Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Half the problem, though, is that we put children off great literature for life by forcing them to read what are very definitely NOT children's books before they're able to appreciate them.
It will come as no great surprise to many people that one of my favourite authors is Dickens. Like every other British schoolchild I was force-fed Dickens at school and HATED his books. It was only when I was in my late 30s that I rediscovered him and learned to love his books for the great literature that they are. You just can't appreciate Dickens' biting social satire when you're a teenager (or at least I couldn't).
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Yes, the maturity to appreciate a work is part of it, but I also think the teacher matters greatly. In thinking back, the literature I did like in HS was all taught by the same teacher who introduced me to Shakespeare. She had the ability to lead us to an understanding of what we were reading.