Probably Crime and Punishment, largely because it read me to read The Brothers Karamazov, which is a great book.
I really wish I had done this book. I've still not read it either. This needs to be corrected. Steerpike? My god, how you doing!?
Mostly I haven't been fond of the set books in high school and college but during my last year in high school we read To Kill a Mockingbird which I absolutely loved. Remember sitting on the beach devouring it over the summer holidays! The only one which I'd have actually read by choice.
I must be the only person in the world who isn't keen on Dostoevsky. I have brothers Karamazov lying in the house that my sister rented from the library and I don't have the heart to read it. No doubt it's an epic story but I can't get past the 19th century writing style. It grates on me. Am I out on a limb?
If you don't like the writing style, you probably won't enjoy it. I like the style (I like modern styles as well, but I'm perfectly happy reading something like The Brothers Karamazov or Moby Dick). There are so many books to read I don't spend much time trying to force myself to read one that I'm not in to. If the style grates on you, you'll probably be just as happy skipping it.
I'm going to say that the best literature I was forced to read for school was either Of Mice and Men, or Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones.
Hi Steerpike I've read quite a few 19th century books. I can get through some of them fine. Oscar Wilde's works, for e.g., I love. Must be something unique in translation about those pesky Russians though I tried reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde recently by Robert Louis Stevenson. The language and what the language uses to describe was really...gentlemanly, if that makes sense? It's very fluffy and takes longer getting to the point
For the Russian novels, get the translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. They're the best.
Great idea for a thread! Oh damn, you're very lucky they made you read that in school. I also was forced to read The Giver in school and it too had a great impact on me. It's one of those books that unlike Nineteen Eighty-Four you probably would never read if it wasn't part of the curriculum. I'm glad I read it. I read so many great books in high school, a few that come to mind are: Lord of the Flies Clockwork Orange (studied this in Literature along with the film, I loved every minute of it) Heart of Darkness (also studied this in Literature along with the film adaptation Apocalypse Now) Of Mice and Men The Great Gatsby Chekhov's 'The Three Sisters' (I really enjoyed the analysis that went into this one) Nineteen Eighty-Four (probably my favourite book I was forced to read in school, but not the favourite one I studied) The Giver While these were all great books, the 'best piece of literature' that I was forced to read in high school, based both on its literary merits and its enjoyable story, was definitely 'Passage to India' by E.M Forster. Not only would I have never picked it up if it weren't for being forced to read it, I also loved studying it.
My problem with those Russian novels is they try to hard to shove a philosophy down your throat. I prefer profound stories, don't get me wrong, but not when the story itself is just an artificial vehicle to "prove" some point.
A few of the Russian writers were influenced by the nihilist movement of the late 19th century, which is understandable considering how influential that movement was in Russian history. But the majority of Russian literature (and novels specifically) from the 19th century wasn't too concerned with philosophy.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and The Joke by Milan Kundera. Two of my 15-20 favorite novels ever to this day.
Lord of the Flies was my favorite, but that's also because it can be read at least at three different levels, and my teacher took the time to discuss two of them. After school, if someone brought it up, she'd discuss the third (religious level). Read most of the Shakespeare plays, wasn't too moved by them, though there were parts I enjoyed. I don't remember liking it that much at the time, but My Antonia made a lasting impact on me somehow. One of those stories that you're not ready to hit you the way it does.
I absolutely loved James Joyce Dubliners, actually I might pick up a copy and read it again. I also really enjoyed King Lear, and I've since seen it performed 4-5 times. Of Mice and Men was great to read, too. All of this just about made up for the hellish slog that was Silas Marner.
I'm seeing some interesting answers here and some books that I was made to read have already been mentioned. I personally did not like Lord of the Flies or Heart of Darkness but we read a book called Mukiwa which I found absolutely fascinating. There were also two books that were recommended to me for different "compare and contrast" assignments. They weren't class novels but novels I had to read to compare to the class book. I will be forever grateful to my English teacher for introducing me the Jon le'Carre's The Spy Who Came In From the Cold and Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel. On a similar thought, at university I had to read Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being. Wow. Just, wow. I was completely blown away by that book. By far my favourite read during university. Absolutely amazing.
I started reading Dante's Inferno of my own volition. That book was MESSED UP. I never finished reading it though. I'm not sure why because I was enjoying it.
For poetry: My Last Duchess It was the only poem in school that I really got into. For a project I read the Sound and the Fury and walked around in a dead state after finishing it. Blew my mind.
I loved TKM but this is exactly what happened to me. I was so angry because I can never get into a book in class like I can by myself. The next year the lower classes ended up reading Catcher in the Rye, and I was able to choose it as an independent read for my class, which I am so grateful for. Reading it in class would have just ruined the book for me. My favorite the school forced me to read has to be The Great Gatsby. Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book that I have read for school, since we could choose any piece of American Literature.
It does that. The fact that Faulkner couldn't have it printed in different colored fonts or even different fonts makes the novel a royal mess, though. I only read it at the uni, I don't think I could've gotten through it in high school, so props for that!