lewelma Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 My ds loves to read really difficult stuff over summer because he has time to focus on it. Last year while vacationing at a lake, he read Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervin Peake. Very wonderful but difficult books. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I was thinking about Moby Dick or Wuthering Heights. I am sorry that Game of Thrones is inappropriate because that is the type of series he would love. And please ignore his age, he is a very good reader and has read all the younger classics already. He wants something tough but still with a story that moves forward. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Don Quixote Moby Dick seems like a good choice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Dante's Inferno was a huge hit for 8th grade here. It can be difficult to stay on the edge of appropriate for an advanced younger reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions. To clarify the other thread was about making a school reading list for 7th grade. I was looking for classics but not the really hard ones. I have listed all the books he has already read on that thread: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371304 Now, I am looking for just 1 or 2 books that are HARD (but not boring), because he likes to sink his teeth into something when he has nothing else to do. He has read the cartoon version of the Inferno. :D But did not really like the plot. Don Quixote sounds good. He doesn't really like Dickens because he finds him depressing. Never heard of Trollope. Which book do you recommend? Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 (edited) nm Edited November 21, 2012 by Honoria Glossop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Don Quixote Moby Dick seems like a good choice too. :iagree: DS finished Moby Dick a few months ago and will finish Don Quixote in a week or so. He feels that there's lots of unimportant info in both and found them long winded but strangely, not boring. I wonder if your DS will like Pygmalion? I haven't read it yet and plan to begin soon. I loved Middlemarch by Elliot in my teens but I'm not sure how interesting it will be for a boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I read over the linked list quickly, so I might have missed it, but how about poetry....Beowulf, Iliad, Odyssey? You might be saving those for focused lessons or perhaps he's already read them....? My dd read the Mabinogion and really enjoyed it recently. She used Mabon and Guardians of Celtic Britain as a guide to read alongside it. I noticed he's already read LOTR...maybe he might like the Silmarillion. My dd is and was so inspired by Tolkien. Dd recently read The Scarlet Pimpernel and really liked it too. She wants to read the next book. Both of my girls want to read The Saga of the Volsungs with me (and the Niblelungenlied). How does he feel about mythology? I know just want you mean by needed a bigger book on which to tackle. My younger dd is a strong reader too. She and I picked out 3 books to read together and we call them her challenge books. She picked Ivanhoe, Evangeline and Legends of Charlemagne (from Bulfinch's Mythology). I leave her age/grade out because of books like these for her. What about something for history....the Churchill books? How does he feel about science? I think Microbe Hunters looks very interesting. I'm not sure that was much help...sorry....:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Dd recently read The Scarlet Pimpernel and really liked it too. She wants to read the next book. There is a next book to The Scarlet Pimpernel? I loved that book. How could I not know that!?!? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Dd says the sequel is titled I Will Repay and the one following it is titled The Elusive Pimpernel. She says that there are many more (more than a dozen)! (said with much excitement...:001_smile:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 There is a next book to The Scarlet Pimpernel? I loved that book. How could I not know that!?!? :D There are many sequels. My daughter fell in love with The Scarlet Pimpernel and we obtained six of the sequels through inter-library loan. From wikipedia: Scarlet Pimpernel publications Novels The Scarlet Pimpernel (play 1903, novel 1905) I Will Repay (1906) The Elusive Pimpernel (1908) Eldorado (1913) Lord Tony's Wife (1917) The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1922) Sir Percy Hits Back (1927) A Child of the Revolution (1932) The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1933) Sir Percy Leads the Band (1936) Mam'zelle Guillotine (1940) Collections of short stories The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1919) Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1929) Omnibus editions The Scarlet Pimpernel etc. (1930) collection of four novels The Gallant Pimpernel (1939) collection of four novels The Scarlet Pimpernel Omnibus (1952) collection of four novels Related books The Laughing Cavalier (1913) (about an ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel) The First Sir Percy (1920) (about an ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel) Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924) (about a relation of the Scarlet Pimpernel) The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933) A Gay Adventurer A biography of Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart. (1935) (written by 'John Blakeney' pseud. (John Montagu Orczy Barstow)) The Life and Exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1938) (written by 'John Blakeney' pseud. (John Montagu Orczy Barstow) ) n.b. re-release of 'A Gay Adventurer' Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I usually recommend Eldorado second because the Anthony Andrews film version draws from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 I'd try Shakespeare and the Odyssey. Verse is difficult but in Shakespeare's case works are short. I'd start with tragedies because they are more straight forward than comedies. My first pick would be Macbeth and then maybe The Tempest (yeah, I know, not a tragedy). Drama could be good overall if he likes it. There's lots of it to be had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 (edited) Well, I have researched the plots of all your recommendations. Thanks so much! I talked to my son about all the different books, plays, verse, etc and he has chosen his summer reading challenge. And the winner is....... Shakespeare. He loves the Shakespeare movies we have rented (with original verse) and he has read Tales of Shakespeare by Lamb more than once. He was very excited about working his way through the lot. It will be a great summer reading project. And we can put them on his new Kindle! Thanks everyone, Ruth in NZ Oh, and I will add the Scarlet Pimpernel to his early modern historical fiction for next year right before the Tale of Two Cities. Not sure how I missed that one?!?! Thanks Edited May 26, 2012 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 If he liked the Gormenghast books, it sounds like odd is good Yes. Odd is good, which is why we will be doing a large unit on distopias next year. If you have any more-modern oddballs (1850's+), I am all ears! You are obviously a well read lady. Not many people have ever read Gormenghast! I will be coming back to you for recommendations in the future. He has read Frankenstein but did not like it because everyone died in the end. I will add Trollope to next years list. He has been interested in the Lattimore's Odyssey, but I think I will wait until 9th grade when we will do a bunch of ancients. Tristram Shandy and Sartor Resartus do sound like oddballs but I find the older books typically need a good editor! Will put them on the list for high school. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 (edited) :iagree: DS finished Moby Dick a few months ago and will finish Don Quixote in a week or so. He feels that there's lots of unimportant info in both and found them long winded but strangely, not boring....I wonder if your DS will like Pygmalion? .....I loved Middlemarch by Elliot in my teens but I'm not sure how interesting it will be for a boy. Thanks quark. I started Moby Dick last month and found the same thing. Unimportant but interesting at the same time. He really liked the idea of Moby Dick because Michael Clay Thompson used it throughout Paragraph Town, so he feels that it is a famous/good/well loved/intellectual book to read. He might end up reading it side by side with Shakespeare. Will add these other suggestions to my growing list. Thanks Edited May 26, 2012 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 I read over the linked list quickly, so I might have missed it, but how about poetry....Beowulf, Iliad, Odyssey? You might be saving those for focused lessons or perhaps he's already read them....? My dd read the Mabinogion and really enjoyed it recently. She used Mabon and Guardians of Celtic Britain as a guide to read alongside it. I noticed he's already read LOTR...maybe he might like the Silmarillion. My dd is and was so inspired by Tolkien. Dd recently read The Scarlet Pimpernel and really liked it too. She wants to read the next book. Both of my girls want to read The Saga of the Volsungs with me (and the Niblelungenlied). How does he feel about mythology? I know just want you mean by needed a bigger book on which to tackle. My younger dd is a strong reader too. She and I picked out 3 books to read together and we call them her challenge books. She picked Ivanhoe, Evangeline and Legends of Charlemagne (from Bulfinch's Mythology). I leave her age/grade out because of books like these for her. What about something for history....the Churchill books? How does he feel about science? I think Microbe Hunters looks very interesting. I'm not sure that was much help...sorry....:001_smile: Great suggestions, thanks! He has read Bulfinch's Mythology last year and LOVED it! I am trying to get him into some nonfiction. I was thinking of starting with Guns, Germs, and Steel for next year. But will remember these other 2. I really like the idea of calling them challenge books. Will consider these others. Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Mint Hill Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 For long and something you can sink your teeth into.... Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon series, starting with Taliesin. or his Paradise Wars trilogy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HodgesSchool Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Shakespeare sounds like the perfect choice. My son (newly 13) adored Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and Midsummer Night's dream over the last few years. Macbeth was also a huge hit as was Henry V--and to a lesser degree, Julius Caesar. (Romeo and Juliet as well as Hamlet have themes which I think will make more sense to kids later. We've held back on those.) DS loves the "bicycle" movie version of Midsummer Night's Dream--the one with Stanley Tucci as Puck. Make sure you see the absolutely hysterical Reduced Shakespeare video--after y'all have read a smattering. We found a copy in the library but eventually had to buy our own copy. (It is a bit naughty at times, but so worth it! You might want to preview, but if you do it in the other room while your son is home, he'll force you to let him watch it when he hears you laughing aloud so much you have to gasp for breath.) We are utterly secular--and we've found reading the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has been a huge hit. The language and syntax are challenging, the stories gripping (in many chapters). (Um...if you haven't read it before, this might be another one to pre-read. There are some disturbing and violent episodes--and it it the book that taught generations of westerners about sex as well. I remember my grandmother telling me about how as a child she snuck the family Bible out of the living room to read the naughty bits under the covers.) For "light" but extremely enjoyable and somewhat challenging reading, your son might love Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books. My son started them much younger so I'm not sure your son will fall for them--but DS still loves them. They are completely appropriate for quite young children, written in the first half of the 20th century in Britain about growing up with imagination, growing independence, and self-made adventure. They are really lovely. Has he read the Wooster and Jeeves books? My son just discovered them last year and laughs his head off. Like the Ransome books, the vocabulary is pretty sophisticated even though they might not be considered great literature by everybody. Can't wait to hear how the summer goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 For "light" but extremely enjoyable and somewhat challenging reading, your son might love Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books. He has read ALL of them and loved them! They are what got him interested in sailing. I will go hunt down a King James version. There was just an article in National Geographic a couple of months ago about the literary aspect of it and what other versions of the bible it pulled from. Very interesting. Thanks for the other ideas too, will go look them up. For long and something you can sink your teeth into....Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon series, starting with Taliesin. or his Paradise Wars trilogy. The second one in particular I think he would like. I just put it in my cart and will save it for a time when he doesn't want to read a classic. Can't wait to hear how the summer goes! And for anyone that has noticed that it will not be summer in NZ next month, we will be in the USA for 6 weeks so it will be! Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HodgesSchool Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Oh, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention and fell for that terrible trap of assuming the whole world is like where I live. My apologies. Hannah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 I didn't mean it that way! I have been referring to his summer reading too. Just trying to keep everyone on their toes! Ruth in NZ, where it is currently 50 degree with 50 mph winds outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HodgesSchool Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 :) Thanks. (I still feel pretty silly!) Here is 95 and humid. And it isn't summer here, either (yet). Yikes. I didn't mean it that way! I have been referring to his summer reading too. Just trying to keep everyone on their toes! Ruth in NZ, where it is currently 50 degree with 50 mph winds outside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happymop Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 For long and something you can sink your teeth into.... Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon series, starting with Taliesin. or his Paradise Wars trilogy. Agree! My dd has read everything he's written, multiple times. He writes so well (in fact, I love using his books as read alouds - they're such a pleasure to read, both for story line as well as style). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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