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/lit/ - Literature

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12531223 No.12531223 [Reply] [Original]

Why are high schoolers forced to read this? how could a teenager relate to this story?

>> No.12531255
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12531255

>>12531223
>you're only allowed to read things you can personally relate to
>artistic expression and appreciation isn't a thing
>juggles having a style of writing that high schoolers can easily digest & topics not typically found in high school literature like refusal of change, excess decadence, and sense of self in a rapidly foward-moving america, while still being a well-written story at the same time
Gee anon I just don't know

>> No.12531261

>>12531255
fpbp

>> No.12531276

A better question would be why are middle schoolers forced to read Lord of the Flies?

>> No.12531280

>>12531255
>personally relate to
I hate this so much. If the writer is good, they will establish solid, universal themes that could appeal to literally anyone, in any country, culture, or race. You don't need to relate to the character to appreciate a story. I certainly would never have read Crime and Punishment if that were the case.

>> No.12531282

>>12531223
"Relate to the story"? What's this, Plebbit?

>> No.12531293

>>12531223
Because it's a good book that's very entry level and quite short, thus easy to teach.
And you really believe a teenager can't understand what the books about? There's nothing in it that requires maturity to get.
It's actually pretty much the perfect work of literature in the English language to teach to teenagers.

>> No.12531295
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12531295

What a piece of shit.

>> No.12531318

>>12531280
Hit the nail on the head, my dude. Also why I mentioned the artistic expression/appreciation bit.
You don't read Edgar Allen Poe because you sympathize with the raven in Nevermore, or some shit.

>> No.12531335

>>12531280
Aside from the whole "murderer" thing, Raskolnikov is pretty relatable tb h. Myshkin was much harder in that respect, although I don't know which I'd pick as my favourite out of The Idiot/C&P.
But yeah, OP is an idiot, you don't have to relate to a character, but I will say that literature should have something in it that rings "true" to your experience of life, like it illuminates something about the human condition, puts into words and drags into the frame something you've glimpsed at yourself.

>> No.12531388

What a fantastic, comfy cover that is

>> No.12531411

>>12531223
Dunno, enjoyed it though. I love the way in which the roaring 20s are condensed into Gatsby's, who is then shown as ephemeral. I like the narrator's own anecdote at the end about the winter train at the end, which both hits this point home but also contrasts it.

>> No.12532248

>>12531335
I'm currently in the middle of C&P and agree about Raskolnikov. I don't find myself relating to him completely, but there are certainly elements to his personality and his actions that I find relatable, and I believe that Dostoevsky intended for him to be a relatable character to some degree.
That being said, I don't believe characters should necessarily be relatable nor do I think a book that lacks any relatable characters is inherently bad. I don't need to relate to them, I just want to understand them.