What books do you think will be required reading one day?

Elizabeth

When To Kill a Mockingbird or Huck Finn was written, I don't think that people thought, "Wow, this should one day be required reading. People will be reading this a hundred years from now."
What books that are more current do you think will one day be required reading for middle school, high school, or even college students?

Boobies

Harry Potter is the only one I can really think of.

Pizza Slut

I agree with Harry Potter.

Also, Cut seems quite popular so maybe that aswell and A Child Called It for like GCSE-age students maybe.

losing touch.

twilight.

hahaha.

MadPoet

Hmm, good question. I honestly don't know, because most of the books that are on required reading lists have to do with the events deemed important during that era. For instance, To Kill a Mocking Bird was published in the 60's, which was a time in which many people were battling for the rights of African Americans (for example, Martin Luther Kings speech was given during 1963). Most books on required reading lists are placed there because they have to do with important events that took place during the time the book was published. We can't exactly tell what will be deemed as important in the future, so who knows?

St.Vincent · 02:32 AM

I hate required reading lists, and I am glad that my school more or less blew them off... maybe a suggested reading list of books a teacher should choose a few from.. but required reading? No thank you.

As for books that I would like my kids to read that I read recently, The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Precious... The Botany of Desire. Also, I hope Harry Potter and Twilight will remain joy reads, I think, forever.

noise94 · 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elle.

twilight.

hahaha.

The third years (GCSE students) in my school are studying it for their exams.

Makes me wonder how the English teachers ever qualified.

I really agree on Harry Potter. I think it's already studied in many schools.

losing touch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicola

The third years (GCSE students) in my school are studying it for their exams.

Makes me wonder how the English teachers ever qualified.

you're joking.. surely?!

if not.. then i give up on the education system..

Alaskan

Oh god please not Twiilight, haha. Id go with Harry Potter too, great writing.

Xujhan

I say Twilight only because I refuse to be part of the only generation that has to suffer through it.

noise94

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elle.

you're joking.. surely?!

if not.. then i give up on the education system..

I wish I was. My English teacher was telling us about it before the holidays. I wanted to strangle someone. xD

.:BreakingBeautifully:.

Personally, I think that is kind of hard to say. I think there are a lot of books out there that could one day be considered required reading. I agree that a lot the books that are now considered required have themes that relate to the struggles faced in our times etc. I think Harry Potter would be a great book to be studied because it has a lot of great themes; things that a lot of people struggle with on a daily basis. Things like not feeling wanted, finding a home etc.

One book I would like to see people read is The Kite Runner. I think it has a great plot and teaches quite a bit of things. Hmm, really when you think about it I think there are quite a bit of potential books that could be required reading

Kanye West

There's plenty of good books out there, it's really hard to narrow it down to a few.

For an English class I took in university, one of the required readings was Margaret Atwood's - Oryx and Crake. It takes a look into a dystopian future, and it makes the reader critically think about the future. Definitely a lot of good content and it's great to analyze.

BECCALICIOUS!

Harry Potter, yes. I'm hoping that the whole Twilight thing was really a joke. But I've already used Harry Potter in writing a paper and it was really easy to parallel to some "stages of a hero" thing.

We've already used a few of Mitch Albom's books... and of course The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

The question is, what do you think the required reading will be based on? A lot of reading materials are chosen for the literary devices within them, not just their plot and what they teach.

Double X

Harry Potter is definitely more of a teeny book though. I'd like to say something like The Road, that epitomizes the cynical and desperate nature of modern America, both in writing style and in content. Plus it's been made into a movie, so I am pretty sure it's getting more popular.

TheBabyEater

Oh God, I hope not Twilight! It's a fun read for a few out there I suppose... Not me, but for a few.

But I'm sorry. It's not the kind of book that should be taught in school. For one, not the most intelligent writing. I could rant on and on all day but I shall refrain from insulting anyone today

My friend read You Don't Know Me in her freshman class. I had read it a few years earlier, and absolutly loved it. Still do. =]

St.Vincent

I'm going to give this one more push even though I understand it's not directly answering the question, but should there BE required reading? For a whole school system? In my school system, which is a fairly well-to-do public school system, we had a list of suggested reading... of which the teachers had to cover some of the books each year. A teacher could petition to add new books to the suggested reading, but whether or not the school would agree was somewhat dependent on budget and somewhat dependent on how the committees voted. Also, a teacher was allowed to introduce other material without approval via photocopying. Ok, you can't photocopy books, but short stories? No problem.

I don't think there should be a canon of "what an educated person must read in school at a certain age" because I think that's stale. On the other hand, I guess there are books that you SHOULD read to be "culturally literate" and understand references and stuff, but I don't think that "the canon" is the best way to do it.

For the record, making kids read harry potter in school is pretty impractical. It might have some literary value, but 4,224 pages? Even if they invent kindles for school children, that's gonna take up a lot of time that could be spent reading.. like 20 The Kite Runners?

Charlie the wallflower

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBabyEater

Oh God, I hope not Twilight! It's a fun read for a few out there I suppose... Not me, but for a few.

But I'm sorry. It's not the kind of book that should be taught in school. For one, not the most intelligent writing. I could rant on and on all day but I shall refrain from insulting anyone today

My friend read You Don't Know Me in her freshman class. I had read it a few years earlier, and absolutly loved it. Still do. =]

Omg i thought i was like the only one who read you don't know me

About the kid who's abused by his stepdad and it shows his thoughts and all throughout the book?

TheBabyEater

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanc94

Omg i thought i was like the only one who read you don't know me

About the kid who's abused by his stepdad and it shows his thoughts and all throughout the book?

Yeah. That book is awesome. Very well written in my opinion, a little different. Not just story being told, but the kid is talking to you.
I gotta add that for some, this book could be triggering as it does get descriptive in the abuse. But it is surely a great book.

Another book I adore that hasn't been named yet is King Dork. It definatly makes fun of Catcher In The Rye

But I don't think it will be required reading, mostly because it's pretty much unknown. It's about a kid who's alwasy pretty much made fun of in school, (in a school system worse than I've ever heard. It's pretty exaggerated I'm sure. I won't go into detail as that would spoil the book!) and this kid has a fake little band with his friend, and loves old classic rock just like I do. It's my favorite book that actually doesn't have zombies in it. o.o

Also, the Killers rock.

I rambled a bit there lol

Union Of V

I'd say one necessary read, mainly because I always feel like saying to people "read this book! you'll understand!" is Carl Sagan's The Demon-haunted World. It's sort of an examination of what is true, how we know it's true, why people believe things that aren't true, why learning is necessary etc.. It'd probably destroy exam results, but I think any college/high school student has to read it.