So Erin, you’re trying to teach English, and yet you did not major in English as an undergrad. Why not? I blame this book:
As a sophomore, I took the intro survey course English 200. The course was set up so that in addition to reading your typical anthology works, students read one novel (selected by the instructor) and over the course of the semester wrote four papers from four different perspectives (psychological and feminist were two of them…I can’t quite remember the other two) based on the reading of this novel.
Long story short? I hated this book. Hated it. I’m not sure what inspired such loathing in me, as I’ve not picked the book up since. I got pitiful grades on the papers and ended up studying my ass off for the final to pull a C+ for the semester. A C+? In English? I felt like an utter failure. This, after all, was what I loved. My highest grades in high school were in English. I abandoned any inkling I had of majoring in English, left it as my minor, and majored in Communication Arts.
I remember going to the bookstore to pick up my texts for this class. I noticed what some of the other sections of 200 were reading as their novel selection. The Shining? Ender’s Game? That…that’s not fair, I whimpered.
I remain convinced that had I been in either of those other two classes, I’d have received an A or B in the course and gone on to major in English, thereby making my quest to be certified as a secondary English teacher much easier.
Has anyone else ever had this kind of violent loathing of a critically acclaimed work?
Every now and then, I think maybe I should pick up the book and give it another shot. Maybe the past 11 years have given me the maturity necessary to appreciate Ishiguro’s work…who knows.