Things that you were forced to read in school but liked anyway.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I have always felt that I was born in the wrong period. I used believe that if I had been alive in the medieval period, I would have been a knight in shining armor, riding a gallant steed, rushing off to battle and returning forthwith victor.
But alas, I was wrong
After the internet became a thing and I actually got it, I began to study this romanticized period of our history and now I figure that I would have been a peasant or worse a serf and died young, had I lived during that time. You’re probably telling yourself that I should get to the point, which I am.
Required reading
Yes, that phrase which so many hated. You know, you’re sitting in literature class listening to the teacher drone on and on and then books, or worse a piece of paper with words on it would appear in their hands. The required reading!
House of Seven Gables anyone?
If memory serves me correctly I got a 47 on my exam about the House of Seven Gables, I couldn’t find my way through it. But every so often, there would be a piece of work that would thrill my chainmail heart. I remember hearing groans when my teacher, Mrs. Pace, handed out Beowulf. I heard the title and my ears pricked up like a dog that’s just seen a squirrel. I heard “wolf” and if wolf is in the title it can’t be all bad can it? It did not disappoint.
How epic can an epic poem be?
I do not remember the cover exactly, but I do remember that there was a chainmail clad warrior toting a sword on it. So cool! Finally, something awesome to read and I took it home and devoured it. I got an A on that paper.
Water, water everywhere.
Then, I think maybe a year later? We got Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Which I enjoyed, and Lo and behold Iron Maiden (one of my favorite bands) put that greatness to song that made it even better. What’s more epic than Rime of the Ancient Mariner done in Heavy Metal? Nothing!
There were others, Edgar Allan Poe’s work, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tell Tale Heart, The Raven. But those two aforementioned required readings stood out as what this knight-wannabe wanted to read.
So…
What required reading did you enjoy in school? What was your favorite? I want to know!
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The Cask of Amontillado will forever be the required reading that changed my mind on required reading. It opened up my eyes to the literary genius known as Edgar Allen Poe. What a phenomenal story!
Agreed! He was a genius. I got to visit his dorm at the University of Virginia several years ago. They keep it just as it was when he was there. Tell-tale Heart is forever ingrained in my memory as a terrify descent into madness. Good stuff!