<p>Mokusatsu, it was the one most of us wrote our AP on that year. We all “knew” it was the one to write on since we all pretty much hated it. Some of the hipsters liked “Notes” that year. I liked the French poets that year, best, but I think our teacher just sneaked them in to give us some relief.</p>
<p>If it hadn’t been for Tolstoy, I might have resorted to the dreaded yellow cliffs notes by the end of the year. The most brilliant kid in our class didn’t even read Karamazov and still wrote her AP on it and got a 5. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>She was easily bored and smoked Dunhill cigarettes. That and this one hat she wore a lot is all I recall of her, though she probably went on to do amazing things.</p>
<p>The thing I hated most about high school English class was being compelled to “read the Greats” while in the meantime disliking every last bit of “the Greats”, or being compelled to read other books that the teachers felt were “really good for kids my age” at a time when I thought “the Greats” and those “really good for my age” books were crusty, pedantic, condescending, but primarily, out of touch. I went back recently to those reading lists, as a crusty old adult, and I found that I still ******* hate them. Boring. Depressing. Ponderous. Time consuming. </p>
<p>I don’t want to appreciate them. I want to send them to the dust bins of posterity.</p>
<p>But then again, maybe it’s because I read math books for pleasure. Should adults force kids to listen to music the kids don’t like? How about force them to watch old movies because the adults think those old movies are “so cool”?</p>
<p>I think music and cinema are more effective media than fiction books, and also, more timely.</p>
<p>And finally, this sentence fragment: Reading old lit for historical purposes, notwithstanding, has its purposes; is exempt from my opinion.</p>
<p>We had to listen to classical music at my best friend’s house on Sundays. Every Sunday. You could either listen to classical or not see her. She was my best friend, what could I do?</p>
<p>I still love Beethoven’s 9th because of her father. He was nuts, in a good way. It blared through the house. He had this amazing stereo and introduced us to Miles and Coltrane and Bach. Later in life, I really had a great appreciation for this.</p>
<p>If you expose them early enough, you don’t have to force. I grew up listening to my parents’ music, then later added my own. My children have grown up listening to our music, plus they’ve been steeped in classical music (organ, strings) at church. They love our favorite artists, 1960-70s Broadway musicals, and classic movies. They’ve added some of their own music as well. They’ve watched old movies as well as more recent ones. They enjoy watching Fred Astaire dance, they sing along to The Sound of Music, and they have memorized dialogue from To Kill a Mockingbird.</p>
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<p>I have one child who lives to read the Great Books and would love to send every math book that you enjoy reading to the “dust bins of posterity”. She thinks that higher math is boring, depressing, ponderous, and time consuming. Still, we’re glad that’s it’s in her curriculum. Yet another of my children is counting the days until P.E. is over forever. Vive la difference!</p>
<p>Off topic, but in terms of exposure, I still think back fondly to Bugs Bunny in Rabbit of Seville, Rhapsody Rabbit, and Fantasia.</p>
<p>My memory is not good. I can’t separate out what I was required to read for school and what I read on my own. I do remember that I read widely and across genres with lots of variability in quality. I’m impressed by all of you who have kept it straight.</p>
<p>I’m also having trouble wrapping my head around this notion of grim. It didn’t register that way for me. The only book I’ve read in recent times that strikes me a unrelentingly grim is The Road. Even A Fine Balance, with its complete imbalance and utter misery, was a book worth reading and well executed. </p>
<p>I also remember that there were certain authors whose works required a good guide. Shakespeare and Chaucer come to mind. I couldn’t have tackled that writing without help but with help, the sharpness, humor, and excellence of the writing came alive.</p>
<p>3girls–and Mickey’s “The Sorcerers Apprentice”. I also had a great narrated record of Peter and the Wolf when I was little. Loved Bug’s Rabbit of Seville.
In elementary school our music teacher introduced us to opera and music like “The Magic Flute” through telling us the stories and playing the music.
And our regular teacher would spend a few minutes of the day playing selections of great music.<br>
I remember a lot of my elementary school and even some middle school teachers reading aloud to us–we never had to wait for some special “story day” that seems to be the norm for some schools now.</p>
<p>Yup. But D prefers asparagus. S lives Brocolli. He has never read Brithers K, but he loves The Aeneid in the original Latin. Not kidding. He also lists Bergman and Kurosawa as favorite directors to the despair of his sister who wants him to have more dates. :)</p>
<p>He has had two GFs but not right now.</p>
<p>He has like-minded friends in his grad program who insisted he play Pan for Halloween because of his curly hair. He made playable Pan pipes out of our backyard bamboo and enjoyed his horns. </p>
<p>I don’t remember forcing my kids to watch movies or listen to music, but yes, I think that’s part of being culturally literate too. You should know who Charlie Chaplin is, you should have seen at least one Alfred Hitchcock, some of the classic westerns, Rashomon, etc. I didn’t have to take care of the classical music piece, my kids played in band and orchestra, but they got exposed to a fair amount of classic rock, country and folk music. Meanwhile they educated me in rap and metal. We recommend books to each other. I would never look at a graphic novel if it weren’t for my oldest.</p>
Some of the hipsters liked “Notes” that year. I liked the French poets that year, best, but I think our teacher just sneaked them in to give us some relief.</p>
Yet another of my children is counting the days until P.E. is over forever. Vive la difference!</p>