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Love Orwell! First read "Animal Farm" when I was 10, and whil the story was excellent, it was sobering to me, even at the age, that it was based on the history of Russia and how it became the USSR.
I read "1984" after a boyfriend told me how great it was. Instead of using lovey-dovey language with each other, we would throw quotes from "1984" at each other (very romantic!)
It's scary that the absurdity of a "daily chocolate ration" isn't too far off. Especially with the govt food police trying to overtax foods that are "bad" for us.
Read "Brave New World" a few years ago, but didn't care for it as much.
1984 seems to be a book that regains popularity every few years and the current generation reading it then says, "WOW, this is all happening NOW!" I think that's a testament to the fact that book contains certain truths that will appeal to each generation as they reach a certain age and became of aware of things they were not aware of previously.
I'm just amazed when people who like to read have not read Ernest Hemmingway. He was one of the greatest writers ever.
Pat Conroy, Just a fantastic writer, The prince of tides is my fave of his.
Of course Steinbeck, I've read everything he wrote and I think he's overrated.
Mark Twain: most readers have read him and I have but I don't like his style, his humor or anything else about his fictional writing. I really liked his auto bio though, Life on the Mississippi.
I'm a reader and I always was one from age 6 and up. I probably read too much, when I should be doing other things that I should be doing. I notice though that the younger generation does not seem to read very much at all. It's a habit that is usually developed early in life but not always. My wife was not a reader when we married but she now is. I got her going by raving over some great book I had just read and the temptation was too great for her. She just had to see what was so absorbing for me. My definition of a reader is someone who is always in a book. There is not a time when they are not in the middle of at least one book.
Our education system has gone so far downhill when it comes to reading it's almost unbelievable. I have the third grade reader from Ontario Canada which was used from 1925 to 1935 in front of me hear and I would just like to tell you a few of the authors that grade three kids were expected to read and to know in those days. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry W Longfellow, Mark Twain, John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, John James Audobon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Benjamin Franklin,
Sir Walter Scott,Lousia M Alcott, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, John McCrae and many more that I won't name because you would most likely never heard of them.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
In flanders fields.
John McCrae.
Grade three readers my friends.
What ever happened to us??
I'm just amazed when people who like to read have not read Ernest Hemmingway. He was one of the greatest writers ever.
Pat Conroy, Just a fantastic writer, The prince of tides is my fave of his.
Of course Steinbeck, I've read everything he wrote and I think he's overrated.
Mark Twain: most readers have read him and I have but I don't like his style, his humor or anything else about his fictional writing. I really liked his auto bio though, Life on the Mississippi.
I'm a reader and I always was one from age 6 and up. I probably read too much, when I should be doing other things that I should be doing. I notice though that the younger generation does not seem to read very much at all. It's a habit that is usually developed early in life but not always. My wife was not a reader when we married but she now is. I got her going by raving over some great book I had just read and the temptation was too great for her. She just had to see what was so absorbing for me. My definition of a reader is someone who is always in a book. There is not a time when they are not in the middle of at least one book.
Our education system has gone so far downhill when it comes to reading it's almost unbelievable. I have the third grade reader from Ontario Canada which was used from 1925 to 1935 in front of me hear and I would just like to tell you a few of the authors that grade three kids were expected to read and to know in those days. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry W Longfellow, Mark Twain, John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, John James Audobon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Benjamin Franklin,
Sir Walter Scott,Lousia M Alcott, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, John McCrae and many more that I won't name because you would most likely never heard of them.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep though poppies grow
In flanders fields.
John McCrae.
Grade three readers my friends.
What ever happened to us??
I'd rather read Steinbeck than Hemingway. Just don't like his style.
But I'm with you on The Prince of Tides. That's probably one of the best novels I've ever read. The movie was a pathetic shadow of the book.
I also have been a reader from a young age. It was my favorite pastime and my escape as a child.
I'm just amazed when people who like to read have not read Ernest Hemmingway. He was one of the greatest writers ever.
Pat Conroy, Just a fantastic writer, The prince of tides is my fave of his.
Of course Steinbeck, I've read everything he wrote and I think he's overrated.
Mark Twain: most readers have read him and I have but I don't like his style, his humor or anything else about his fictional writing. I really liked his auto bio though, Life on the Mississippi.
Our education system has gone so far downhill when it comes to reading it's almost unbelievable. I have the third grade reader from Ontario Canada which was used from 1925 to 1935 in front of me hear and I would just like to tell you a few of the authors that grade three kids were expected to read and to know in those days. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry W Longfellow, Mark Twain, John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, John James Audobon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Benjamin Franklin, Sir Walter Scott,Lousia M Alcott, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, John McCrae and many more that I won't name because you would most likely never heard of them.
Grade three readers my friends.
What ever happened to us??
Have you compared your reader to what 3rd graders are currently reading? Because I have no clue what third graders are required to read now.
We did read those books in grade school, but look what is missing in that list, apart from the familiar John McCrae poem - Canadian literature. I agree that people should have a decent grasp of world literature, including the great writers of days past, but not to the extent of forgetting or ignoring that we produce great writers, writing about our lives and our culture. What I noticed back in grade school was that the books we read had nothing to do with our Canadian lives on the prairies and elsewhere. We had a colonial mentality as though if it wasn't written in jolly old England, it couldn't possibly be any good.
When people find nothing in writing for them to relate to, they turn away from reading.
Last edited by netwit; 09-06-2011 at 10:33 AM..
Reason: typo
When people find nothing in writing for them to relate to, they turn away from reading.
That is so true.
I reviewed a book for the local newspaper back in the late 80s. The author and the story were Canadian if I remember correctly. Karen Lawrence. Life of Helen Alone.
It's a rural setting and the book is very good. I remember thinking at the time that my life would probably end up like Helen's.
I do have to admit that the books I recall reading in grade school were by American authors.
If Canada and the U.S. had not been British colonies back in the day we probably would not have ended up as the cousins we are.
Have you compared your reader to what 3rd graders are currently reading? Because I have no clue what third graders are required to read now.
We did read those books in grade school, but look what is missing in that list, apart from the familiar John McCrae poem - Canadian literature. I agree that people should have a decent grasp of world literature, including the great writers of days past, but not to the extent of forgetting or ignoring that we produce great writers, writing about our lives and our culture. What I noticed back in grade school was that the books we read had nothing to do with our Canadian lives on the prairies and elsewhere. We had a colonial mentality as though if it wasn't written in jolly old England, it couldn't possibly be any good.
When people find nothing in writing for them to relate to, they turn away from reading.
Yhere are quite a few Canadian authors in that book but I did not mention them because less than 1% of the people here would have ever heard o them.
It still weirds me out when real readers under the age of 40 haven't read the Harry Potter series. They are super-fast reads (so not a huge time investment), the writing grows up with the books, and they are quite entertaining.
I was really reticent to read the collection because everyone told me the books were "just books for children, nothing impressive at all". Years later I had to rest a few days after a surgery and started "The Sorcerer's Stone". Best 2 weeks ever until I finished "The Deadly Hallows".
A book I think is a must is "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. I've read it 4 or 5 times. (Well, same with HP )
Another book that comes to mind is "Catcher in the Rye". A student from the local CC wrote a column bashing the book, saying that it was just a boring novel about a whiny kid. I could only thing that she's very lucky if life hasn't sent her any kind of hardship to at least understand Holden's situation and feelings. It is required reading in many schools today but it's easier and easier to find those who haven't read it and wouldn't give it an opportunity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA4Now
I'd never read Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, so I'm reading it now. I'm half way through and it's very depressing. The setting is pre-revolutionary China. I know it's a classic but....maybe it will get better.
I read it when I was a teenager. It is depressing but it's a good book in the end.
I have the third grade reader from Ontario Canada which was used from 1925 to 1935 in front of me hear and I would just like to tell you a few of the authors that grade three kids were expected to read and to know in those days. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry W Longfellow, Mark Twain, John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, John James Audobon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Benjamin Franklin,
Sir Walter Scott,Lousia M Alcott, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, John McCrae
I'd hope the grade three students have to read work from more than one female author these days. That's pretty sad.
I'm just amazed when people who like to read have not read Ernest Hemmingway. He was one of the greatest writers ever.
Of course Steinbeck, I've read everything he wrote and I think he's overrated.
Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry W Longfellow, Mark Twain, John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, John James Audobon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Benjamin Franklin,
Sir Walter Scott,Lousia M Alcott, Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, John McCrae and many more that I won't name because you would most likely never heard of them.
Grade three readers my friends. What ever happened to us??
Now those authors are served up in high school (if you are lucky).
As far as Hemmingway vs. Steinbeck, you would be hard pressed to find two writers with more disparate styles.....If you love Hemmingway of course you will hate Steinbeck and find him overblown, and vice versa.
Now those authors are served up in high school (if you are lucky).
As far as Hemmingway vs. Steinbeck, you would be hard pressed to find two writers with more disparate styles.....If you love Hemmingway of course you will hate Steinbeck and find him overblown, and vice versa.
I love Hemmingway and I like Steinbeck. Some of his more famous books could have used a good editing in my opinion.
Two of his books I love though, Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row.
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