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Elizabeth
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I was 13, a freshman in high school, in the first few weeks of school, when I was assigned to write my first literary critique of a novel. The teacher assigned each of us a different book. Mine was by Kurt Vonnegut. I didn't get far into it, when I hit the phrase "wide open beavers." I asked my mother what it meant. She was horrified  ! She marched down to the school and I was assigned another book to read. I never touched Vonnegut again.
Now that I have children of my own and I realize what a little girl a thirteen-year-old really is and what garbage Vonnegut is, I can't believe that book was assigned. There is so much great literature out there, I still shudder to think that Vonnegut was my high school introduction to "classic literature."
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Mary G
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When my ds was in 5th grade at a "national school of excellence" that was also Catholic (and IN THAT ORDER), he was assigned to write a book report. He could choose ANY book htat had received the Newberry Award.
I was horrified. Most of the current Newberry Awards ar given to "reality" books -- y'know the kind that tell a "real" story so that children who are living through these problems don't feel excluded. I couldn't believe his teacher would just give a blanket ok to ANY book on the "list"......
We pulled him out shortly after that....
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By the way, what IS the point of  "Lord of the Flies"? How far man can fall? What a waste of time.....
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guitarnan
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I think the point of "Lord of the Flies" is supposed to be that human nature will always revert to its lowest point - sinful - when given the chance. The title of the book refers to Satan, as that's one of his names.
I recall reading that book in high school and being disgusted. I don't plan to assign it to my own children!
Elizabeth, how horrible!!!! I guess the current trend toward assigning really trashy reading to high school students is less post-1990's than I thought. I really led a sheltered life, I guess, in my all-girls Catholic high school. (No fights or anything...just the odd person sneaking a cigarette, which was promptly detected and dealt with...)
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MacBeth
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Mary G. wrote:
| By the way, what IS the point of "Lord of the Flies"? How far man can fall? What a waste of time..... |
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I always felt that Lord of the Flies is an expose of public schooling  .
Worst book? Oh, this is hard. There are so many awful books, but most get put down very quickly.
Catcher in the Rye? Uggy-ugh-ugh-ugh.
Books that really annoy me are the ones with characters who ought to be told to "get over it." Teen age angst books are the worst.
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MicheleQ
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Elizabeth wrote:
JennGM wrote:
abcmommy wrote:
| I am adding Fascinating Womanhood to this list bc it makes me want to retch when it talks about not educating girls too much and no college for women. |
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Fascination Womanhood is still high on my list, but I don't accept all her premises. I use it as a reminder on how to be "upbuilding" (a phrase our family uses) instead of downbuilding my husband. I don't buy into all the Protestant character of the book, but for a woman who tends to be critical and proud, it has been helpful for me over the years. |
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The author of Fascinating Womanhood is MOrmon, not Protestant. |
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I had lots of issues with this book. I really didn't like it. And please don't ask me what they are because I don't really remember now and I have thrown the book away.  I know, that's really helpful isn't it?
God bless,
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saintanneshs
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Elizabeth wrote:
| The author of Fascinating Womanhood is MOrmon, not Protestant. |
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Okay, this is going to show how much I don't know, but I thought everything that wasn't Catholic was Protestant. Where's Mormon fit in then? 
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Rebecca
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saintanneshs wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
| The author of Fascinating Womanhood is MOrmon, not Protestant. |
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Okay, this is going to show how much I don't know, but I thought everything that wasn't Catholic was Protestant. Where's Mormon fit in then? |
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I may be wrong but I thought that to be a Protestant, you believe in the diety of Christ as God but do not have the fullness of the truth of the Catholic faith. Persons who do not believe in the diety of Christ (Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, etc.) have an organized religion but are not Protestant.
Is this right?
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saintanneshs
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To clarify my question, I just wanted to add that I know that Muslims, Buddists, etc. are not Protestant, but are entirely different religions (not Christian). I did think that Mormons (and Brigham Young) were Protestants, though. Coming from public school education and very little religion in our CCD and CYO classes (mostly socialization there), I never got this info in school.  I asked a priest about this during dh's RCIA class and never could get a straight answer. I need a diagram or something, like branches on a tree.
So Rebecca, where do those who don't believe in the diety of Christ fall on the "tree"? 
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saintanneshs
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Back on topic...
How about The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis?
or A Puritan Dilemma (author??)
both required reading for history in hs
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Elizabeth
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The Protestants I know don't consider Mormons Protestant because the Mormons don't believe in the Trinity (so, the argument goes, they can't be "Christian,") nor do they believe in the concept of heaven and salvation as Catholics and Protestants do (Mormons have levels of heaven and become Gods of their own planets). Mormons, however do call themselves "Christian." I don't know the right answer, though, in terms of whether they are officially Protestants
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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lapazfarm
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Since this is a book thread, I'll recommend "Under the Banner of Heaven" by John Krakauer (sp?) for some eye-opening history of the Mormons. One of the best (as in informative,a real page-turner)and worst (as in disturbing) books I've ever read.
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mary
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lovely bones by alice sebold. i could not believe the amount of attention this book received when it was trite and depressing.
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Cici
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Speaking of Lovely Bones, I read the back cover of Alice Sebold's "Lucky: A Memoir" and had to pass on it. I'm not sure why everyone seems to enjoy reading about r*pe, s*x, and as previously mentioned incest.
I picked up "The Book Borrower" by Alice Mattison off of Paperbackswap.com. Not only is it a disjointed, postmodern tale, but within the first chapter (maybe two) we have a scene of something s*xu*lly disgusting!
My 2 cents: Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are not Protestant.
GWTW was a good book.
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Cici
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MacBeth wrote:
Mary G. wrote:
| By the way, what IS the point of "Lord of the Flies"? How far man can fall? What a waste of time..... |
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I always felt that Lord of the Flies is an expose of public schooling . |
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Cay Gibson
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MacBeth wrote:
Catcher in the Rye? Uggy-ugh-ugh-ugh. |
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One of our hsing families has a dd who began attending the local Catholic high school this year.
One of the required books was...yeah, you guessed it...
My friend was clueless, at first. She and her oldest dd (married & with children now) began reading it. Her oldest dd called one night to fill her mother in on the raunchy details of the book. 
My friend went from clueless to livid.  When she addressed the school, she was told that it was a classic and had been read for years in high schools. They were not making any changes to the required booklist.
My oldest dd's class was given The Giver to read. My oldest ds hated this book and never understood it. My dd, on the other hand, was confused at first then quickly caught on to the storyline.
We had deep conversations in the vehicle on the way home about this book (which I've never read). She clued me in on everything . There were some parts I could have  , but Kayleigh is very mature and very capable of reading a book like this.
Alot of it depends on the child. I would never want my 13 yr old ds to read anything like this.
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Kelly
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Gotta go with Cay on the GWTW discussion, but am humored, as I read this list, how I agree with most everyone on most every post in this thread!
BTW, Dracula has to be one of the scariest books I've ever read. I still remember where I was when I read it (in bed, at my aunt and uncle's house in Knoxville, Tennessee,), the month (August-the windowshaker ac was running), how old I was when I read it (30+ years ago!), and how I kept two silver knives under my bed in the shape of a cross afterwards! Scared the heck out of me. The power of books.
So glad to get the headzup on "The Red Tent". This is a book that I seem to see every time I turn around. I've picked it up and scrutinized it repeatedly, but something (thankfully) whispered to me that I wouldn't like it. Now I KNOW I wouldn't like it!
Most recent Awful Book Award has to go to "The Club Dumas" by Arturo Perez Reverte. Gross, dark, creepy, evil. I threw it in the garbage after the first chapter. Ironically, I loved his books "The Fencing Master" and "Captain Alatriste". Go figure.
Kelly in FL
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abcmommy
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completely OT, my dh's cousin is mormon. He recently found out that they do not kiss their children or their parents or friends- only their spouses. I cant imagine NOT kissing my babies. I am a bigtime kid kisser.
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Rebecca
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abcmommy wrote:
| completely OT, my dh's cousin is mormon. He recently found out that they do not kiss their children or their parents or friends- only their spouses. I cant imagine NOT kissing my babies. I am a bigtime kid kisser. |
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ABC, I have never heard this!
Could you live without kissing those fat little baby cheeks with that deliciously soft baby skin on them?!?! If this is true, I would not make it for 60 seconds as a Mormon!
Torture!
God Bless,
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aussieannie
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This thread is old but I thought I would just add the one book that I would say someone should never be tempted to read - Angela's Ashes, I found it thoroughly blasphemous book under the guise of 'humor?' it is one book I wish I had never wasted my time on - like the DaVici Code, they can be an interesting read, as to know how to combat them in conversation but it wasn't worth even that, I think I see that book as more indecent than the DaVinci Code in some ways. One of those books that you greatly feel the need to make reparation for in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
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During the summer of 1994, prior to my senior year in high school, we were required to read 6 or 7 books for our English class. One of the books on the list was Tracks. Now, I can see that it is an anti-Catholic novel. I was Methodist at the time. Anyway, it had a really disgusting s*xual encounter in it between a 14-year-old girl and an older boy (or man, I can't remember now, which was also a voyeuristic (spelling?) display. My mother didn't know about the content of any of the required summer reading, and I don't know if she would have objected even if she did, but I would pitch a fit if a school required any of my children to read something like that. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, since I went to public school, but it's one of the experiences that makes me really passionate about homeschooling, or at least paying VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to everything my children are doing in school. My junior year in high school, we were required to read a "modern" novel--the small group I was in had to read a novel about a missionary Catholic priest who, ahem, broke his vow of celibacy w/ a young Indian woman he was ministering to. So, yes, public school is as bad as you think is. Even in the middle of Kansas.
A recent "worst book ever" is Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. DH brought it home from work b/c his co-workers were discussing it. I read it, too, and could hardly finish it there was so much STUPIDITY in it. Dan Brown obviously has no clue about what the Catholic Church really teaches.
Dawn
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4Real Forums : Book Club
Topic: Worst read, ever
