There was no Austen or the Brontes for me until 19th century British lit in college. My high school teachers tried to assign things the boys would agree to read.
The Bay City Rollers, now that's music.
Giles ,'Sleeper'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
sj - Jul 21, 2026 6:44:03 pm PDT #28718 of 28743
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
Sheryl - Jul 23, 2026 4:13:48 pm PDT #28719 of 28743
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"
I don't think I was ever assigned Jane Austen in school. Would have preferred it to Thomas Hardy.(Got assigned Return of the Native and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, in a way that sucked any possible enjoyment out of them.)
-t - Jul 23, 2026 4:26:58 pm PDT #28720 of 28743
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I think we read Hardy but IIRC only poetry.
I should probably disclaim that we went through 3 or 4 subs at the beginning of the year before a permanent teacher was hired and every one of them had us read Beowulf (or an excerpt from, probably, the same excerpt over and over) so probably some of the later curriculum got cut for time. You would think I would know a lot about Beowulf after that but I absolutely do not.
DavidS - Jul 23, 2026 4:38:41 pm PDT #28721 of 28743
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
You would think I would know a lot about Beowulf after that but I absolutely do not.
Recent scholarship suggests that Grendel's mom was unduly slandered by mistranslation and misogyny.
So there's that!
Also, you could read John Gardner's novel Grendel for an intriguing modern take on the tale from Grendel's POV.
-t - Jul 23, 2026 4:52:21 pm PDT #28722 of 28743
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I have been meaning to do that for a long time but I still haven't. Looks like my library doesn't have it so it won't be that easy to add to ye olde TBR mountain, but I will explore other options. Hm, the audiobook is short...
dcp - Jul 23, 2026 7:42:49 pm PDT #28723 of 28743
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.
you could read John Gardner's novel Grendel
Seconded!
JenP - Jul 24, 2026 8:05:48 am PDT #28724 of 28743
I am trying to remember books we studied en masse. For sure the Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, Heart of Darkness, and several Shakespeare plays and sonnets. I had four years of HS so there must have been more. Then all the books we chose on our own for book reports, of course. Oh, we did read Wuthering Heights as one. I don't think any Austen, though. Lots of short stories one semester -- that was a fun semester. I remember The Lottery the most vividly. I remember studying some of the Canterbury Tales. It's all a blur!
-t - Jul 24, 2026 8:13:38 am PDT #28725 of 28743
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I think we maybe read one Canterbury Tale? A Shakespeare play every year, except for 10th grade when we did American lit
JenP - Jul 24, 2026 8:24:34 am PDT #28726 of 28743
Oh, yeah, that's right - one Shakespeare per year might have been how we did it, too.
meara - Jul 24, 2026 8:38:13 am PDT #28727 of 28743
Yep, same here, Shakespeare every year except American lit year. And no Austen or Bronte for sure.