tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post7880356591660434834..comments2024-03-14T16:46:14.455-05:00Comments on Becky's Book Reviews: Silas MarnerBeckyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00793618692608823102noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-48804003037293055262012-02-01T09:45:33.231-06:002012-02-01T09:45:33.231-06:00i read it just before middle school started & ...i read it just before middle school started & absolutely LOVED it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-38533455592167981902011-11-20T11:51:53.265-06:002011-11-20T11:51:53.265-06:00I'm a sophomore and am reading it too! I have ...I'm a sophomore and am reading it too! I have a huge project where I had to select a random book and read it and do a bunch of junk on it. I have to find critical reviews as part of it, and I just might use this one! I liked the book but I feel like some of the great themes went over my head. I have another teacher who absolutely adores this book and rambled about all this stuff I didn't even remember. But thanks for the review!chatty kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-17532884047201575602009-02-28T11:16:00.000-06:002009-02-28T11:16:00.000-06:00I read this as a sophomore as well, and was less t...I read this as a sophomore as well, and was less than enthusiastic about it. Sounds like it's time to give it another shot. The book I really, really hated in high school was The Scarlet Letter. I realize now that I was just too young to appreciate it properly, and think I'll probably enjoy it much more when I re-read it.Ruth Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863703037623512619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-16086630272024695092009-02-27T23:52:00.000-06:002009-02-27T23:52:00.000-06:00For the record, Anonymous, I don't hate it now. (I...For the record, Anonymous, I don't hate it now. (I'm sorry if that didn't come across in the review.) I rather like it in fact. I enjoyed it--as an adult. I was ready for it--as an adult. I could appreciate the story, the characters, the themes, the language, the style. That doesn't mean that there aren't teens who would love it, who could get it. Many tweens and teens pick up adult books to read...by choice. <BR/><BR/>I was just saying that I understand that most teens don't love required reading of classics in general. It's one thing for a reader--tween, teen, adult, whatever--to pick up a book voluntarily and enjoy it. Quite another to have a forced endurance of it. <BR/><BR/>Your experience loving it could have been in part a great teacher. I'm not discounting the success stories out there. <BR/><BR/>I was an English major--I have a bachelor's and master's degree in literature. I love many classics. I read many classics. Still reading them now. For fun. But that doesn't mean that I expect everyone to love a book just as much as I did. Or to hate a book just because I did. <BR/><BR/>Reading is too subjective for that. <BR/><BR/>I do agree with you that it is more accessible than Thomas Hardy certainly. (I'm not sure which Bronte sister you meant, one I've found more enjoyable than the other). <BR/><BR/>I believe that people should make up their own minds about books. You've got to accept--hypothetically speaking, not pointing fingers at all!--that there are teens out there who are going to hate reading classics. And that those responses are valid. That they're understandable. And that those responses can change. With time. Sometimes its a timing issue, you need the right book at the right time. Some people learn to appreciate classics. Some people never do. And that's okay. The world keeps spinning.Beckyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00793618692608823102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-28636038651152189342009-02-27T23:11:00.000-06:002009-02-27T23:11:00.000-06:00Gee, in 10th grade, I absolutely LOVED Silas Marne...Gee, in 10th grade, I absolutely LOVED Silas Marner. For me, it was a real breakthrough to the kind of language in Hardy, Bronte, and other 19th Century English writers who were so off putting. Maybe we had some sort of watered down version; maybe I had a great teacher. Whatever! It sparked my interest in language, in literature and I went on to be an English major when I thought I was going to be a PE major. So don't put down these classics. There is a reason they are classics. Here's a good example: my 11 year old tonight picked up Little Women. She's read all the popular fiction, the Harry Potter, the Rick Riordan, the you name it. Something about the language spoke to her. Of course the story did too. I had read Little Women to her when she was in 4th or 5th grade, can't remember, and then we watched one of the MANY movies of it. She is completely enthralled by the story and the language. So, just because yhou hated something don't discount it for your children. There are many paths...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33553028.post-53031067886990137502009-02-27T21:17:00.000-06:002009-02-27T21:17:00.000-06:00Becky, I started laughing when I read this: ...in ...Becky, I started laughing when I read this: <I>...in tenth grade I absolutely hated it. Hate is really too kind a word for what I felt. </I> This is EXACTLY how I felt in 10th grade when I was forced to read this book!! I guess I should pick it up and try it again given your experience :)Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14332796775305098552noreply@blogger.com