To Kill a Mockingbird - RUINED BY THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
I'm sure that lots of you have had to read To Kill a Mockingbird for GCSE English Literature. I too had the joys of this. The mong groups got Of Mice and Men, we got TKAMB.

Previously though I had fallen behind majorly in years 8 and 9 which actually turned out to be a problem with my brain which manifested itself into a full blown Brain Haemorrhage by the time I was 14 - but back then people just thought I couldn't be arsed, and they were right. I really struggled to cope at school so mum hired a private tutor to help me with English and Maths

My private tutor introduced me to TKAMB when I was 12 years old. She didn't give me chance to read it properly though before we started the task of disecting each paragraph; looking for uses of Irony and Symbolism etc. We were ripping the book apart before I had even had a chance to read it properly and understand the story. When I was 12 I knew little about the KKK or the racial tension so I struggled to make sense of it. the constant disection and essay writing took its toll and I soon lost all interest in the book.

So when I discovered that I would be disecting it AGAIN for GCSE year 11 I was gutted :o( Ten page essays on the u"se of irony in a single paragraph etc". This is when I had returned to school following the Brain Haemorrgage and I was struggling to say the least. I got an E for the literature part which I was impressed with.

So now when people rate it as one of the best works of literature ever, all I get are images of hot stuffy classrooms, cramp in my wrist and biro stained mouth :o(
( h3donist tryin' to play me out as if my name is Sega.., Thu 15 May 2008, 17:49, 5 replies)

I feel the same about Of Mice and Men
We were the top group and we got Of Mice and Men, the mong group got ... actually, I don't remember. Spending two feckin' years "focusing" on the characters made me hate that book for life. I feel the same way about An Inspector Calls. Three frigging times we read that play, and I still hate it.
( Maladicta, Thu 15 May 2008, 18:36, closed)

TKAMB ruined
check. An Inspector Calls, check. Spring and Port Wine, check. The Hobbit. Checkity fucking check.

The only book that emerged unscathed from GCSE Eng. Lit. was Lord of the Flies. Mainly as I skim read it rather than being forced to dissect every nuance of every sentence.
(Rakky (forgot her password) The muffin maverick, Thu 15 May 2008, 18:42, closed)

Ditto
Shakespeare - after 9 years of hating it since being force-fed it at school, I was dragged somewhat reluctantly to watch Twelfth Night at a theatre in Northampton.

It was fucking excellent.

Seriously, after about 10 years out of school, give Shakespeare another go. It's actually quite good when you're not being menaced by a crotchety English teacher.
(Axeman Jim, Thu 15 May 2008, 19:24, closed)

I have to agree with you 100%
I didn't care about discussing the role of the Father Figure and the irony of this, that or the other - it's a classic book, don't ruin it by studying every word individually.
( fastcar, Tue 20 May 2008, 15:35, closed)

I got Brave New World
Lets just say it was not a nice experience.
It was during the build up to the summer holidays, and it was hot, sweaty and the book was ruined by a droning english teacher who could send a avid insomniac into a coma.
(Kaplaaah Wasting time on the net since 1994., Thu 22 May 2008, 11:15, closed)