re: #144 DaddyG

In HS we were forced to read “The Pearl” which got me thinking Steinbeck was the darkest morose author ever. After HS I picked up Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday and my opinion of his writing was elevated considerably.

I don’t always get the obsession of some literature teachers I’ve had to select the darkest most depressing or controversial literature for students while ignoring other masterworks that could interest their charges more.

For example I would have been very excited about Shakespeare if some of his comedies were mixed in with Romeo and Juliet.

We do teach some of the most bleak and depressing stuff in high school. However, my freshmen get to read ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, which they actually like.