Books to get a teen started on classic literature

[RiderOnTheStorm]

dont know how high/low brow you want to go, but Terry Pratchett is great (at any age). I regularly re-read Night Watch and get something new out of it each time. The comedy is great. The themes of law & justice are very adult.
Also Good Omens (TP & N Gaiman) - again, very funny in places (laugh out loud funny) , deeper themes if you look for them, thought provoking, and (mostly) centred on a young boy becoming the antichrist .... what more would a teen need?

+1 for LOTR (and Hobbit)

 

[Cloo]

He likes some Pratchett but not others, we've discovered

Gsv started him in '5 Children and It' yesterday and he seems to be getting on OK with that.

 

[Winot]

I've found with our kids that rereading classic literature (19th/early 20th century) is really hard because of the old fashioned dense language. Stuff I read as a young teen seems opaque even as an adult. Even things like Arthur Ransome that I devoured as a child.

 

[A380]

If you want them to get into the feel of pre / early 20th Century writing rather than great later stuff (like Orwell) then:

Definitely the Alice Books
Kipling Juveniles - Just so stories and Rewards and Fairies
Jules Verne the two Moon books.

Sherlock Holmes short storeys

I don't like Thomas Hardy but the Woodlanders is great and has lots of shagging but you have to work relatively hard on the language to tease out the smut. Ideal for getting a 13 year old to get their eye in on Victorian literature...

 

[maomao]

I don't like Thomas Hardy but the Woodlanders is great and has lots of shagging but you have to work relatively hard on the language to tease out the smut. Ideal for getting a 13 year old to get their eye in on Victorian literature...

God no, don't read Thomas Hardy. I read loads as a teenager and ended up thinking you were meant to hang around thirty years waiting for a girl to like you if you really loved her (luckily gave up after two or three).

 

[Aladdin]

My mum had a collection of the Russian Classics. I think she got then through some kind of stamp collecting scheme? She loved them.
When I was 14 and had 3 months summer holidays I set into them.

Favourites were..

Tolstoy
War and Peace
Anna Karenina

Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
The Idiot

Pushkin
Eugene Onegin

Pasternak
Dr Zhivago


I would also recommend Wuthering Heights...it was a fantastic read for a 14 yr old. Had me enthralled for a long time after finishing it.

 

[Red Cat]

I'm not convinced this is good advice tbh Cloo. Reading has to be freely chosen and it either sparks your imagination or it doesn't. He can pass exams in Eng Lit by using all the revision guides and youtube tutorials without having to get deep into the language.

 

[Aladdin]

There's a 9 book set of the "greatest works of Orwell". I got it for a relative last Christmas..
I thinks it's now available on amazon? It worked out about €2.70 per book..

 

[Aladdin]

I'm not convinced this is good advice tbh Cloo. Reading has to be freely chosen and it either sparks your imagination or it doesn't. He can pass exams in Eng Lit by using all the revision guides and youtube tutorials without having to get deep into the language.

I agree...but I also know school libraries don't necessarily carry some of the best classics.

I would not have read the Brothers Karamazov if my mum didn't have the books on a shelf. She didn't hand them to me to read. But they were there. So I eventually picked them up and started reading.

Joining a good library is probably the best way to encourage reading all sorts of books.

Never ever thought of reading extra books as a means to pass any exam. Reading good quality literature is a way to get to know yourself.

Teenage me reading Wuthering Heights for the first time...opened up a world of emotion. And it wasn't on a school reading list. It just was in the house so I read it.

Having books of all sorts available to children is the best way to encourage reading.

Eta.. I have a kindle now..but there is nothing like going into a library or a book shop and picking out a book to flick through and read....
(Just don't read the entire book before buying it or the shop keeper will not be pleased)

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I'm not convinced this is good advice tbh Cloo. Reading has to be freely chosen and it either sparks your imagination or it doesn't.

Agree with this. Just let him read whatever books he has a genuine interest in, build his reading skills that way. I learnt more about language from LotR than I ever did from a set GCSE text simply because I absolutely loved it.

 

[frogwoman]

Yeah, I haven't read most of 'the classics' but I do read a lot of books that i found in the shelves etc.

 

[Red Cat]

I agree...but I also know school libraries don't necessarily carry some of the best classics.

I would not have read the Brothers Karamazov if my mum didn't have the books on a shelf. She didn't hand them to me to read. But they were there. So I eventually picked them up and started reading.

Joining a good library is probably the best way to encourage reading all sorts of books.

Never ever thought of reading extra books as a means to pass any exam. Reading good quality literature is a way to get to know yourself.

Teenage me reading Wuthering Heights for the first time...opened up a world of emotion. And it wasn't on a school reading list. It just was in the house so I read it.

Having books of all sorts available to children is the best way to encourage reading.

Eta.. I have a kindle now..but there is nothing like going into a library or a book shop and picking out a book to flick through and read....
(Just don't read the entire book before buying it or the shop keeper will not be pleased)

But the OP is about prep for her son's GCSE English Lit.

It seems that lots of posters didn't read it and just talked about what books they like.

 

[Chilli.s]

Id say Treasure Island is a good start

 

[maomao]

Surely people are just recommending books they loved in the hope of sparking interest. I certainly found Victorian Romanticism more inspiring than Tolkein's dodgy elves when I was a kid, I don't see why Ziggy shouldn't give some a go. And older literature is incredibly good for building vocab though can be a struggle if you're not quite there yet.

It's worth deliberately searching out complexity in books though, a lot of bottom end YA fiction consists of very simple narratives. Books with multiple viewpoints or non-chronological narratives are excellent for.building reading skill. How about some classic science fiction? Slaughterhouse Five?

 

[philosophical]

Not quite of the period, but ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog’ by Dylan Thomas is not a bad entree. He was inspired by Joyce in the title, so there is a link there, and of course Thomas is a great poet, so reading those 10 short stories might provide an entree into his other work, other great Welsh poets, and poetry generally.

 

[Idris2002]

My mum had a collection of the Russian Classics. I think she got then through some kind of stamp collecting scheme? She loved them.
When I was 14 and had 3 months summer holidays I set into them.

Favourites were..

Tolstoy
War and Peace
Anna Karenina

Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
The Idiot

Pushkin
Eugene Onegin

Pasternak
Dr Zhivago


I would also recommend Wuthering Heights...it was a fantastic read for a 14 yr old. Had me enthralled for a long time after finishing it.

I read Dr Zhivago earlier this year. The story - and the message - is very different from the David Lean film.

 

[philosophical]

Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were fantastic reads for me at a young age, might even have been a door opening for me about the evils of racism.
I also remember reading Billy Liar and at the time I actually cried at the end of it.
Anything by Orwell is great, but Animal Farm and Down and Out in Paris and London are particularly accessible.

 

[Aladdin]

But the OP is about prep for her son's GCSE English Lit.

It seems that lots of posters didn't read it and just talked about what books they like.

Fair enough..
I was only giving advice from my own experience as a teacher and a reader and the advice re reading is always "read, read, read"...
Read everything and anything.

I agree with you that children/ teens should choose what they want to read. I also believe the best place for that is a good library. They should encounter the "classics" at some stage.

I might be wrong but I think Cloo wants some tried & tested favourites for her lad. Nothing wrong with that...he is guaranteed a great read... And it saves time.
There's a lot of poor writing passed off as teen lit.

 

[philosophical]

stephen king was my gateway, weirdly. he was the first author who "grabbed me by the throat".

and dylan, i was obsessed and every one he mentioned i was drawn too

Stephen King is a pretty good writer, maybe his earlier stuff is the best.
Tai Pan by James Clavell is also good popular historical fiction, but with some dodgy themes intermixed, well written stuff though.

 

[nagapie]

I was a voracious reader as a child and adult pre children, have an English degree and have taught English at GCSE and A Level. And I have always hated reading the classics and have barely read any of them cover to cover.
I'd say the best way to prepare for English GCSE, Lit or otherwise, is to help continue a love of reading, any reading.
In a time where very few teenagers still read at all, be careful that you don't turn him off with these.

 

[Aladdin]

Cloo
All Agatha Christie books are pretty handy reads. They keep you interested..move along quickly..and there's usually a satisfactory ending.

If he gets into murder mysteries and you want something better I would definitely suggest PD James.

 

[frogwoman]

.

 

[Red Cat]

Surely people are just recommending books they loved in the hope of sparking interest. I certainly found Victorian Romanticism more inspiring than Tolkein's dodgy elves when I was a kid, I don't see why Ziggy shouldn't give some a go. And older literature is incredibly good for building vocab though can be a struggle if you're not quite there yet.

It's worth deliberately searching out complexity in books though, a lot of bottom end YA fiction consists of very simple narratives. Books with multiple viewpoints or non-chronological narratives are excellent for.building reading skill. How about some classic science fiction? Slaughterhouse Five?

Yes, but many aren't 19th Century, which was the brief.

Of course if he wants to he should give it a go, and not if he doesn't want to, because it will turn him off. My girls are intelligent young people who are interested in the world, my eldest (16) is reading Virginia Woolf and took Wuthering Heights on holiday, my youngest 13 (like Ziggy) is reading YA fiction which she really enjoys and seems relevant to her life, angsty troubled young people that helps her think about her own stuff and how people treat her and how she treats them/herself. I think this is a good thing.

I agree about the science fiction ( even though it is 20th Century )

I read a lot of Stephen King between the ages of 11 and 13, I liked that they were big books with a gripping story, the psychological spook aspect, and I remember there was a bit of sex in Salem's Lot. On classics, I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice for O level because I liked Mr Darcy. I loved Little Women (earlier) because I wanted to be Jo although I wished she'd loved Laurie back.

 

[A380]

This thread definitely seems to me more about people answering the question ‘what books do they like that would be good for teens’ rather than the question Cloo asked.

I mean the good books for teens would be a great thread too . If I was t going out I might have started it.

 

[frogwoman]

Black Beauty might be a good one if he can handle it, although it's quite traumatic and has a very sad ending. Maybe something like the Railway Children although that might be more aimed at younger readers. I haven't read it since I was at school though.

 

[Pickman's model]

Cloo
All Agatha Christie books are pretty handy reads. They keep you interested..move along quickly..and there's usually a satisfactory ending.

If he gets into murder mysteries and you want something better I would definitely suggest PD James.

Christie -- There are one or two unsatisfactory titles tho that have had to be changed

 

[Pickman's model]

This thread definitely seems to me more about people answering the question ‘what books do they like that would be good for teens’ rather than the question Cloo asked.

I mean the good books for teens would be a great thread too . If I was t going out I might have started it.

Classics good for teens might include lewis' 'the monk', written when he was 19. Also the castle of otranto. Also childers' the riddle of the sands, war of the worlds and tales of mean streets

 

[polly]

I'm not convinced this is good advice tbh Cloo. Reading has to be freely chosen and it either sparks your imagination or it doesn't. He can pass exams in Eng Lit by using all the revision guides and youtube tutorials without having to get deep into the language.

I agree with this. Even the 19th century stuff on the gcse syllabus tends to the more accessible - eg Dickens. I think forcing him to read the turgid classics of that era is going to be actively unhelpful. A love of reading is always going to equip him much better than a knowledge of Victorian lit, and not just for gcse English but life in general.

 

[maomao]

Yes, but many aren't 19th Century, which was the brief.

Of course if he wants to he should give it a go, and not if he doesn't want to, because it will turn him off. My girls are intelligent young people who are interested in the world, my eldest (16) is reading Virginia Woolf and took Wuthering Heights on holiday, my youngest 13 (like Ziggy) is reading YA fiction which she really enjoys and seems relevant to her life, angsty troubled young people that helps her think about her own stuff and how people treat her and how she treats them/herself. I think this is a good thing.

I agree about the science fiction ( even though it is 20th Century )

I read a lot of Stephen King between the ages of 11 and 13, I liked that they were big books with a gripping story, the psychological spook aspect, and I remember there was a bit of sex in Salem's Lot. On classics, I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice for O level because I liked Mr Darcy. I loved Little Women (earlier) because I wanted to be Jo although I wished she'd loved Laurie back.

Yeah, Terry Pratchett was a bit wtf. It's worth noting that people didn't start writing in a different language on 1/1/1901 though and reading successively older books is a good way to build towards reading 19th century literature.

 

[Pickman's model]

Chambers' the king in yellow should be in every teenager's hands, as should lovecraft's supernatural horror in literature