What do you do when they want to read a book for lit that you can't stand?

[Momto6inIN]

DD wants to read The Scarlet Letter as one of her lit selections this year. I said sure. We are currently working on other things, so this book would not be assigned to her til later in the year. Then I started reading it so I could discuss it with her at that point and oh my word it's boring!!!! I'm only a few pages in and I already hate it. So my options are:

1. Tell her to pick a different book for that slot.

2. Suck it up and read it anyway. If you recommend this option, please tell me it gets better as I get further in 🙂

3. Cheat and only read the Cliff's notes version for our discussion.

4. Other ???

Edited August 21, 2019 by Momto6inIN
Eta: I realize she can still read the book without it being for school, and I don't care what she reads in her free time, but what do you all do in this situation for an assigned book?

[kokotg]

I neither hate nor love The Scarlet Letter, but I found it really useful to read with high schoolers because Hawthorne has some really interesting symbolism that he absolutely smacks you over the head with. So it's sort of obvious and easy to interpret (or at least understand how to interpret once it's pointed out) for high schoolers but it still feels like you're doing legit analysis. It's also about as close as one gets these days to canon, so it's a good thing to have read. If you don't want to read it, I think it's perfectly fine to have her read it and maybe find a good lecture or two on it for her to listen to (Great Courses, open courseware, etc.....for something like Scarlet Letter, I'm sure there's a ton out there).

[Lori D.]

Well, the extremely lengthy "Custom House" prologue to The Scarlet Letter can be a tough slog. I'll just encourage you that once you get to the actual story, it does get a bit more interesting (stuff happens; there are actual characters to follow). One option is to skip reading the Custom House part, substitute a summary  to understand why Hawthorne wrote it, and then just get on with reading the actual story.

Agreeing with kokotg -- the actual story portion has some pretty strong images, and is not tough to understand. And without the Custom House prologue, it's not that long of a read.

JMO: if you want to know what the actual storyline is without reading it, then go with Cliffs Notes or Sparknotes -- do NOT go for the Demi Moore movie -- it's one of those "loosely based on the title of a classic" versions that is just a Hollywood excuse for showing hot Puritan s•x by a candlelight, lol. Also, that particular movie has a vastly different ending from the book.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Lori D.

[maize]

Can you listen to it as an audiobook while doing housework or laundry or something?

Edited August 22, 2019 by maize

[klmama]

Skip the Custom House. It's one of the most tedious readings in American lit, IMHO. Read a summary, and then jump into The Scarlet Letter itself.  If you want to go back to read the Custom House at the end, it will mean more to you.  If you don't want to, it's no great loss.  Not reading The Scarlet Letter itself would be a loss, however.  Don't miss it!  

[RootAnn]

Well, I admit that I just get my DH to discuss it if I can't stand an assigned book. I try not to assign a book I can't stand, though. Some books are better for him to read/discuss. And yes, they usually involve those books that are typically assigned in high school (Scarlet Letter, Walden, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, etc).

If they want to read one on their own that I don't care for, more power to them. I don't reread them with them.

[HomeAgain]

We had this come up in middle school.  DS read The Hobbit, and it's one of those books I just can't stand.  I made it through about three quarters, but I bought a discussion guide to go along so that we were still able to talk about it even if it was a book I had no intention of reading on my own, ever.

[Momto6inIN]

8 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Well, the extremely lengthy "Custom House" prologue to The Scarlet Letter can be a tough slog. I'll just encourage you that once you get to the actual story, it does get a bit more interesting (stuff happens; there are actual characters to follow). One option is to skip reading the Custom House part, substitute a summary  to understand why Hawthorne wrote it, and then just get on with reading the actual story.

Agreeing with kokotg -- the actual story portion has some pretty strong images, and is not tough to understand. And without the Custom House prologue, it's not that long of a read.

JMO: if you want to know what the actual storyline is without reading it, then go with Cliffs Notes or Sparknotes -- do NOT go for the Demi Moore movie -- it's one of those "loosely based on the title of a classic" versions that is just a Hollywood excuse for showing hot Puritan s•x by a candlelight, lol. Also, that particular movie has a vastly different ending from the book.

 

4 hours ago, klmama said:

Skip the Custom House. It's one of the most tedious readings in American lit, IMHO. Read a summary, and then jump into The Scarlet Letter itself.  If you want to go back to read the Custom House at the end, it will mean more to you.  If you don't want to, it's no great loss.  Not reading The Scarlet Letter itself would be a loss, however.  Don't miss it!  

I'm so glad to know this!!! I've been wondering how on earth a person can have so much to say about a building LOL

I will skip the Custom House and see if I like it better 🙂

[wendyroo]

22 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:

 

I'm so glad to know this!!! I've been wondering how on earth a person can have so much to say about a building LOL

I will skip the Custom House and see if I like it better 🙂

I am reading The Scarlet Letter right now.  I made it through one page of The Custom House and bailed on it - I don't have time in my life to drudge through that.  I'm about 3/4 through the book itself, though, and am finding it quite interesting, and a fairly easy read.

[lewelma]

cheat!  DS wanted to read War and Peace.  And I really did try to keep up.  But Oh MY is that book horrible. I read sparkesnotes and did fine in our discussions!

 

[regentrude]

You don't have to read every book they read. You don't have to discuss the book with her. You don't even have to read the cliff notes.

My DD spent an entire year unschooling English and doing an independent study of the British romantics. I didn't read a single of her books. She learned a ton, wrote about the books, discussed with other people. 

 

Edited August 21, 2019 by regentrude

[Farrar]

I think it's fine for you to skip it. Especially for something like Scarlet Letter, there's tons of resources for reading about it or watching others discuss it if she needs to do more than read. I think discussion and analysis is a key part of high school English... but it's okay if it's not done on every book.

[MerryAtHope]

If you can slog through the (long, usually too many) pages of descriptions about things, I agree that the story is interesting. I actually read The Scarlet Letter aloud to my kids, and something bizarre happened--my kids thought Pearl (the little girl) was laugh-out-loud funny. The first time they laughed, it really caught me off guard, but it changed how I read the story to them (for the better I think) and I enjoyed it more. 

[8filltheheart]

I was going to say the same thing as Lori. Custom House is a slog, but by the end of the novel, I did learn to at least understand why it was included. I actually like the Scarlet Letter, so I can appreciate your Dd wanting to include it in her lit selections.

That said, I don't even try to keep up with everything my kids are reading, especially novels I have read in the past and/or can find good resources for discussion.  Othertimes, Imlisten to the audiobook while driving/cleaning to keep up with them bc I never have enough time to commit to just sitting and reading what they are.

[Momto6inIN]

I don't try to keep up with all they read either - it's just not possible! But I do like to read the stuff I specifically assign for credit and want to discuss intelligently with them.

[shinyhappypeople]

Try reading the No Fear version https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/the-scarlet-letter/  It's a side by side version (original on the left, modern English on the right).  You can read it online for free (the link I posted) or buy a paperback copy from amazon.  

[katilac]

On 8/21/2019 at 3:51 PM, lewelma said:

cheat!  DS wanted to read War and Peace.  And I really did try to keep up.  But Oh MY is that book horrible. I read sparkesnotes and did fine in our discussions!

 

On 8/21/2019 at 4:03 PM, regentrude said:

You don't have to read every book they read. You don't have to discuss the book with her. You don't even have to read the cliff notes.

 

I agree that you don't need to read and discuss every single book with them. When my dd read War and Peace, I had nothing to do with it, lol. She did talk about it but I did not read Sparknotes or anything, I just let her tell me about it and asked questions if something intrigued me.  I think it's actually great to approach some literature by just diving in and seeing what this particular reader notices and gets out of it. They don't always need to have context provided and their thoughts guided (I'm rhyming, it must be getting late). 

I used to have a list of literary analysis questions which I think originated with SWB, either WTM or her literary analysis talk. They can be used for verbal discussion or a reading journal. Examples for a novel or story: 

• What do the central characters want? 
• What is the conflict (what is keeping them from getting what they want)? 
• Is there an enemy or villain? What do they want? 
• What is the most important event in this chapter? 
• Did you hope that it would end in a different way? If so, how? 

You can search for read and respond examples for more ideas. Writing down favorite quotes and passages is great as well. 

Using Sparknotes and such is a viable solution as well, I just think it's also fine if she takes the lead and doesn't have that guided experience for the occasional book. I knew I couldn't muster any personal enthusiasm for Tolstoy, but I did quite enjoy her enthusiasm. She talked about whatever struck her fancy and I just asked the occasional question that arose naturally from that. 

I would not have her pick another book; don't discourage her from making decisions about her education. I would also not slog through the book with grim determination - there will be many other books you can read with her.