Re reading a Leaving cert book

Donald73 · 11-02-2015 12:24AM

I would read Lord of the Flies again or Animal Farm or even Great Expectations but not a chance in hell would I ever read Peig again. She did my head in back then, much better things to read that enduring that again.

JohnMearsheimer · 11-02-2015 12:27AM

donna35 wrote: »

I would read Lord of the Flies again or Animal Farm or even Great Expectations but not a chance in hell would I ever read Peig again. She did my head in back then, much better things to read that enduring that again.

I think she is off the new Irish syllabus. We did A Thig Ná Tit Orm in Irish class. I thought it was an enjoyable enough read. Who knows, I might even pick it up again some time.

Donald73 · 11-02-2015 12:35AM

JohnMearsheimer wrote: »

I think she is off the new Irish syllabus. We did A Thig Ná Tit Orm in Irish class. I thought it was an enjoyable enough read. Who knows, I might even pick it up again some time.

Thank goodness. Wouldn't fancy helping my son get through Peig when his time comes. Long way away though haha he is 5 and we are reading 'Up! Up! Up!' - I think Anne and Barry are languishing on the same shelf as Peig. All new now.

vanderlyle · 11-02-2015 01:53AM

I remember disliking Empire of the Sun by Ballard intensely, but loving Death of a Salesman. Many years after the LC, I went to see the play Death of a Salesman, it was excellent.

Might dust off my Text & Tests 4 & 5 - that was more my thing

RedPandaDan · 11-02-2015 09:53AM

Of Mice and Men for my Leaving Cert, must say I enjoyed it though it was a bit short. Certainly could have been a more fleshed out story.

Junior Cert we did To Kill A Mockingbird. To this day, it is right up there with Atlas Shrugged as one of the worst books I've ever had the misfortune to read.

A_smurf · 11-02-2015 11:13AM

Lies Of Silence for my Leaving Cert. Only read through the book in class and never read it again before the exam, just studied the notes. I think we were supposed to re-read it over the Easter holidays but no one in my class did.

It was an awful depressing book, being set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles of course. Don't think I would ever purposefully go looking for it again.

LoonyLovegood · 11-02-2015 11:15AM

I hated To Kill a Mockingbird in class. We'd a teacher who kept going on about how Scout wasn't REALLY a child, and she did my nut in. Now it's my favourite book.

cml387 · 11-02-2015 11:21AM

Did Treasure Island in first year back aeons ago.

Read it recently (it being free on Gutenberg) and my word the version we read in school was well censored. A much darker and more violent book than the yo ho ho and a bottle of rum pirate caper we got.

Grayson · 11-02-2015 11:31AM

xLisaBx wrote: »

I managed to pass Hons English LC without ever finishing Persuasion. Started it up again recently and once again never quite made it to the end, even though I found it entertaining enough. Same with Wuthering Heights - never made it across the finish line. I've read and re-read Great Expectations a few times though. Don't know why, it's a bit on the grim side.

Sounds like you did the same cycle as me. was it Henry IV or Romeo and Juliet for the inter the year you did it? (yes people I sat the intercert)

I thought Wuthering heights was great up to about 2/3 of the way through. I completely lost interest at that point.

It was only a couple of years ago i read To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember the younger lads and my younger sister carrying it around. Now that was a very good book.

Grayson · 11-02-2015 11:35AM

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Whatever about leaving cert, how about old school, bit of Tara and Ben, that was were it was at.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~seaghan/book/intro.htm

Tara and Ben? Are they some kind of reincarnation of Anne and Barry?

TheBeardedLady · 11-02-2015 11:35AM

mariaalice wrote: »

Anyone re read a leaving cert book as an adult, now I liked school and like poetry but I could never warm to the tedious novels we forced to read The mayor of Casterbridge has got to be one of the most boring book ever and I would rather chew it that reread it, yet I know a few people who reread the boring Victorian book that were forced on us and love them.

Thomas Hardy is in my top 5 favourite writers and I got into him just after the LC (Jude the Obscure). I've read all his books but I couldn't go near Mayor of Casterbridge again - the boring overanalysis of every single line turned me off that one for life . I'd probably love it again if I did but I can't bring myself to do it.

11-02-2015 11:38AM

When I was in secondary school in the 70s, we read far more books in school than my children did in secondary school.

HeidiHeidi · 11-02-2015 11:50AM

Grayson wrote: »

Sounds like you did the same cycle as me. was it Henry IV or Romeo and Juliet for the inter the year you did it? (yes people I sat the intercert)

I thought Wuthering heights was great up to about 2/3 of the way through. I completely lost interest at that point.

It was only a couple of years ago i read To Kill a Mockingbird. I remember the younger lads and my younger sister carrying it around. Now that was a very good book.

Yep, sounds like the same era alright! Henry IV Part 1 and Great Expectations for the Inter, then Hamlet/Persuasion and King Lear/Wuthering Heights for the Leaving (I did two, being the dizzy age of still 16 getting my first set of results - DO NOT send your kids to school at age 4, people, it's a really really bad idea!)

Have exactly the same feelings about WH - it's a rollercoaster for so far, and then just meh.

Sounds like there's an incredible amount of variety these days in the curricula - back in our day it was the same three or four cycles over and over and over again.

conorhal · 11-02-2015 11:52AM

vanderlyle wrote: »

I remember disliking Empire of the Sun by Ballard intensely, but loving Death of a Salesman. Many years after the LC, I went to see the play Death of a Salesman, it was excellent.

Might dust off my Text & Tests 4 & 5 - that was more my thing

I have to say I loved Empire of the Sun, Ballard is a brilliant writer. Perhaps you might give the movie a go, it's probably Spielbergs most under appreciated work and stars Christian Bale, who even at that young age delivered an absolutey hypnotic performance. I got stuck with the mayor of Casterbridge. Now that WAS a dreary and dreadful novel.

Re reading a Leaving cert book

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