We had to read Lord of the Flies by William Golding in high school and I hated it.
I was 15, I was (and still am) female. There were no characters in this book with whom I could identify, and the story itself was hideous. People were doing such horrid things to each other!
So my memories are of a horrible time, and not enjoying it at all. In fact, this is the sort of book that can turn students away from reading completely.
But have I been fair?
In my 40s, do I still hate it, or do I just hate the memories of those years of being told what to read and what is 'good for me'? My year 9 English teacher told the class that an indicator of quality was one with an orange spine. (ie published by Penguin). Seriously. It's a wonder I ever read anything again. I'm not having a go at Penguin, but to tell a room full of 15-year-old girls to only read books from one kind of publisher? Come on!
It's possible I may still hate Lord of the Flies, but I can't keep hating on it (hate is a powerful word) without at least giving it another chance, right? I'm all about second chances.
I shall be tweeting and blogging this do over as I go along.
Who knows. It could do me in or I could gain a whole new appreciation for it.
3 comments:
First page in and I'm already having flashbacks.
"What's The Scar?" Teacher asked.
"The crash site," I said, from the far end of the room where the teacher had positioned me a few weeks earlier, for being disruptive . . .
Loads of kids offered suggestions.
Eventually the teacher said, "It's where the plane crashed."
"I said that!"
"Yes but you didn't have your hand up."
I was never a fan of it anyway.
I think the theme of this is that no matter how similar we are, we'll look for differences and weaknesses, then use that against people. Or something.
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