Posts by granitemarlin53

Michael Lee75 said:It’s because reading a book like this feels less like leisure and more like trying to summit Everest; you don't just sit down with it, you have to actually conquer it.🙄

I guess it's just because only a handful of people actually make it to the summit. Maybe that's why. 😉 The statistics pretty much say it all: hardly any high schoolers are actually sitting down to tackle those massive, doorstop novels on their reading lists. I guess some kids just aren't readers, while others find the books boring, way too long, or maybe the themes just don't resonate with them at all. It’s the same story everywhere in the States, really. You see plenty of people opting for shorter, more digestible versions for that exact reason, and honestly, those versions have a pretty loyal following. At the end of the day, I think it's better if they read something at all rather than nothing.

I recently came across the Penguin Classics series. They basically offer condensed versions of the classics that run about a hundred pages or so. So far, they've released three titles: Don Quixote, Crime and Punishment, and Madame Bovary. I know some purists and literary snobs might argue that high schoolers shouldn't be reading summaries instead of the full texts, but honestly, I think it's a great idea. I mean, it's better to read something than nothing at all, right? Plus, these retellings do a decent job of mimicking the original style, so you almost feel like you've actually tackled the source material. I guess these could be a huge help with school reading lists since you can get through these massive literary staples in maybe two hours rather than spending several days on them. 👍