I'll begin my first post at the same place where my literature life began: high school. I was exposed to "real" books (sorry Choose-Your-Own Adventure authors) by my over-worked and under-paid English teachers. They did their best to make me appreciate the poetry of Romeo and Juliet, the social relevance of Scarlet Letter, and the faith, loss, and discovery of Portrait of the Artist. They failed. Miserably. I hated English class in high school.
But now things are different. Now I love reading! Hooray! So what to do about all of that great literature that I "read", was tested on, and subsequently banished from my memory?
For years I was opposed to re-reading classics. "With so many great books and so little time, how can I justify re-reading something when it means I will never read something else?" But I think re-reading has great value; especially when the re-reads weren't really read in the first place.
So, in an effort to encourage other high school literary slackers to dust off those Penguin classics, I have a few recommendations.
What? You hated being a tenth grader and being forced to read about Danish pagans hanging out in mead halls and getting eaten by Grendel's mother? Me too. But I gave the book another try a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I think it is much more enjoyable when you have a mental library of modern literature against which you can contrast the story. The new translation (which I didn't have at my rich, preppy high school) gives the story a great poetic lilt.
Again, a book that was forced down my angst-ridden teenage throat. But like a fine wine or an Ace of Base album, this book gets better with age. And by that, I mean the age of the reader. There is more emotional truth and understanding in this classic than I possibly could have recognized as a tween.
Next task: re-reading the classics from my junior high list.
