s/o Homer: which works *are* hard?

[Ester Maria]

Which literary works commonly taught at the high school level you or your children HAVE found to be difficult or inappropriate (for lack of a better expression), whether from an intellectual or an emotional standpoint?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ds has found some older translations esp. if they are poetic to be hard stylistically for him but other than that he says that he has had no difficulties with any literature. He's read not only the books on TWTMs ancient list but all sorts of classics handed to him by the librarians. I've found though that on translated material that if I stick to the translation recommendations given by SWB or by people on this board that we do all right.

[regentrude]

We are only in our 2nd year of high school and have done Ancients<Medieval and Renaissance.

DD found Thukydides very difficult. It was the only work that we decided to abandon completely (she had no trouble with Herodotus). It may be different for my son who is interested in military history.

While she loved Dante, we definitely found it hard, and despite her initial enthusiasm we did not read the whole Comedy, but only the Inferno and part of Purgatorio.

 

I myself have trouble reading Faulkner, with few exceptions. I can not blame it on English not being my native language, because I am having trouble reading Faulkner in German translation as well.

Content wise, I am hesitant about having my kids read East of Eden by Steinbeck. It is a great book, but I am bothered by the evil in it; it makes me physically uncomfortable if that makes any sense.

Edited March 3, 2012 by regentrude

[Karen in CO]

My ds struggled with Paradise Lost. It was really the only thing we did that was super hard for him. He loved Homer. Some of the more modern things we read were emotionally hard for him - like Night. He struggled with the images of war in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and he just didn't like Camus.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Karen in CO

[Matryoshka]

and he just didn't like Camus.

 

Which Camus? I remember loving The Plague in high school. But maybe I am very odd. :tongue_smilie:

 

Books I remember being horrified by in high school were Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime. And I just plain didn't like Billy Budd.

Edited March 3, 2012 by matroyshka

[Karen in CO]

Which Camus? I remember loving The Plague in high school. But maybe I am very odd. :tongue_smilie:

 

Books I remember being horrified by in high school were Catcher in the Rye and Ragtime. And I just plain didn't like Billy Budd.

 

It was The Plague. I wonder if The Stranger would have been better for him. We read Camus after Kafka . I think he might have just been ready for something more positive about the universe. But, he picked Camus as the one he didn't like.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Karen in CO

[angela in ohio]

Which Camus? I remember loving The Plague in high school. But maybe I am very odd. :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, you are very odd. :lol:

[angela in ohio]

Inappropriate? A few of the Greek plays and a few of the Canterbury Tales. :lol:

 

Nothing yet has been overly challenging so far except for some of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, but we are only in year 2.

 

As I make our list for the next two years (1600 to present,) though, I'm having to stop myself from crossing things off the list out of hand based on the worldview or mature content. I'm concerned about *me* reading some of the works about war, but I know dd won't mind. I'm also really concerned about making sure I handle the political writings well.

[Charles Wallace]

Which literary works commonly taught at the high school level you or your children HAVE found to be difficult or inappropriate (for lack of a better expression), whether from an intellectual or an emotional standpoint?

 

Not very fond of Middlemarch or Paradise Lost.

[Roadrunner]

Proust was the only one I can think of that i abandoned trying when I was in high school.

[Ester Maria]

While she loved Dante, we definitely found it hard, and despite her initial enthusiasm we did not read the whole Comedy, but only the Inferno and part of Purgatorio.

(Which translation did you use?)

 

Dante is very difficult; so intense and difficult that it is often covered over a period of three years (one canticle per year in lycee - and even then not entire canticles, but a more or less representative selection of cantos).

We started accustoming our children to Dante very young, so we did not run into some typical problems, but there still are / were difficulties.

 

I agree about Faulkner too, but in my case (my children have not read any Faulkner yet, I believe), it is just plain dislike of that type of writing.

Proust was the only one I can think of that i abandoned trying when I was in high school.

Oh, yeah. :) I somehow managed, but was definitely not able to appreciate Proust at that age.

 

Interestingly, I have always loved Milton, although I was an older teen when I read PL for the first time.

[regentrude]

(Which translation did you use?)

 

Dante is very difficult; so intense and difficult that it is often covered over a period of three years (one canticle per year in lycee - and even then not entire canticles, but a more or less representative selection of cantos).

We started accustoming our children to Dante very young, so we did not run into some typical problems, but there still are / were difficulties.

 

DD used the Mandelbaum translation. I also had Ciardi, which I did not like as much.

I remembered what you had written before about Dante and had not planned to study all three canticles this year, just the Inferno, but she loved it and got so excited that she wanted to do the whole thing. She just ran out of steam halfway into the Purgatorio.

[Ester Maria]

DD used the Mandelbaum translation. I also had Ciardi, which I did not like as much.

I remembered what you had written before about Dante and had not planned to study all three canticles this year, just the Inferno, but she loved it and got so excited that she wanted to do the whole thing. She just ran out of steam halfway into the Purgatorio.

I remember when Eliana posted examples of various translations and then I attempted to compare them, and I liked Mandelbaum the best.

 

That is okay, though, your daughter can still get back to Dante should she wish sometime in the future. :) Dante is beautiful. What were her favorite parts?

[regentrude]

I remember when Eliana posted examples of various translations and then I attempted to compare them, and I liked Mandelbaum the best.

That is why I decided to give her Mandelbaum :)

That is okay, though, your daughter can still get back to Dante should she wish sometime in the future. :) Dante is beautiful. What were her favorite parts?

She was quite fascinated by the Ugolino story (which I can understand; there is something very eerie about it) and the appearance of Odysseus.

So much that she chose as her essay topic to write about the different characterization of Odysseus in Odyssey, Aeneid and Inferno, and how the perception of Odysseus changes to reflect the value system of the respective time period. (Very ambitious topic, I know; more suited to a doctoral thesis than a high school essay)

[Ester Maria]

So much that she chose as her essay topic to write about the different characterization of Odysseus in Odyssey, Aeneid and Inferno, and how the perception of Odysseus changes to reflect the value system of the respective time period. (Very ambitious topic, I know; more suited to a doctoral thesis than a high school essay)

It is actually a very "typical" topic for somebody who decides to write about Odysseus. Sure, the way it is covered on a high school level and on a doctoral level differs, but as a topic, it is not unheard of. Plus your daughter is an excellent writer, so I do not doubt she did it well. ;)

 

(I happen to like this topic VERY much, I think it is a very flexible topic, with great potential. It is also one of my favorite parts of Commedia.)