My eldest son has one more week of high school exams left to complete and has been studying and complaining about his English literature reading. It got me thinking about the high school reading I had to endure. I am a reader and enjoy books, but even I turned my nose up at some books deemed essential reading for a well-rounded high school education then and now.
Before I get into this, I just want to say I’m enjoying sitting outside while I write this post. Yes, we’re set for the couple of weeks of warm weather I mentioned in a previous post about the joys of living in Yorkshire. After that, summer will probably descend into the usual cloud and rain showers we’re so used to (they’re already forecasting storms before the end of the week). So, I must make the most of it while I can.
Current High School Reading
In the UK, the school can choose the books they wish their pupils to study from a limited selection. (I think this is the case, but I could be wrong.) My son has studied Lord of the Flies by William Golding, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the obligatory Shakespeare play was Macbeth.
Now, I can’t complain about A Christmas Carol. It’s one of my favourites and I re-read it every year at Christmas. I studied Macbeth for my A-levels, and it is one of my favourite plays (despite the misogyny—but that’s a recurring theme for the Bard I won’t get into here). I have no quibbles there, either. Macbeth was not my son’s favourite, and neither was Lord of the Flies. I thought he might have enjoyed it because he usually reads dystopian and horror/fantasy.
I must be honest; I haven’t read Lord of the Flies. My knowledge is limited to the plot centring around a group of teenage boys who are marooned on an island and chaos ensues. I suppose there’s a social and political commentary about human nature etc., etc., but I doubt it’s one I would have enjoyed.
We have warned my younger son that the curriculum will change by the time he does his exams. An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley will replace Macbeth. I haven’t read that one either, but I’m expecting more moaning.
My High School Reading
It was erm… blah, blah, years ago when I did my high school exams, but I can still remember the books I studied. I enjoyed most of them, including Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines, and the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet.
The two books that stood out for me are A Cider with Rosie and To Kill a Mockingbird. I disliked A Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee with a passion. I believe I have blocked it from my mind because I can’t even remember how the book ended. In truth, I may have skipped most of it because I found it so dull.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was my favourite. The bittersweet story told through the eyes of children drew me in from the first page. Even though it deals with rape and racial inequality, I liked the humour and family warmth it also depicted. Atticus Finch stands out as a man of integrity, trying to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus is determined to give innocent Tom the best defence possible, even though he knows that racial prejudice in the local community means they have pronounced Tom guilty before the trial begins.
One scene that stuck in my mind was when Scout—Atticus’s daughter, and the narrator—is rolling down the road inside a tractor tyre. Their reclusive and much gossiped-about neighbour, Boo Radley, is watching them from his home, which is also his prison.
What books did you study in high school? Do you have a favourite, or did you read them all under duress? Let me know in the comments.
