Comments:
13
You hadn't read this before? In PA we get the trauma of it in middle school.
I have no idea what happened. It never crossed my path in the Utah public school system. It was on the syllabus for my junior year in high school, and then it wasn't, no explanation given. We never got around to Moby Dick, either.
Nothing wrong with not getting around to Moby Dick. Your school must have been one of the schools were it got banned or pulled.
Religious community in the heart of Mormon country. I would not be surprised.
We never had to read it either (and I have no interest in reading anything that's going to break me). I went to a Catholic school, so that could be it, though we had to do The Color Purple, Oedipus Rex, and a few other eyebrow raisers - not to mention watch Faces of Death, so it could just be it didn't make the cut. Thank goodness.
I like to be broken every now and then, but I generally prefer to be broken by something ultimately uplifting and life-affirming rather than downright soul-sucking.
Keyes may have amplified the worst aspects of his characters, but in my experience there are people like that who treat disabled people like subhumans. Still, today, fifty-some-odd years after this book was published, and it was probably worse back then because it was more socially acceptable. And as regards Charlie, I think he took it to its natural conclusion. I think under those circumstances, I'd turn into an insufferable superior ass too, if I'm being honest. But I'd be surprised to learn the intent was to use Charlie's behavior as an example of how to be a civilized human being. That's not at all how I read it. I read it as more of a critique on how we *think* we're civilized when we don't even recognize or acknowledge some people's humanity.
I had something like that reaction too
I think it might be a common reaction. I told a friend I'd finally read it, and they asked if I wanted to chat about it, and I said no, and they said, "Oh good, me neither."
Lol, yeah. I can't even remember if I got down to write a blurb review or just left the mid-way comment as good enough stand in. The idea of this as a school reading sucks
On the one hand, I can see it being an interesting empathy test in a school setting. On the other hand, I think this book would have put teen me in a coma.
Ditto
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