Sunday, November 4, 2012

High School Throwback

In anticipation of the movie coming out, I recently re-read The Great Gatsby.  This was the first time I had picked up the book since being required to read it in the 10th grade, at which time I came away with only a mediocre opinion of it.  I can remember not really understanding what all the fuss was about.  On this go, I enjoyed the novel much more.  Perhaps I needed to spend a few lost years of my own in NYC in order to understand the true beauty of the book.  The experience has set me raiding the boxes in my closet to find some other classics read in high school that perhaps will be more appreciated at this time.  I started East of Eden yesterday!

What are some of your favorite classics? 

-Dani

4 comments:

  1. They are remaking Gatsby? I didn't know! Off to imdb to learn more. Gatsby is one of my absolute favorite classics! I was meh about it in high school too. Then I re-read it about five years ago and absolutely adored it. I think I was too young to really 'get' it in high school.
    A have incredibly fond memories of A Farewell to Arms, lthough I can't for the life of me remember why. I have been meaning to re-read it for awhile now. To Kill a Mockingbird, of course! I kind of feel like its becoming a cliche though, with the recent popularity of baby names Harper and Atticus. Not that the book is cliche, but loving it might be just a little.
    Macbeth is probably the only Shakespeare play I would revisit for fun. Love, love, love it!
    I remember being pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed Frankenstein and Beowulf. Not sure how I'd feel about them now.
    One classic I missed altogether was The Grapes of Wrath. Not quite sure how that happened, but it was never assigned and I was never inclined to pick it up on my own. I feel like I 'should' read it at some point, but it doesn't really appeal...
    RDeW

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  2. I can't believe you liked Beowulf! That was probably my least favorite assignment in 9th grade! Although, I definitely did not read the whole thing, so who knows, maybe it gets better at the end?

    I barely remember Grapes of Wrath. I think it was slow, but that I also liked it.

    One of my favorite books when I initially read it, was The Sun Also Rises. But when I went back to re-read this recently, I couldn't stand it. The prose I once found romantic is just plain pompous and borderline offensive. Ernest Hemingway seems like kind of an ass in retrospect.

    My other favorites:
    - Gone With The Wind (obviously!)
    - Heart of Darkness (I'm guessing if I read this again, I would not like it as much)
    - Catch 22

    Least Favorites
    - Age of Innocence
    - Beowulf
    - Our Town
    -Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    - Dani

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  3. I didn't know they were remaking Gatsby, either! Funny enough, it was one of my favorites in high school, probably a function of the fact that it was my teacher's favorite and I loved her. The phrase "careless people" always comes to mind when I think of the book. I'm excited about seeing the movie! Meanwhile, a few years ago and every now and again since then, I went on a kick to be as well-read as I was in high school. Turns out to be a tall order, schedule-wise. I'm pretty sure I'd hate Beowulf again, too, and when I went back to Jude The Obscure, I remembered why I put it down in the first place: Jude is boring and unlikable and deserves his obscurity.

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  4. Miz Yank, imdb revealed it's a Baz Luhrman production, which makes me happy because I am a fan of his Romeo and Juliet. However, Leo is Gatsby and Carey Mulligan is Daisy...not the actors I would've chosen! I hope they exceed my expectations! -RDeW

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