Aussie Readers discussion

Was there a book you had to read in school that really resonated with you?

I did an Australian Literature class in Year 12. This was my favourite English module and our teacher, Mrs Schaefer was the best.
We read a book a term and they were
Johnno by David Malouf
A Victim of the Aurora by Thomas Keneally
The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea by Randolph Stow
A Difficult Young Man by Martin Boyd
I enjoyed all these books but the Martin Boyd was my favourite. I went onto read all the rest in this series and created a family tree of the characters with one of my high school friends.
Anyone else want to share school faves?

I studied in England (and a long time ago!) so my school books were all English Literature. We read books by Charles Dickens, John Buchan, Henry Fielding, Thomas Hardy and many more. I am always grateful I got such a good grounding in the classics.
My favourite though was Jane Austen and I still love her books.

by Geoffrey Chaucer. Read this in high school & it still resonates with me today.

I fell in love with Classic Russian Literature -so Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace, Anton Chekhov - The Cherry Orchard and Nikolai Gogol - Dead Souls spring to mind immediately.

I read many other classics as well -which is why I think I avoid them now - been there done that -need light not heavy.

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, William
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, Mark
So Much to Tell You by Marsden, John
The Outsiders by Hinton, S.E.
Once by Gleitzman, Morris
Holes by Sachar, Louis
1984 by Orwell, George
Montana 1948 by Watson, Larry
Macbeth by Shakespeare, William
No Sugar by Davis, Jack
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Yousafza

Sandy wrote: "Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, William
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, Mark
So Much to Tell You by Marsden, John
[book:The Outsi..."

I watched Holes last night. Our year 7s study the book and that prompted me to start this discussion.

We did a lot of Shakespeare at school and books like To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Animal Farm and Silent Spring. All a bit grim, looking back at it now!

The best year was Y11 where the English teacher got us all to bring in enough money to buy a paperback and she went out and bought 30 different novels and set up a small class library so we could borrow them and take them home. She also gave us a list of 100 books that she thought we'd like to read. I was definitely in heaven that year!

Diana wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, William
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon, Mark
So Much to Tell You by Marsden, John
[..."

Nice thread, Diana.
One day I was reading Holes on the train, a young man said he read it when he was in his secondary school. :)

So not familiar with Holes.......guess I’m just too old.....heh heh

I can't remember a book I had to read in school that really resonated with me!
First it was so long ago, that it seems to me that it was in another life!
Second, I read a lot by myself, so i don't remember if it was for school or not.
I'm French and I went to public school in France, where we studied French authors. I read Victor Hugo, French poets from the 19th, and a lot of Zola. I liked Germinal. The description is perfect.
But nowadays, I don't reread Zola: this Naturalist author only sees the sad side of life. Naturalist writers left behind them, to French people, a 'French depression" and a fataly that I can't bear.
Now I chose my side: the Romantics, their poetry and their joie de vivre!

I did my HSC in 1984. Our theme was based on the future and technology. We read some amazing books, but I can't remember them all. Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, Nine Tomorrows. It was a great year of reading and made English classes so much fun and has instilled a love of science fiction and dystopian novels which I'm not sure I would have migrated to on my own.

Mine was D.H. Lawrence and the Australian author Patrick White novels. Thomas Hardy (The Woodlanders etc) was a close third.