So true!

DukeNuke · Post by **DukeNuke** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:06 pm

Who does choose the books we read in schools? Invisible Man (Not THE Invisible Man, the one about the nameless black guy) sucked ass, Stranger was too strange, and I'm officially sick of SHakespeare (I've done five of his plays.)

Invisible Spub

Reed 5150 · Post by **Reed 5150** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 9:42 pm

Yeah, I know. Truthfully, To Kill a Mockingbird was actually all right, but every other book I've ever been forced to read for school has been the most boring cr*p ever shoveled to the teeming masses of humanity.
And 5 Shakespeare plays? Man, I feel sorry for you. I thought I was going to rip out my intestines reading reading Romeo and Juliet (the fact the teacher made me do Romeo's speaking role in class didn't help matters. At all.). The only consolation is where we got to see the old Romeo and Juliet movie, where Juliet flashes you a boob for .9 seconds.
Sad? Yes. But a lot better than the NEW Romeo and Juliet (the one with Leonardo di Caprio), where modern gangsters speak in old English.

-Reed
There's nothing quite as odd as gangsters reciting lines from Shakespeare while shooting everybody and the pope.

DukeNuke · Post by **DukeNuke** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 8:33 am

Yea, 5 Shakespeare plays. We had to do Romeo & Juliet in 9th grade, Julius Ceaser in 10th grade, MacBeth during the summer for 12th grade, then Hamlet around Christmas. Right now I'm reading The Tempest because I couldn't get The Metamorphisis by Frank Kafka and I didn't want Beloved or Things Fall Apart.

William Spubspeare

Hbomb · Post by **Hbomb** » Mon Mar 04, 2002 11:38 am

Yeah, we did MacBeth and Twelth Night in 9th grade, The Tempest in 10th, no Shakespeare in 11th (it was primarily American lit, such as The Scarlet Letter and The Sound and the Fury), and both MacBeth (again!) and Hamlet, as well as some sonnets in 12th. I also read Things Fall Apart my freshman year of HS and the Metamorphosis my freshman year of college.

The Scarlet Letter, Madame Bovary, and Wuthering Heights were probably the three worst books I had to read in HS.

-H

J.B. the creator · Post by **J.B. the creator** » Wed Mar 06, 2002 6:10 pm

Oh come on now, I realize that Shakespeare doesn't speak like we do now, which confuses some people, though I don't understand why...hmmm.... Well, my point being, I read Shakespeare's entire works last year when I was 13! And now in tenth grade, all we got was 'Romeo and Juliet'! Hmpth! I suppose it's because of all the id- umm, not-so-smart-but-still-perfectly-intelligent-in-their-own-special-way people who complain about how Shakespeare is too *confusing* or *boring* How the hell is murder, sword play, love, hate, revenge, and comedy BORING?!?! *panting then quiockly calms down* Okay, I feel better now! thanks for giving me cause to rant!

Reed 5150 · Post by **Reed 5150** » Thu Mar 07, 2002 7:10 am

On 2002-03-06 18:10, J.B. the creator wrote:
Oh come on now, I realize that Shakespeare doesn't speak like we do now, which confuses some people, though I don't understand why...hmmm.... Well, my point being, I read Shakespeare's entire works last year when I was 13! And now in tenth grade, all we got was 'Romeo and Juliet'! Hmpth! I suppose it's because of all the id- umm, not-so-smart-but-still-perfectly-intelligent-in-their-own-special-way people who complain about how Shakespeare is too *confusing* or *boring* How the hell is murder, sword play, love, hate, revenge, and comedy BORING?!?! *panting then quiockly calms down* Okay, I feel better now! thanks for giving me cause to rant!

The problem is that EVERYONE knows how Romeo and Juliet is going to end before they even read it, so it kills the entertainment value somewhat.
Besides, half the time you're forced to read Shakespeare plays in script form.
For example:
*(Person A) and (Person B) fight.*
Now, I enjoy sword play and other senseless violence, but without detail is that entertaining in the least? HECK NO. Besides, just because it was funny in Shakespeare's time doesn't mean it's funny now.

DukeNuke · Post by **DukeNuke** » Thu Mar 07, 2002 7:16 pm

Like Reed said, it's a play. Exactly how many plays are exciting when you read them? Plays are meant to be either acted out or watched, not read like a book.

Spubeo & Juliet

Rainy Day Man · Post by **Rainy Day Man** » Thu Mar 28, 2002 4:14 am

No matter what, there are no books worse than I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and Black Boys.

Actual quote:
"Mom told me not to ever touch these curtains, so I'll set them on fire!"- Black Boy

I miss middle school when we read actual books with a point.