Classic Novels

[arkiewriter]

I'm working on some new classics for the boys to read, as they've plowed through the basic list for middle schoolers I had.  Anyone want to give me input on the "To Read" section of whether or not I'd be torturing the poor munchkins or if a book was just one of your youthful favorites?   (I have Jane Austen on there, but considering the boys hated

Comments

[randomposting]

Adding to Shakespeare I'd say Richard III and Twelfth Night.

Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

A Little Princess.. same woman who wrote Secret Garden

[arkiewriter]

Unfortunately, *I* found Frances Hodgson Burnett's books to be too girly for me, so I doubt the boys would enjoy them at all...

Great Expectations they own - I forgot to list it. They *love* Dickens... he's a great author for boys, I think.

Added the Shakespeare plays. You know, I don't think I've read either of those.

[randomposting]

My favorite Shakespeare plays, I think. :)

[eruth]

I might add Daniel Deronda by George Eliot onto there.

[arkiewriter]

added - thanks!

[rypcord]

No Vonnegut? Tsk tsk ;-)

[arkiewriter]

Vonnegut's materials tend to be a little more adult than I want to tackle with them just yet (remember, the younger is only 11). However, there's a short story that might be appropriate - "Harrison Bergeron" - to introduce Vonnegut's style. Maybe Sirens of Titan as well - been a few (*cough* TEN) years since I read it, so I'll need to reread.

[satsumagirl]

JD Salinger Catcher in the Rye
LP Hartley The Go-Between (but does have adult content)
Hardy: Jude the Obscure
Mary Webb Precious Bane
Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisited
Yann Martell The Life of Pi (modern book but very good)
The books of Phillip Pullman are also very good, especially the Northern Lights series, though again modern.
Joseph Heller: Catch 22

[arkiewriter]

They like Pullman and are anticipating the movie with great interest. ;-)

I've noted it to someone else, but I have never understood the popularity of Catcher in the Rye. It felt like the author's creative use of extended profanity to me... maybe I'm missing something.

Precious Bane would be interesting for them because I have a cousin who had cleft lip & palatte that was repaired as a child but still you can tell it happened to her.

The Life of Pi would really appeal to them, I think.

Added the rest - thanks!

[ajlordnikon]

I didn't ee Naked Lunch on that list. That's a literary masterpiece. ^_^

[arkiewriter]

I'm hoping you're being sarcastic with that suggestion, considering the boys are 11 and 13. ;-/

[ajlordnikon]

Of course, I was.