The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall was the one that did me in. If there was ever a book to instill feelings of mind-numbing boredom and manic depression in a Year 8 DejaBrew, that was it. Nice job, high school curriculum - awesome way to get the young'uns enthused about the English Language
Its an impressive skill, to take ones passion and make them hate it.The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall was the one that did me in. If there was ever a book to instill feelings of mind-numbing boredom and manic depression in a Year 8 DejaBrew, that was it. Nice job, high school curriculum - awesome way to get the young'uns enthused about the English Language
Sticking my neck out posting on this forum, but possibly my favourite movie.
I find Ray Bradbury's books really interesting, especially when reading in the context of today's world. Fahrenheit 451 is almost prescient about people watching wall sized tvs and being connected with ear buds all of the time, and told to "be happy" by the government. The Pedestrian is creepy, in that it isn't too far off the truth in some places today.
You had it easyThe Machine Gunners by Robert Westall was the one that did me in. If there was ever a book to instill feelings of mind-numbing boredom and manic depression in a Year 8 DejaBrew, that was it. Nice job, high school curriculum - awesome way to get the young'uns enthused about the English Language
In Form 6 I had to get through Dickens' Great Expectations (and debate about the alternate endings and go and see the film with John Mills playing the lead role), Leslie Hartley's The Go Between (no wonder the British lost the empire, although the film was a bit racy), and Camus' The Outsider (now that was a kill joy). The only real highlight for me was Ken Cook's Wake in Fright. Having lived in some of places alluded to in the book as a kid, reading the book and then seeing the film was an eye opener for a young lad.
Same here. I just found that The Machine Gunners set the tone for high school English texts. Rarely did we get to study a novel that was appealing and actually made you want to study it. To be honest, that's my general perspective on high school English texts - so often they seem to pick the most depressing and least inspiring texts known to man and expect that to spark curiosity in young minds. I get that kids need to learn analytical and critical thinking skills, but geez.... they could at least try to make it semi-interesting
I hadn't heard of The Machine Gunners until these posts. I just read the precise, and it sounds terrible. Weren't John Marsden's novel around then they would have been a lot better?Same here. I just found that The Machine Gunners set the tone for high school English texts. Rarely did we get to study a novel that was appealing and actually made you want to study it. To be honest, that's my general perspective on high school English texts - so often they seem to pick the most depressing and least inspiring texts known to man and expect that to spark curiosity in young minds. I get that kids need to learn analytical and critical thinking skills, but geez.... they could at least try to make it semi-interesting
Thank you. I feel vindicated
Yes, they were. And yes, they absolutely would have been.
I think my favourite book to movie adaptation is The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle. There was an animated film which Peter did the screenplay for and it was excellent. Some quite famous names as voices too, including Christopher Lee.
I should clarify that I'm excluding Shakespeare from the mix given we're talking novels. Shakespeare's works are as relevant today as they ever were.
Jane Eyre was my favourite. I've read it multiple times since.Thank you. I feel vindicated
Yes, they were. And yes, they absolutely would have been.
The only novel I recall doing in high school that was a genuinely good choice, was Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. Will it go down as one of my favourite books of all time? Definitely not. Was it a genuinely relatable text for high school kids? Absolutely.
Fun fact - my then English teacher was actually good friends with the author, so our class was fortunate to glean some additional insight/context when studying the text.
Sometimes that little boat being tossed about in stormy seas is literally just that.We had one particular novel where the English teachers were insistent that a particular narrative was a metaphor for something. The author came in for a Q&A and one of the girls piped up and asked about the metaphor. Absolutely not, she said
I remember seeing Wake in Fright when I was about 18 and I was shocked.I find Ray Bradbury's books really interesting, especially when reading in the context of today's world. Fahrenheit 451 is almost prescient about people watching wall sized tvs and being connected with ear buds all of the time, and told to "be happy" by the government. The Pedestrian is creepy, in that it isn't too far off the truth in some places today.
You had it easy
The biggest challenge for me was I moved from the Technical School to the High School system for Form 6 in Victoria, and their approaches to english literature and analysis were very different, driven no doubt by the need to fit into the matric exams. Thankfully I come from a family of readers, so having books at my hand was normal and it didn't ruin my love of reading.
