Have to admit that I’m not a great fan of Steinbeck. I burn out on him after one story. I mean, I’ll admit he was a fabulous writer, but the man couldn’t write a happy ending to save his life.
My very clever daughter once said that if you follow anyone’s story til the end, it’s a sad ending…maybe what you don’t like about Steinbeck is that he follows the stories too far.
One of the greatest disservices that can be wrought upon human is requiring high school sophomores to read Of Mice & Men. (Or 1984, or Flowers For Algernon, or… you see the pattern.) These are all books I had to read as a sophomore and it was a grueling, pointless exercise. I mean, giving depressing stories to angst-ridden 15 year olds? Who thought THAT was a good idea? And the fact that the literature is well-written only makes it worse.
Sorry, but there are many, many novels that were intended for a more mature palate that has tasted deeply of life’s experiences over at least two decades. Steinbeck’s “Of Mice & Men” is one such, in my humble opinion.
If people are not forced to read good but depressing works of literature when they are either sophomores or freshmen (my high school was a 3 year one), they are not likely to ever read them, myself included.
Erk, that mouse is looking very real, not cartoony. I’ve had mice eat up books and notes. Grrr. Traps are the best way to kill them though. Glue pads bring a lot of suffering. And, speaking for depressing endings…I lost three cats who found and munched on poisoned mice.
Yes, I’ve cried at the end of many of Steinbeck’s novels… haven’t read “The Pearl”? Yah… get a kleenex box. After yer done reading it, cue up some Looney Toons or something.
Ha! … snappy. Ouch. It WAS a trap!
Judy- I guess it depends on your definition of ‘ending’. I believe in an afterlife, and that most peoples’ afterlife will be a happy one, so I’d be inclined to say that sad-ending stories (those that end in death and despair) end too soon 😛
I read Of Mice & Men and Flowers for Algernon when I was younger than 15 – I did not find them ‘grueling and pointless’. Folks should read for reasons other than escapism.
But given that I could read before I went to kindergarten, I CAN tell you that ‘Read with Dick and Jane’ WAS grueling and pointless… I was already reading Verne. I plain out hated the Dick & Jane books….
I think I would have enjoyed them, too, if I had read them at about the age of 11 or 12 (I read Ferinheight 451 about that time and loved it). I believe the point that Pete was making was that the ages of about 13-17 are so emotionally fraught already, adding to that with depressing stories just seems unnecessary, and can leave teens with a bad taste in their mouths that they associate with literature from then on.
The readings were grueling and pointless because I – and most sophomores – weren’t ready for a steady diet of depressing novels. The most “light-hearted” reading I had that year was Red Badge of Courage.
Stick and Grump, you missed my point. (Mischugenah got it perfectly.) It was the unvarying selection that I found bad. I started reading adult level novels at age ten. (Alistair MacLean was my first adventure into adult literature, when I read his excellent spy thriller When Eight Bells Toll at the age of nine.) I read voraciously and I read everything. Children’s lit, young adult, adult. Scifi, adventure, westerns, classic, contemporary. I read good stuff and bad stuff. Happy endings, sad endings. One shots and serials. Stories for entertainment, stories for thought. Fiction and non-fiction. But the required reading of my sophomore year was the worst year of my reading life because the selection was, without exception, depressing.
You can mock my preferred choices of reading and dismiss my comments about most things, but you should at least understand a little that I’ve been non-stop reading since I learned to read. I love reading and am a published novelist. And I believe that focusing on a single style of literature for an entire year in high school – especially depressing literature that can have a cumulative and negative impact on impressionable teenagers – is unwise.
Grump… wow, you and Ryan are in the same Genius reader category… he, too read major novels by an early age… Steinbeck, no less. See Ryan read Steinbeck. Read, Ryan, Read.
Pete… My Frosh year in high school I had a WONDERFUL teacher (Mrs. Harris, Barstow High) for Frosh Lit and she threw everything at us… Illustrated Man, The Iliad, Shakespeare, Steinbeck, and the list goes on… she even let us pick our own reading material (with approval)… I chose The Shining by King. That was the best, most loved, and well-learn-ed year of high school English I had…. and I am NOT a reader. Variety is the spice(r) of life…
I’ve always found mouse traps to be kinda snappy.
Have to admit that I’m not a great fan of Steinbeck. I burn out on him after one story. I mean, I’ll admit he was a fabulous writer, but the man couldn’t write a happy ending to save his life.
My very clever daughter once said that if you follow anyone’s story til the end, it’s a sad ending…maybe what you don’t like about Steinbeck is that he follows the stories too far.
One of the greatest disservices that can be wrought upon human is requiring high school sophomores to read Of Mice & Men. (Or 1984, or Flowers For Algernon, or… you see the pattern.) These are all books I had to read as a sophomore and it was a grueling, pointless exercise. I mean, giving depressing stories to angst-ridden 15 year olds? Who thought THAT was a good idea? And the fact that the literature is well-written only makes it worse.
Sorry, but there are many, many novels that were intended for a more mature palate that has tasted deeply of life’s experiences over at least two decades. Steinbeck’s “Of Mice & Men” is one such, in my humble opinion.
If people are not forced to read good but depressing works of literature when they are either sophomores or freshmen (my high school was a 3 year one), they are not likely to ever read them, myself included.
Erk, that mouse is looking very real, not cartoony. I’ve had mice eat up books and notes. Grrr. Traps are the best way to kill them though. Glue pads bring a lot of suffering. And, speaking for depressing endings…I lost three cats who found and munched on poisoned mice.
That cheese looks pretty good. Wait! It’s a TRAP!
Yes, I’ve cried at the end of many of Steinbeck’s novels… haven’t read “The Pearl”? Yah… get a kleenex box. After yer done reading it, cue up some Looney Toons or something.
Ha! … snappy. Ouch. It WAS a trap!
So… Where’s the cat when you need it?
…an’ we can live off the fat o’ the land!
Lee, I’m glad you noticed Twinkie’s absence. The little snot isn’t doing his job.
Tell me about the bunnies… da rabbits… l love me some rabbits.
When the Twinkie is away…
John forgot his birthday party hat.
Judy- I guess it depends on your definition of ‘ending’. I believe in an afterlife, and that most peoples’ afterlife will be a happy one, so I’d be inclined to say that sad-ending stories (those that end in death and despair) end too soon 😛
mischugenah,
So, Steinbeck doesn’t follow his character’s stories far enough? Hmmm…interesting.
The cheese doesn’t do anything. Mice do not like cheese. Peanut butter, now. . . .
Tell me about the bunny, George….
I read Of Mice & Men and Flowers for Algernon when I was younger than 15 – I did not find them ‘grueling and pointless’. Folks should read for reasons other than escapism.
But given that I could read before I went to kindergarten, I CAN tell you that ‘Read with Dick and Jane’ WAS grueling and pointless… I was already reading Verne. I plain out hated the Dick & Jane books….
I think I would have enjoyed them, too, if I had read them at about the age of 11 or 12 (I read Ferinheight 451 about that time and loved it). I believe the point that Pete was making was that the ages of about 13-17 are so emotionally fraught already, adding to that with depressing stories just seems unnecessary, and can leave teens with a bad taste in their mouths that they associate with literature from then on.
The readings were grueling and pointless because I – and most sophomores – weren’t ready for a steady diet of depressing novels. The most “light-hearted” reading I had that year was Red Badge of Courage.
Stick and Grump, you missed my point. (Mischugenah got it perfectly.) It was the unvarying selection that I found bad. I started reading adult level novels at age ten. (Alistair MacLean was my first adventure into adult literature, when I read his excellent spy thriller When Eight Bells Toll at the age of nine.) I read voraciously and I read everything. Children’s lit, young adult, adult. Scifi, adventure, westerns, classic, contemporary. I read good stuff and bad stuff. Happy endings, sad endings. One shots and serials. Stories for entertainment, stories for thought. Fiction and non-fiction. But the required reading of my sophomore year was the worst year of my reading life because the selection was, without exception, depressing.
You can mock my preferred choices of reading and dismiss my comments about most things, but you should at least understand a little that I’ve been non-stop reading since I learned to read. I love reading and am a published novelist. And I believe that focusing on a single style of literature for an entire year in high school – especially depressing literature that can have a cumulative and negative impact on impressionable teenagers – is unwise.
Grump… wow, you and Ryan are in the same Genius reader category… he, too read major novels by an early age… Steinbeck, no less. See Ryan read Steinbeck. Read, Ryan, Read.
Pete… My Frosh year in high school I had a WONDERFUL teacher (Mrs. Harris, Barstow High) for Frosh Lit and she threw everything at us… Illustrated Man, The Iliad, Shakespeare, Steinbeck, and the list goes on… she even let us pick our own reading material (with approval)… I chose The Shining by King. That was the best, most loved, and well-learn-ed year of high school English I had…. and I am NOT a reader. Variety is the spice(r) of life…
You called it, Brig! 😀