So, apparently teachers in the UK have chosen their top 100 books for teaching and enjoyment. Top of this list is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen which I have to confess, I haven’t read. I read Persuasion at A level and I think it’s a great book but the few times I’ve attempted to read about the escapades of Mr Darcy and Ms Bennett, I’ve been overcome by the cliched nature of what’s been done to it since Austen penned the thing. I’m also pleased to see a lot of Tolkien on the list, I adore Tolkien and I wish there was a module on my course to do with 20th Century fantasy writers, but alas alack there is not. Reading down the list I am genuinely liking what is on the list, although I do take issue with one: Twilight (series) by Stephanie Meyer. WHY? This book is truly, truly terrible; the story is not great and the actual use of language/plot development/sentence structure/character development ain’t good either. I guess one of the reasons it could be on there is it might make more kids want to take up reading? Maybe? I don’t know, but the day that that series shows up on the official syllabus is a very very sad day indeed.
Also, it makes me a sad English Literature student when I read down that list and realise that I haven’t even heard of some of them, never mind read them. Worse still when I thought it was film and not a book. Whoopsie. I am pleased to say that I have read lots of the novels on that list, and I think I might use it as a reference to tackle more. I have The Independent’s ‘1001 books to read before you die’ tucked away somewhere, but I always find that slightly overwhelming. Maybe 100 is a better place to start. And before you ask, yes I know they’re books recommended by teachers, but look at that list there are only a few that I was designate as “children’s” books, and even those are fun to read so… why not?
I might even try and tackle that world renowned piece of literature next… might take me a good while to get through it though: Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar…
Being Bryony 