What was your favourite fiction to study with a boy?

[Laura Corin]

I have 1 1/2 years left with Calvin at home before he goes off to high school. He's working at a high school level now and I want to pick out two good novels to study intensively, in addition to those he works on as part of his history course. I'm looking for something that will excite him, but which also has a lot of meat, stylistically as well as philosophically/historically.

 

I'm interested in something from any period from the 17th to the 20th centuries, preferably with some action. Calvin particularly likes fantasy but anything with some action would do him fine. Not Tolkien please - I can't bear it.

 

He's an avid reader who has read Dickens and Shakespeare for fun. I'd like to branch out from Dickens (which he is likely to get at school anyway). What would be your suggestions? North American fiction is welcome, as are any other international ideas.

 

Many thanks

 

Laura

[Brenda in MA]

If he hasn't already read them, Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are wonderful, action-packed, and full of things to discuss.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[Faithr]

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

[Laura Corin]

We did Tom Sawyer (using LL7) and Huck Finn, then went on to The Day They Came to Arrest the Book and Fahrenheit 451.

 

Calvin enjoyed The Three Musketeers, so The Count of Monte Cristo might be an option. I need to look into it a bit more to see how I could teach it.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

[JFSinIL]

Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, ... Fahrenheit 451 ;)

To Kill a Mockingbird, too.

[Laura Corin]

Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, ... Fahrenheit 451 ;)

To Kill a Mockingbird, too.

 

I'll look into that.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

[Chris in VA]

Christopher enjoyed The Jungle, All Quiet on The Western Front, and Frankenstein. He also liked The Grapes of Wrath.

 

Frankenstein is actually deeply philosophical--you can approach it many ways--Is society/civilization harmful or helpful? Are people corrupted by nature or does civilization corrupt? Contrasting it with Lord of The Flies was interesting. What responsibility does creation require? This can get into all kinds of discussions--you could even read The Little Prince to add to it (quick read). You could assign Inkheart as well and see themes of responsibility for creation there--as the author created the evil character in Inkheart and then lost control of him, much like Frankenstein (and much different! lol). There's just a lot there.

[swimmermom3]

Christopher enjoyed The Jungle, All Quiet on The Western Front, and Frankenstein. He also liked The Grapes of Wrath.

 

Frankenstein is actually deeply philosophical--you can approach it many ways--Is society/civilization harmful or helpful? Are people corrupted by nature or does civilization corrupt? Contrasting it with Lord of The Flies was interesting. What responsibility does creation require? This can get into all kinds of discussions--you could even read The Little Prince to add to it (quick read). You could assign Inkheart as well and see themes of responsibility for creation there--as the author created the evil character in Inkheart and then lost control of him, much like Frankenstein (and much different! lol). There's just a lot there.

 

Chris, terrific ideas. I initially purchased RFWP's Philosophy for Young Thinkers for my youngest, but found the material to be more suitable for dinner discussions with my teens. I just hadn't reached the point of tying into literature. Contrasting Lord of the Flies and Frankenstein works perfectly with one of our questions. You, my dear, are brilliant.:D

[Laura Corin]

I wish I had held back Frankenstein. I gave it to him to read on his own and he took against it. If I had assigned it chapter by chapter and we had talked through it, I think he would have enjoyed it a lot more. Oh well.

 

Laura

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

My son loved Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe!

[Jane in NC]

Another vote for Fahrenheit 451.

 

My son would probably recommend Moby Dick. Some may gag at this suggestion, but my kiddo thought that it was a fabulous book.

 

How about Ivanhoe?

[Lori D.]

So far, the top books both boys have enjoyed in our high school Great Books studies:

- The Iliad / The Odyssey

- Oedipus cycle of plays

- Till We Have Faces

- Lord of the Rings

- Beowulf

- Macbeth

- Huckleberry Finn

- To Kill a Mockingbird

 

You may find one of these online articles on Till We Have Faces helpful:

Linden Tree: Ingit and Orual = http://www.lindentree.org/ungit.html

Into the Wardrobe: A CS Lewis Website = http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/gulf.html

 

 

Last year, I also did a separate lit. for each; one did LL8 and he enjoyed all of those works, and the other did a "Worldviews in Sci-Fi Literature" which we created ourselves; he really enjoyed all the books we did:

- Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

- Frankenstein

- The Time Machine

- Animal Farm

- The Giver

- Brave New World

- Farenheit 451

- A Canticle for Leibowitz

- a few short stories out of Cosmicomics

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Restaurant at the End of the Universe

 

 

While a lesser known work, A Canticle for Leibowitz is an extremely rich work, vocabulary-wise and thematically. While we did a great job all on our own; and only after we finished did I find this free online guide by Paul Brians: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html

 

 

We will be doing some of these next year, and none are "action" but much more meditative, but very powerful:

- Cry The Beloved Country

- The Samurai (Endu)

- Black Like Me

- I Heard The Owl Call My Name

 

 

For more "action", what about:

- The Once and Future King (White)

- The Earthsea Trilogy (LeGuin)

- The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesterton)

Edited November 19, 2009 by Lori D.
added info

[Mrs.MacGyver]

On the sci-fi/fantasy side... Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is really great! I believe that there are four books in the series, but I have seen some really great study guides for this first book floating around the web. Also, I believe there were some study suggestions on Card's website. The author also answers questions from students on his website.

[Nan in Mass]

I haven't found anything that worked at "meaty" for my boys as well as ancient or medieval or scifi. It isn't that they didn't enjoy classic novels in later time period, just that they didn't chew on them on their own the same way as the earlier time periods. They have enjoyed Wodehouse, Kipling, Alcott, Dickens, Hawthorne, Scott, Poe, Twain, Stoker, Dumas, O'Henry, and others. It is almost as though those worlds, described in the immediate novel sort of way, are too close to their own for them to remove themselves from them and see them in a more global way.

-Nan

[Lori D.]

I haven't found anything that worked at "meaty" for my boys as well as ancient or medieval or scifi. It isn't that they didn't enjoy classic novels in later time period, just that they didn't chew on them on their own the same way as the earlier time periods...It is almost as though those worlds, described in the immediate novel sort of way, are too close to their own for them to remove themselves from them and see them in a more global way.

 

 

That, Nan, and the fact that ancient, medieval, fantasy/sci-fi are also so VERY teen boy friendly: a bit "larger than life" with heroes, quests, monsters and/or obvious bad guys, codes of honor (or the breaking of codes), battles, and "bad-ass swords" :tongue_smilie: (as a friend who writes fantasy commented on what book cover images most "sell" a book! -- Check out this informal bar graph for proof: http://io9.com/5340578/proof-that-every-fantasy-book-cover-must-contain-a-sword. According to this, all you need to top the bookselling charts is a fantasy book cover with the picture of a dragon attacking a castle, which is being defended by a warrior on a horse with a glowy-magic sword -- tattoes optional. :lol:)

 

 

Hey Laura -- just thought of another book for you; it's VERY philosophical, but it's also got a spaceship, exploring a new planet, and a "mano-a-mano" fist fight with the villian for action: CS Lewis' "Perelandra".

Edited November 19, 2009 by Lori D.
fixed typo

[EKS]

The Chosen.

[Nan in Mass]

What about The Eye of the Heron? That was scifi that might be suitable (unlike 1984) (preread, though, in case I'm mis-remembering). Ursula LeGuin writes well enough that her books are usually considered literature. The book asks good questions. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series also might be something you would like to consider as a fun read, too. My boys have loved it and go back to read it for fun. They find it comforting when they are travelling.

-Nan

[Laura Corin]

- Till We Have Faces

- Beowulf

- Macbeth

- To Kill a Mockingbird

- Brave New World

- A Canticle for Leibowitz

- a few short stories out of Cosmicomics

- Cry The Beloved Country

- The Samurai (Endu)

- Black Like Me

- I Heard The Owl Call My Name

- The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesterton)

 

He hasn't read the books of yours that I left in the quote, so that gives me some scope. We'll be doing another Shakespeare next year anyway (we just finished Merchant of Venice) but there are some great suggestions for other books. I might end up going with To Kill a Mockingbird or Brave New World, just because I'd prefer that his new teachers were familiar with one of the texts he is studying, but I feel that I have leeway on the second text. I couldn't bear The Man Who Was Thursday, so that's out! I look forward to reading the others that you suggest.

 

Laura

[Nan in Mass]

I remember thinking in high school that Cry the Beloved Country was beautiful but that I would never be able to bear to read it again. And I saw nothing in To Kill a Mockingbird or The Invisible Man or A Separate Peace, although I understood the plot perfectly well. I thought Lord of the Flies was wrong. I hated The Lottery, Death of a Salesman, and Poe so much that there was no way I could appreciate them. I loved Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Shakespeare. I at least appreciated 1984, Farenheit 451, Brave New World, Steinbeck, Siddartha, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Great Gatsby, even if I didn't like them. I guess because of that, I am approaching literature with great caution with my children. I might well appreciate more of those if I read them today, but many of them I am avoiding because of the bad flavour they left behind in high school. I was a girl, so this isn't probably very helpful.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Nan in Mass

[periwinkle]

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite novels, my oldest boy was unimpressed, and my middle boy just did.not.like.it. (and let me know every day!)

 

Agreeing with the medieval lit/Shakespeare; the boys have eagerly read from that time period. Their choices are not always evenly set on typically masculine books. My oldest ds sincerely liked Jane Austen's wit in Pride and Prejudice, which most think of as a girl's book.

[Jane in NC]

I thought Lord of the Flies was wrong. I hated The Lottery, Death of a Salesman, and Poe so much that there was no way I could appreciate them.

 

I snipped Nan's post in order to comment on two of the books she listed. Lord of the Flies creeped me out so much in 8th grade that I still shudder when I see the book. The Lottery was supposed to be considered profound at my all girls school; instead, I thought it mirrored the cruelty of some of the girls with whom I went to school. I don't shudder at the thought of it, but I would not ask a sensitive teen to read this short story. Ugh. Maybe I am shuddering at the thought.

 

Miller and Poe were manageable for me.

 

Jane

[Faithr]

Well, I'll chime in and be different. I thought Lord of the Flies was brilliant because it was so creepily accurate at portraying how humanity is fallen. My 9th grader just read it on his own and said it was the best book he's read in a while. Both my 17 and 14 yo's love Poe, especially his poetry.

[Laurel]

The Chosen.

 

:iagree: Exactly what I was going to recommend.

[Chris in VA]

Ds read CryTBC as part of Sonlight's 20th Cent core, and I have to say, he really liked it, even tho it wasn't one we talked about extensively. What made it neat for me was the fact that I went to Ohio State during the Apartheid protests, when students were trying to get US universities to devest (is that the word?). It was just a very interesting thing, realizing his mom experienced part of "history!" lol You could do Black Like Me or To Kill... to add perspectives.

 

If you are doing any government studies, Watership Down is a great way to discuss various forms of government. Plus, it's highly engaging. Adding in Ender's Game might be interesting--government manipulation, and all. And a third book, like The Giver, would give even more to discuss. I guess I just like to deal with societal themes and the ideas of what community does to help or hinder us--as they are preparing to go out into the community themselves. It seems like a good thing to think about in the Rhetoric stage.

 

Tell us what you pick--it's always intriguing to me to see where people go in literature with their kiddos.

[Storm Bay]

Not my favourite, but my kid brother loved this action packed classic, Don Quixote. My 11 yo will read this, as she loved the humour in the kid's version she read.

 

You didn't mention Canadian authors, but one who wrote books that cater to boys (my dad still reads him sometimes and he's just a 76 yo boy ;)) is Farley Mowatt. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowatt is good, but, for something funny with action, The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, as long as you don't mind books about hunting dogs (or dogs meant to be hunting dogs.) Farley Mowatt is of the same generation as my dad and moved to Saskatchewan as a boy, so has lots of outdoor adventures as a boy, which he wrote about, but then also wrote other things about what he did later, including studying wolves up north.

 

I agree with the suggestions of I Heard the Owl Call My Name, The Once and Future King & The Count of Monte Cristo, particularly if he liked The Three Muskateers. For poetry, Robert Service has boy appeal, if he likes humour, sometimes a bit dark (think of The Creation of Sam McGee or is it Magee).

[ereks mom]

(which ER also enjoyed):

Shakespeare -- particularly Twelfth Night and Hamlet

Frankenstein

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

[Laura Corin]

(which ER also enjoyed):

Shakespeare -- particularly Twelfth Night and Hamlet

Frankenstein

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 

We've studied Twelfth Night, Much Ado and Merchant of Venice so far, as well as scenes from Henry V, so will move on to a tragedy next - maybe Hamlet.

 

Calvin read Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll but didn't catch on to either of them. I don't know why. Calvin likes Tolkien, but he's an author who just bores me to tears, and I think a little enthusiasm from the teacher is preferable if possible.

 

Thank you

 

Laura

[Susan C.]

. And I saw nothing in To Kill a Mockingbird

 

Nan,

I am from the west coast, but have lived in the south for 14 years. To Kill A Mockingbird would have meant nothing to me if I hadn't lived in the south!

[Karen in CO]

At that age, I really went for those coming of age books - like Hatchet and Dogsong by Gary Paulsen. Scott o'Dell has a bunch of this type books too.

 

Holes, The Westing Game, The Chocolate War, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and The Giver are all very standard middle school fiction here. They are a the bottom of his reading level, but the content is appropriate and might be different from what he has read.

 

My sister-in-law is working on her Ph.D in something about teaching literature and loves to teach The House on Mango Street to high school kids, but I still haven't read it.

 

The Stranger by Camus is one of my favorite high school lit books, but that may be more than you want to discuss.

 

For science fiction - has he read Starship Troopers? forget the movie, don't hold that against the book. It is a great book about leadership, society, roles and expectations.

 

Maybe some from other points of view which really open up discussions - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Kite Runner, The Life of Pi, Funny in Farsi are some that come to mind.

[Nan in Mass]

Ah! Maybe that was it. I went to college in the south for a little while and it was sooo different!

[Nan in Mass]

Make sure you pre-read Kite Runner. It is pretty upsetting.

[Lori D.]

I might end up going with To Kill a Mockingbird or Brave New World, just because I'd prefer that his new teachers were familiar with one of the texts he is studying

 

 

DO preview Brave New World; our DS was 16/17 when we did it last year, and it is not so much the writing style (fairly straight forward), but the mature content/themes (sex, suicide, alcohol/drug use, euthanasia, flashbacks of one character to his neglected/abused childhood, etc.). The sex it is completely NOT alluring (which is the point); in fact all of the mature content is handled incredible tastefully for what Huxley was trying to show -- a world based on instant gratification, sex, consumerism, pre-determined genetics and extreme behavior control -- all to maintain stability at the price of true humanity. Pretty mature stuff, so do preview.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't bear The Man Who Was Thursday, so that's out!

 

 

Wow! No Tolkien OR Chesterton... Well, then you'll probably dislike the CS Lewis suggestions of Till We Have Faces or Perelandra, too. While incredibly unique authors, they are all similar in a deep founding in Christianity that quietly pervades their worlds, and all three overlap in their older Britain/Christian mentality and code of ethics...

[Lori D.]

Christopher enjoyed The Jungle, All Quiet on The Western Front, and Frankenstein. He also liked The Grapes of Wrath.

 

Frankenstein is actually deeply philosophical--you can approach it many ways--Is society/civilization harmful or helpful? Are people corrupted by nature or does civilization corrupt? Contrasting it with Lord of The Flies was interesting. What responsibility does creation require? This can get into all kinds of discussions--you could even read The Little Prince to add to it (quick read). You could assign Inkheart as well and see themes of responsibility for creation there--as the author created the evil character in Inkheart and then lost control of him, much like Frankenstein (and much different! lol). There's just a lot there.

 

 

Wonderful ideas, Chris, for an older high school teen. :)

 

 

Just a note to Laura, since Calvin is still a pre-teen:

All Quiet on the Western Front is extremely intense; we did it last year when the boys were 15/16 -- the only classic work we've done that stunned them with the sheer emotional trauma. I'm very glad we did it together, but I almost wonder if we should have held off till they were closer to 18 to do it, though.

 

Lord of the Flies is very intense for a pre-teen or young teen. We're saving it for senior year.

 

And the Jungle, Of Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath are VERY depressing, with similar worldviews of the individual getting crushed under the wheels of a powerful, faceless, brutal, business-oriented society. I'd only do ONE of them at all -- and with a pre-teen/young teen, I think I'd actually skip these and go with something with a more positive, encouraging worldview -- something with values he'd want to emulate (courage, perseverance, self-sacrifice, leadership, etc.) -- not themes that will crush his spirit just as he is entering young adulthood. (All too soon our teens see just how ugly the underbelly of this world is. :()

 

Just my 2 cents worth, based on our more conservative, cautious approach. BEST of luck in finding the works that will best help launch Calvin into the next phase of his educational journey. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited November 21, 2009 by Lori D.
clarity

[Laura Corin]

 

Wow! No Tolkien OR Chesterton... Well, then you'll probably dislike the CS Lewis suggestions of Till We Have Faces or Perelandra, too. While incredibly unique authors, they are all similar in a deep founding in Christianity that quietly pervades their worlds, and all three overlap in their older Britain/Christian mentality and code of ethics...

 

Had nothing to do with the morality/ethics/Christianity. I'm not Christian but have no problem with reading about Christianity. The CS Lewis children's books are favourites around here. Tolkien just bores me as did the Chesterton. I think I was missing something in my reading of the latter, but I just couldn't get it.

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

Just my 2 cents worth, based on our more conservative, cautious approach. BEST of luck in finding the works that will best help launch Calvin into the next phase of his educational journey. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

I'll be pre-reading a lot over the next few months, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind.

 

Laura

[Pippen]

On the sci-fi/fantasy side... Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is really great! I believe that there are four books in the series, but I have seen some really great study guides for this first book floating around the web. Also, I believe there were some study suggestions on Card's website. The author also answers questions from students on his website.

 

I think Ender's Game has a lot of great study/discussion possibilities. If you consider this as a series, be aware that the latter books aren't don't have the same feel as the first, and always aren't as well received. I loved the first book but wondered if I'd wandered into a totally different series using the same characters in the rest.

[Nan in Mass]

I've heard LOTR described as the longest description of a walk ever written. That might be your problem. I happen to love the descriptions of the territory they walk through, but...

[Laura Corin]

I've heard LOTR described as the longest description of a walk ever written. That might be your problem. I happen to love the descriptions of the territory they walk through, but...

 

Love walks - can't bear LOTR.

 

Laura

[Lori D.]

Make sure you pre-read Kite Runner. It is pretty upsetting.

 

 

And maybe it was just me, but Life of Pi (VERY meaty and well written) had sections that disturbed me to the point of actually feeling nauseous. That "predatory" island... brrrr....

 

Laura:

I JUST thought of a great one with action, and young teen boys as protagonists, with some great themes of coming of age, choosing between good and evil, self-sacrifice, and for once a wonderful father figure:

 

Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Was Comes". Our boys REALLY enjoyed that one -- creepy; action; great themes.

[Laura Corin]

And maybe it was just me, but Life of Pi (VERY meaty and well written) had sections that disturbed me to the point of actually feeling nauseous. That "predatory" island... brrrr....

 

Laura:

I JUST thought of a great one with action, and young teen boys as protagonists, with some great themes of coming of age, choosing between good and evil, self-sacrifice, and for once a wonderful father figure:

 

Ray Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Was Comes". Our boys REALLY enjoyed that one -- creepy; action; great themes.

 

Very disturbing. I'll look into the Bradbury.

 

Laura

[Tamarind]

Never Cry Wolf

Into the Wild

A Zoo in My Luggage

A Primate's Memoir

[Catherine]

I think of it more as a cautionary tale-of how horrible people can be, if left to their own devices. Actually, he said it reminded him of his years in PS in some ways : (

 

I also second recommendations for Once and Future King, not a difficult read but if Calvin likes fantasy it is wonderful. Fanciful is more accurate, but there is a mature theme in Guenevere\Lancelot.

 

My son loved Beowulf (must use Heaney translation) and The Consolation of Philosophy, though the latter is not fiction. Though he is not Christian, he found it very thought-provoking.

 

I read Silas Marner with my eighth grader one year and we both really enjoyed it. It's one of my favorite books.

[Susan C.]

How about Treasure Island or Kidnapped?

[Storm Bay]

Very disturbing. I'll look into the Bradbury.

 

Laura

 

 

Looking back I thought both The Life of Pi and Something Wicked This Way Comes had disturbing elements to them. Wasn't the latter book the one where the precocial baby kills its parents? Perhaps Fahrenheit 451 (it's been a few days since I was here so that may have been suggested) is a better choice. Of course, in a sense it goes in the same group as 1984 and Brave New World.

 

I personally didn't like The Man Who was Called Thursday, so I didn't finish it.

[Lori D.]

Something Wicked This Way Comes... Wasn't ... [that] the one where the precocial baby kills its parents?

 

 

Good gracious! NO! I don't know what book THAT is! :eek:

 

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes -- here is the plot summary from Wikipedia:

" It is about two 13-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, who have a harrowing experience with a nightmarish traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern town one October. The carnival's leader is the mysterious "Mr. Dark" who bears a tattoo for each person who, lured by the offer to live out his secret fantasies, has become bound in service to the carnival. Mr. Dark's malevolent presence is countered by that of Will's father, Charles Halloway, who harbors his own secret desire to regain his youth.

The novel combines elements of fantasy and horror, analyzing the conflicting natures of good and evil, and on how they come into play between the characters and the carnival."

 

 

Yes, it is creepy, but it is a book CLEARLY about good and evil, and how choosing GOOD saves others. The one boy, William Halloway ("Hallowed" i.e. "Sacred") wants to grow up normally and avoid temptation, but he is willing to risk himself to save his friend Jim Nightshade (nightshade is a poisonous plant; also possibly used as a symbol pointing to Jim's being "under the shadow of night" or evil) who is very tempted by the evil Mr. Dark to become an adult NOW, rather than by living/growing day by day. And the father Charles is a wonderful image of a self-sacrificing father figure worthy of being looked up to by his son, because he risks himself to save both boys, even though the one more in danger is not his own son.

[Storm Bay]

Good gracious! NO! I don't know what book THAT is! :eek:

 

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes -- here is the plot summary from Wikipedia:

" It is about two 13-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, who have a harrowing experience with a nightmarish traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern town one October. The carnival's leader is the mysterious "Mr. Dark" who bears a tattoo for each person who, lured by the offer to live out his secret fantasies, has become bound in service to the carnival. Mr. Dark's malevolent presence is countered by that of Will's father, Charles Halloway, who harbors his own secret desire to regain his youth.

The novel combines elements of fantasy and horror, analyzing the conflicting natures of good and evil, and on how they come into play between the characters and the carnival."

 

 

Yes, it is creepy, but it is a book CLEARLY about good and evil, and how choosing GOOD saves others. The one boy, William Halloway ("Hallowed" i.e. "Sacred") wants to grow up normally and avoid temptation, but he is willing to risk himself to save his friend Jim Nightshade (nightshade is a poisonous plant; also possibly used as a symbol pointing to Jim's being "under the shadow of night" or evil) who is very tempted by the evil Mr. Dark to become an adult NOW, rather than by living/growing day by day. And the father Charles is a wonderful image of a self-sacrificing father figure worthy of being looked up to by his son, because he risks himself to save both boys, even though the one more in danger is not his own son.

 

I must be confusing two different books. I read most of Bradbury's books when I was a teen, which was a few decades ago. So, I wonder who wrote the book of short stories I'm thinking of? For years and years I thought it was Bradbury. I read this book of short stories some time after reading The Martian Chronicles. I remember reading a book with the title Something Wicked This Way Comes, but I don't remember the story you're saying. I read a LOT of books when I was a teen, though, and suspect that I've forgotten many of them, although not all.

[Nan in Mass]

It sounds like Pinocchio. I missed that when I read it as a teen. I thought it was very creepy and never reread it, but it wasn't so creepy that I didn't finish it. I think it was one of the ones my mother did damage control for LOL. She read most of the books I read, or had read them previously, and if she noticed I was reading something that she thought might bother me, she used the spoil-the-book-if-you-discuss-it principle on me in reverse LOL. She would talk about the book a little to make me see it as a literary work and diminish the realness of the story. (And you know, it wasn't until right now as I wrote this that I realized what she was doing! Still does LOL. How typical of her. No wonder I just have to be in the same room as her to feel better. I wish I could parent as well.) This is a perfect example of what I keep thinking about literature: I read the book as a teen. I knew perfectly well that the father was admirable and someone to emulate. I never noticed that one character was named for nightshade and another had hallowed in his name, but I don't think that matters. I knew what nightshade was; my sister ate some when we were little and had to go to the doctor's. I think the names worked fine subconciously. If I hadn't known what nightshade was, it might have been useful to have that pointed out, but otherwise, I'm not sure discussing it would have deepened my appreciation for the book at all. And if I were an author, I'm not sure I would want my devices and the way I made the book work all pulled apart and discussed.

-Nan

[Chris in VA]

You are exactly right! I didn't read carefully enough, sorry Laura--thought Cal was older.

[Laura Corin]

You are exactly right! I didn't read carefully enough, sorry Laura--thought Cal was older.

 

I'm looking forward to five or so years hence when his emotional age might catch up with his reading age. I've been waiting for that day for seven years already and I have Amazon Listmania lists to prove it.

 

Laura

[Peela]

Ds14 is reading and enjoying The White Company by A. Conan Doyle at present. Apparently Doyle loved it as his favourite of his books- better than all the Sherlock Holmes ones. It's set in medieval times.

The other book we read this year that we were all surprised how much we enjoyed, although it wasn't an easy read for us, was Ivanhoe.

I can imagine my ds14 liking Lord of the Flies, although I havent given it to him yet.