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YOhio · 03-22-2007, 10:30 PM

Growing up in rural Utah I loved reading Chaim Potok and imagining the Jewish neighborhoods in New York. Les Miserables gave context to studies of revolutionary France. The Jungle took me to the slaughterhouses of Chicago that existed before it became a great city.

At some point I'd like to re-read some of those books to see if they were as good as I remembered.

Did you read any books in High School or Junior High that stick out as especially influential?

creekster · 03-22-2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YOhio

Did you read any books in High School or Junior High that stick out as especially influential?

Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut has influenced me profoundly in many ways.

YOhio · 03-22-2007, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creekster

Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut has influenced me profoundly in many ways.

I haven't read it, but I'd be interested in reading why it influenced you so much.

BarbaraGordon · 03-22-2007, 11:04 PM

The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman really moved me.

Waiting for Godot introduced me to absurdism and also scared the hell out of me.

I highly recommend Grendel by John Gardner.

I remember being fascinated by Sophocles and the notion of character-driven fate.

I tore through all of Hemingway. Probably too fast to do any of it justice. Loved Hemingway.

Jeff Lebowski · 03-22-2007, 11:39 PM

When I was a kid (jr. high age?) I read a book called When the Legends Die by Hal Borland. It is about an Indian boy on the reservation who becomes an orphan and ends up on the rodeo circuit with an alcoholic man. It was a tragic, yet beautiful story. I liked it so much I read it 2-3 times. I wonder if it would have the same appeal to me now.

creekster · 03-23-2007, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YOhio

I haven't read it, but I'd be interested in reading why it influenced you so much.

It wouldn't be that intersting, I assure you. In short, Vonnegut sort of fostered an intellectual awakening in me and caused me to start down the road of deciding what it is that I believe, and why, and whether those beliefs have any value. Typical teen sort of stuff. Plus, I tend to be cynical and so does he. I also like his writing style.

So it goes.

il Padrino Ute · 03-23-2007, 01:33 AM

I read Potok's The Chosen my junior year in high school, but the only thing I really remember about it was when one of the character's hits a line drive into the other's face.

The Count of Monte Cristo was my favorite that I read back then and have read a few times since. I think as a teenager, I loved that it had some great ways to get revenge on one's personal enemies.

I also loved To Kill A Mockingbird.

I hated with a passion that would blacken the sun anything that the Bronte women wrote.

Surfah · 03-23-2007, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbaraGordon

The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman really moved me.

I have read The Awakening probably 3 or 4 times now and I hate that book. In fact my senior course was 19th Century American Women's Lit. and I did my senior paper on that book and my thesis was centered around Edna, a supposed champion of feminists, really was just a shallow and selfish woman whose actions culminate in the most selfish of acts, suicide. I chose that mostly because I believe it and also because I was one of 3 guys in the course and thought that the peer reviews would be entertaining as the class had so much estrogen I was starting to develop gynecomastia by the end of the year.

The Yellow Wallpaper is very interesting as it was really groundbreaking in it's subject and treatment of mental illness. I like this choice very much.

To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book of all time. Atticus Finch is my hero and I love Scout.

Robert Cormier was a favorite author. I Am the Cheese and The Chocolate War are great books that really affected me as a youth.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton and My Antonia by Willa Cather were very influential.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies created such emotion in me that I almost stopped reading after Roger killed Piggy. Along these lines Deathwatch by Robb White was intriguing.

The Giver is another book that I think is standard in most HS classes now that I read in college after my little brother introduced it to me. I really enjoyed this novel.

YOhio · 03-23-2007, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by il Padrino Ute

I read Potok's The Chosen my junior year in high school, but the only thing I really remember about it was when one of the character's hits a line drive into the other's face.

I don't know why, but that line cracked me up. The sequence you referred to happened in the first chapter. Could it be that young Il Pad stopped reading after he figured out the rest of the book didn't include anymore baseball?

MikeWaters · 03-23-2007, 02:12 AM

I read most of the Louis Lamour westerns.

Crime and Punishment.

03-22-2007, 10:30 PM	#1
YOhio AKA SeattleNewt Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 7,055	High School books Growing up in rural Utah I loved reading Chaim Potok and imagining the Jewish neighborhoods in New York. Les Miserables gave context to studies of revolutionary France. The Jungle took me to the slaughterhouses of Chicago that existed before it became a great city. At some point I'd like to re-read some of those books to see if they were as good as I remembered. Did you read any books in High School or Junior High that stick out as especially influential?

03-22-2007, 11:39 PM	#5
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	When I was a kid (jr. high age?) I read a book called When the Legends Die by Hal Borland. It is about an Indian boy on the reservation who becomes an orphan and ends up on the rodeo circuit with an alcoholic man. It was a tragic, yet beautiful story. I liked it so much I read it 2-3 times. I wonder if it would have the same appeal to me now. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

03-23-2007, 01:33 AM	#7
il Padrino Ute Board Pinhead Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the basement of my house, Murray, Utah. Posts: 15,941	I read Potok's The Chosen my junior year in high school, but the only thing I really remember about it was when one of the character's hits a line drive into the other's face. The Count of Monte Cristo was my favorite that I read back then and have read a few times since. I think as a teenager, I loved that it had some great ways to get revenge on one's personal enemies. I also loved To Kill A Mockingbird. I hated with a passion that would blacken the sun anything that the Bronte women wrote. __________________ "The beauty of baseball is not having to explain it." - Chuck Shriver "This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at." - Christopher Hitchens on IQ jokes about GWB.

03-22-2007, 11:04 PM	#4
BarbaraGordon Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Gotham City Posts: 7,157	The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman really moved me. Waiting for Godot introduced me to absurdism and also scared the hell out of me. I highly recommend Grendel by John Gardner. I remember being fascinated by Sophocles and the notion of character-driven fate. I tore through all of Hemingway. Probably too fast to do any of it justice. Loved Hemingway.

03-23-2007, 02:12 AM	#10
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	I read most of the Louis Lamour westerns. Crime and Punishment.