different teacher taught them and mine didn't. These include Diary of Anne Frank, East of Eden, Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Walden, and As I Lay Dying. Or I could go a different route and read something I wish had been taught, like An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine)]

I'm glad I'm not alone in being that student who read everything assigned.
Over the years I've realised one of our assignments was heavily influenced by, if not entirely based on, The Masque of the Red Death by Poe. So I'm intending on reading that in the Penguin Classics collection.

[John]

Since I'm similar to those who stated that they read everything that was assigned, I will be looking at books generally assigned for high school students to read, e.g., Lord of the Flies.

[Anne Hawn]

I'm reading Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther I read it in high school, but not assigned for class. Several of my friends and I read it and it was incredibly important to me at that time. That's probably the first book that I realized changed my view of life. John Gunther was a well known journalist and author and his son was just a few years older than I was and it made it all the more poignant.

Several years ago I bought a copy of it at discount bookstore without knowing when I was going to get a chance to read it. I think I was apologizing to the book for ending up on a sales rack. I've moved it from my bookcase to my TBR stack several times. It's still on my shelves and so it's time is now.