People Explain Which Books They Read In School That They'd Never Let Their Kids Read Today
CW: graphic depictions of novels.
When I was in eighth-grade honors English, our first book of the year was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Unlike with other books, our eyes didn't glaze over as we read. In fact, we were enthralled.
We were very invested in the characters, we all cried at the end, and even though the book didn't have a happy ending, we bonded through the sadness and were still happy we were able to read the book.
My mom, who passed on her love of reading to me, always read the books we were assigned for school. She hated this one.
While she could appreciate the story and understood it was a product of its time, she thought the story, especially the end, maybe a bit inappropriate for students my age. She was not the type to make a stink about things, but she let me know her feelings.
My mom's opinion was not all that unique. There are lots of parents who weren't always fans of what their kids had to read for school.
Sometimes it's because they would've liked their child to be a little older when they read a particular book. This was my mom's complaint about Of Mice and Men. Other people don't think particular books are appropriate for school at all.
Those people took to Reddit to share what books they read in school that they wouldn't want their kids to read in school today...at least, not until they are a little older.
It all started when Redditor masterbuildera asked:
"What book did you read in school that you would never want your child to read?"
The Horror
"My 5th grade teacher read the Stephen King short story Survival Type to the class. For those who haven’t read: the narrator / mc is a drug smuggler who crash lands his plane on a deserted island. He ends up doing all the heroin he recovered from the crash and cannibalizes himself. We didn’t know at the time our teacher had early onset dementia..."
– iamtommynoble
"Holy sh*t! I was in my mid 30s when I heard that story(was listening to the audio book) and was cooking dinner. Had to save all of the food for later, no way I could eat after listening to that. I can't believe a teacher read that."
– pop_skittles
Obsolete
"“Microsoft Publisher 98 for Dummies”"
"Seems kinda pointless at this stage."
– CuppaMatt
"imagine dragging your tik tok watching kid trough that today"
"lmao 💀"
– TheVoidKilledMe
Questionable Choice
""A Day No Pigs Would Die" was pretty rough in 6th grade. Basically Charlotte's web with HAUNTINGLY graphic depictions of animal husbandry and slaughter. I don't remember getting a lot of value out of it at 11 years old, just pig-blood soaked nightmares lol"
– BizarroBuffalo
...*Shudders*...
"I recall being in 6th grade and a fellow student writing a book report on an erotic novel she had read about an extremely overweight man collapsing on a sex worker while mid intercourse and she rips off his jaw and uses it to sever off one of his limbs and get out from under him."
"I remember being 13 years old and thinking “this is pretty f*cked up for a 13 year old.”"
– Silvertongued99
"Holy crap. Yes, that’s a bit much. In that vein, Flowers in the Attic and the rest of the series."
– Pinkbeans1
Too Early
"Maybe this isn’t the question, but I read A Child Called ‘It’ as an elementary aged child. I bought it at the school’s Scholastic Book Fair, and was maybe 9 years old. Why on earth they thought that was an appropriate book for small children to be purchasing and reading, I will never know. The 90’s were a trip."
– YaBoyfriendKeefa
WAY Too Early
"I was in a gifted class and we read 1984...in the fourth grade. Great piece of literature, but maybe a titch intense for nine-year-olds, y'know?"
– Bratbabylestrange
Father Knows Best
"The Kite Runner....my dad saw me pick that up at a book store when I was in the 7th grade and he said no, I wasn't allowed to read that till I got older. Me being the rebellious little sh*t I was convinced my friend to buy it and we took turns reading it. Yeah that book is not for kids....I learnt some things that day :("
– Severe-Experience333
Unrecovered
"I read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns in high school, they were trauma in paperback form."
– bananaphone92
"A thousand splendid suns BROKE my heart. Beautiful book, but traumatic."
– bakedNdelicious
"Same. Read it in college undergrad actually and was destroyed and cannot imagine how my emotional maturity would have been affected had it come out a few years earlier. Still one of my favorite books and authors of all time. Haunts me to this day."
– abeshius
Bonded
"I know it’s weak, but the ending to Of Mice and Men really messed up my 13 year old brain."
– usernames_are_danger
"My English class read it together (taking it in turns to read aloud) when I was 16 and it was a lovely experience - we hated it at first, and then by the end we were invested, and a bunch of people cried - including the cool girls who usually sat at the back giggling. My friends and I read ahead and knew the ending. We didn't spoil, but we were smug about knowing what was coming!"
"Probably a bit heavy for a 13yo though."
– Lornaan
"We read the stage version at my high school, not as homework but as a sort of "table read" where we went around the classroom with everyone taking a turn to read a line/lines."
"I don't think I'd ever seen the entire class so invested in something. Not just kids approaching my own level of nerdiness, but everyone - even the troublemakers and barely literate kids. It kinda blew my friggin' mind. And then, when we finished the story (over the course of a few classes, I think), we all suffered together through the ending. Trauma bonding, yaaaay!"
"Honestly, that book was probably the only worthwhile book in our curriculum, as far as I can remember."
– Eleventy_Seven
Easy As 1, 2, 3
"Advanced Mathematics."
– SamuelVimesTrained
"A lesson book on calculus now that's hell"
– ToruMiz
"There are 3 kinds of people in this world:"
"Those that understand math, and those that don't."
– edlee98765
Personal Battles
"Was given The Things They Carried in HS and had nightmares for weeks because I had a brother overseas in combat at the time. Part of me never wants my kids to read it because of how much it negatively effected me, which I know isn't a good reason. I do think it is a worthwhile book but it will always, always make me uncomfortable."
– readyplayer_zero
The Wrong Message
"Hear me out, this is a weird take:"
"Cyrano de Bergerac"
"Not because it isn't a good story, it is. But because I think high school boys get the wrong message from it and it fuels this incel, neckbeard fantasy of "I am truly special, and I will pursue this woman until she realizes how special I am. She only likes that other guy because he's cute, it definitely isn't that I'm an a**hole." I don't think that's healthy for them, I think a lot of them don't get that it's satire because it's in middle english."
"I'm not saying they can't read it, but it shouldn't be required as part of the curriculum either (it was for me at least)."
– Nik_Tesla
"I’d go nose to nose with you about this one. (Not really, you’re right and make good points.)"
– tasareinspace
Not A Kid's Book
"I still wish I hadn’t read Where the Red Fern Grows though…cause I haven’t stopped crying and it’s been 25 years."
– jdino
"I was assigned this as a first grader. Apparently the teacher hadn't finished the book to know how truly traumatic the last chapter is. Plus the boy that bleeds out (that blood bubble on his lips always stuck with me). I reread it recently and cried so f*cking hard"
– gallopingwalloper
"I remember in I think my freshman year (hs), one of my friends who isn't a reader wanted a book suggestion when we had to pick one from the library. One of the first I looked at was Where the Red Fern Grows, I recalled it being good and gave it to him. Teacher refused it because it "was a kid's book.""
"I mean yeah, but f*ck you, no."
– Rectal_Fungi
Oof! Yeah, that one was a hard one to get through.
It's very popular to create rumors about certain historical figures to which there is no concrete evidence.
Such as the sexual orientation of Abraham Lincoln or the alleged illicit behavior of Lewis Carroll and Hans Christian Andersen.
Understandably, these mostly baseless, though not necessarily false, theories are left out of history books.
However, there are facts about legends of history which have, indeed, been proven true, but are also left out of history books.
Namely, because it's not the sort of information many would consider in polite conversation, let alone be talked about in schools.
Even if it is no less fascinating than anything else we might learn.
"What’s a NSFW detail about a historical figure that’s normally left out of the history books?"
Dubious Contributions To The War Effort...
"During WW1, sex workers in Britain were more expensive if they had STD's."
"This was because if a soldier hired them and got infected, the soldier could be honorably discharged, and not have to fight in war."- KaleBrew
Talk About A Huge Relief...
"Ancient Egyptians believed the god Atum created the universe by pleasuring himself to ejaculation, and that the ebb and flow of the Nile corresponded to how much."
"To honor this, the pharaohs ceremonially pleasured themselves into the river."- -weef
lets go luna fun GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyThe Downside Of Their Journey...
"Lewis and Clark described the screaming sh*ts that they got from eating unfamiliar food (camas) in detail in their journals."- ayriana
Shameful Thanks For A Hero
"After Alan Turing cracked the enigma code, essentially ending WW2 years earlier than expected and saving countless lives, he was thanked by the British government in the form of chemical castration."
"All because he was a gay man."- Dangerjayne
Talk About Man About Town...
"Probably said here elsewhere, but Victor Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame among other tales, was a notorious philanderer who had affairs on top of affairs with sex workers throughout his life."
"When he died, ALL of the brothels in Paris had to close because so many attended his funeral."- JLWilco
classic film vintage GIF by FilmStruckGiphyNone Of Our Business What They Got Up To In Private...
"Pyotr Tchaikovsky was a submissive bottom."
"In one note, never before published in Russian or English, Tchaikovsky wrote of a young servant 'with whom I am more in love than ever', adding: 'My God, what an angelic creature and how I long to be his slave, his plaything, his property!'". Reddit
The Secret Lives Of The Founding Fathers
"Patrick Henry, the American founding father better known for his quote, 'give me liberty or give me death', kept his wife imprisoned in a cellar because of her frequent outbursts due to postpartum depression."
"His wife had eventually died in that cellar, and he had buried her in an unmarked grave."
"10/10 quote but the wife killing part always seems to get left out of history texts."- sortatoxic
"Ben Franklin was a notorious flirt, and hit on and/or ploughed just about every woman he ever met."
"Single women, married women, young women, old women, women of title, women of the royal line."
"Protestant women, Catholic women."
"All of them."- TheLastIronMan
GiphyTaken To Heaven... Just Not Back...
"French President Félix Faure died during oral sex"- Wiesterfeler
His Bubble Was Bound To Burst Eventually...
"It's said that Henry VIII 'exploded' in his coffin."
"Dogs then licked up the Henry juice."- B1LMAN
It's understandable why most of this information is left out of history books.
Particularly those used in schools.
Even if it might make students' attention might be a bit more attentive...
People Explain Which Fictional Character's Death Impacted Them The Most
The mark of a good piece of fiction is when one feels as if they actually know the characters.
Be it a film, television series or novel, there are some beloved characters we wish were actually our friends in real life, or whom we feel as if we've actually known all our lives.
As a result, when one of these characters dies, we sometimes feel as if we've actually lost a loved one.
Sometimes finding ourselves in a state of literal grieving.
"What fictional character's death still hits you hard no matter how many times you watch it?"
Dear, Noble Artax
"I have to say the death of Artax, the boy's horse, in 'The Neverending Story'."
"Watching him sink into that swamp was pretty awful."- powderkegpitbull
Bubba of Forest Gump
"'Bubba was my best good friend'."
"'And even I know that ain't something you can find just around the corner'."
"'Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in Vietnam'."- FlyingVI
Stoick The Vast
"Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk, Hiccup's father, from 'How to Train Your Dragon'."- Waldo_007
how to train your dragon animation GIF by Universal KidsGiphyThe Iron Giant
"The Iron Giant."- roo719
Noble Canine Companion
"Fry’s dog from Futurama."
"Another testimony to the fact that animators can be true storytellers, who don’t always need words to get their point across."
"The changing of seasons as the dog sits and waits in front of the pizza shop."
"Waits and waits for Fry, who never returns."
"No dialogue."
"Just the absence of the dog, eventually."
"Ugh."
"Gut wrenching."- iwokwuplikwthis
Animated GIFGiphySweet Ofelia
"The little girl from Pan's Labyrinth."
"In fact I just started crying even thinking about it"- choppcy088
Beloved Dr. Greene
"Mark Greene on ER."
"20 years later and I've never watched that episode without bawling like a baby."- LadyGreyIcedTea
A Hero's Death
"Wally West in 'Young Justice'."
"It’s been about a decade and I’m still mad about it."- Remarkable-Duck-2306
Video Game Laughing GIF by DCGiphyA Heartbreaking Escape
"When Brooks hangs himself in 'The Shawshank Redemption'."- Horror-School-6713
As the saying goes, those we love never truly leave us.
In the case of fictional characters in film and television, however, they are literally preserved for eternity.
Paving the way for new generations to be devastated and traumatized by their deaths.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
People Explain Which Geniuses Alive Today Would Qualify As A Modern-Day Einstein
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the smartest of them all?
Who is today's best and brightest?
Are they in charge of Mensa?
There are a lot of brilliant people in the world.
But if we can compare; who measures up to the greats?
Two words: Albert Einstein.
The new generation.
Redditor jumpjoom wanted to hear some thoughts on who everyone thought might be today's greatest smarty pants.
"Who is the closest person alive to a modern-day Einstein?"
I know I'm not on this list. So easy place to start.
The Unknown
excited genius GIFGiphy"We probably don't know about them. They're probably buried in some pharma, rocket science, technology company and are content to do their thing."
believeTheError
"I know this absolute child prodigy genius of a mathematician that went to Harvard and was easily one of the best there. He’s currently a professor of a 3rd tier state college."
gigawort
Just as good...
"Even at the time Einstein was alive, it wasn't that he had the most powerful brain or best math ability (many surpassed him here). He worked on and solved some of the most outstanding problems in physics at the time. The late 19th/early 20th century was a special time for physics; classical physics was failing apart but how to fix it wasn't known - Einstein (amongst others) offered some ways to fix things."
"Tons and tons of people are just as 'bright' as Einstein by almost any metric but their work essentially can't as impactful. We're too many decimals deep into measurements now."
Jorrissss
"Emmy Noether comes to mind as a contemporary of Einstein who was easily a better mathematician than he was."
CoastingUphill
Impossible
"I’m going to give a weird answer: John Carmack."
"Just go read some of the things he has done and is doing. From inventing some of the math and programming that gave us the modern computer gaming revolution (this is the guy behind the original doom), to running a rocket company trying to achieve orbit and complete propulsive landings similar to what Space X does today, to dropping everything to create the future of VR."
"Now he’s immersed in AI research on top of everything else. The guy is a walking talking genius who sees things on a whole different level. He spent his whole career doing 'impossible' things in software and hardware. Whether you know his name or not, his work has had a real effect on all of our lives, and likely will be even more impactful in the future as we move toward a more virtually-centered life."
Exodi
Advanced Study in Princeton...
"Ed Witten..."
"American mathematician and theoretical physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He received his Ph.D. in physics in 1976 from Princeton University. He has made landmark contributions to string theory from the 1980's to the present day, most notably the development of M-theory in 1995. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1990 for his contributions to mathematics and mathematical physics"
Heap_Good_Firewater
It's all Relative
Good Witch Smile GIF by Hallmark ChannelGiphy"Thomas Einstein, Albert Einsteins great grandson."
XRomaniaIsInSomaliaX
"That dude is a doctor. Imagine living your life having people refer to you as 'Dr. Einstein.' I'd develop a superiority complex."
blue4029
Those Einsteins. They should do a sitcom.
Math Guy
Confused Thinking GIF by JKGiphy"Grigori Perelman the Russian mathematician?"
OverLurking
"My man solved the Poincaré Conjecture and just dipped. I love math and I tried to read his paper and I did not understand a single word. The surgery thing seems like magic to me."
Lufernaal
Tao
"Terrence Tao."
david_rohan
"Apparently a strategy, if you're stuck on a problem at higher level maths is to get Tao interested in what you're working on."
JVM_
"From his Wiki. His research topics include 'harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, algebraic combinatorics, arithmetic combinatorics, geometric combinatorics, probability theory, compressed sensing and analytic number theory.' Just look down the rabbit hole of any one of those theories or topics and your mind will explode."
KardelSharpeyes
And the family...
"All of the Tao siblings are terrifyingly intelligent. I had the pleasure of playing a concert alongside Terence's brother, Trevor. I perform my set and am feeling pretty good about myself, and then Trevor gets up and performs gymnopedie no 1, which is a pretty difficult piece, but the dude did it while solving a Rubik's cube. Needless i say, I, and all the other performers that day, felt quite upstaged."
Haverwolf
"Trevor Tao is also an international chess master and is one of Australia’s top players."
Askyourdaughter
Thought
"Miguel Nicolelis. He created the theory and proofs of the brain net, basically telepathy. Thanks to this he managed to create a machine that a quadriplegic could walk using the power of thought. And it worked. The power of thought From someone else for this quadriplegic to relearn how to think about walking."
DELAIZ
The One and Only
albert einstein GIF by US National ArchivesGiphy"In some fields, science can be so complex and multi-disciplinary that 100s of people have contributed to e.g. gene therapy, CO2 capture or other major contributions to society. So major discoveries can't be attributed to a single person. And most of this science, if published, generally needs affiliations to academia to be taken seriously."
"Einstein was truly one-of-a-kind from his multitude of publications in 1905. I'm 90 percent sure that he wasn't even affiliated with any university at the time. He did it solo, out of nowhere. This makes his discoveries even more impressive! Einstein experts, please confirm that he did in fact not work at a university in 1905. I believe he worked at a patent office."
TheGhettoKidd
I'm not smart enough for this thread but we applaud this next generation of geniuses!
Do you have anyone you'd like to add? Let us know in the comments below.
People Explain Which Fictional Characters Are Only Idolized Because People Misunderstood The Story
It's always odd to hear about people who idolize the Joker and Harley Quinn. Isn't it very apparent that those two are in an abusive and codependent relationship?
You'd think so, but if you spend a little time on online message boards or looking at any memes, you'd see a host of representations of Joker and Harley Quinn as "relationship goals" when they should be anything but.
Clearly the people who read those comics misunderstood the assignment, and they are not alone.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor WhereDemonsDwell asked the online community,
"Which fictional characters are idolized by people who missed the entire point of their story?"
Walter White
"Walter White. You're not supposed to root for the murderous, ruthless, self-centred, ego maniac drug lord by the end of the series. People do."
NDStars
People tried to turn his wife into the villain. If anything, she was the only character in the series to stand up to him consistently and people hated it.
Tom
"Tom from 500 Days of Summer."
"Really liked the character and could associate myself with him in my younger self but he's living in his fantasies more than understanding his reality."
CrackerGuy
This is the kind of movie that hits different when you're in your early 20s compared to any other time.
Bonnie and Clyde
"Not fictional characters, but Bonnie and Clyde. Cool if you wanna have an adventure with your ride or die, just don't kill 13 people while doing it."
sosaidtheliar
People loved and adored them because they saw them as heroes taking on the banks that caused the Great Depression. No one really knew how terrible they actually were except the cops who were hunting them down.
When they were killed, their bodies were towed through the streets of a town and people crowded around crying and sobbing like two movie stars had been killed, then started ripping their clothes trying to get souvenirs.
The movie from the 1960s did not help.
Tony Soprano
"Tony Soprano. I don’t get how people could look up to him, when the whole show is about how he hates his life."
ClarkTwain
Because the show deliberately tries to trick you. David Chase constantly pulls you between sympathizing with Tony's very real, very human problems (most of the therapy scenes, the ducks, etc.) and smacking you in the face for even considering that he might be a good guy.
Holden Caulfield
"Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye. He wasn’t being refreshingly rebellious, he was crying out for help. He was probably mentally ill, and definitely emotionally scarred by his brother’s death and the unhealthy way his parents handled that tragedy."
GoingOn2Perfection
I think the brilliance of that book is depending on your stage of life you can take something very different each time.
The Joker and Harley Quinn
"Joker & Harley are still idolized as an example of crazy passionate love despite it being clearly established as an abusive relationship. It’s a shame the movies had to cut out most of the really bad Joker abuse because then maybe the point will be driven home."
[deleted]
See? What did I tell you? People acted like they were Gomez and Morticia which is... so not the case.
Vito Corleone
"Vito Corleone. Everybody knows Michael is a monster but he’s only his father without the “family man” charm. Both of them are ruthless murderers."
simplepleasures
And the story is a tragedy. You'd think people would have learned something...
Scarface
"Scarface. So many wannabe gangstas and rappers with Scarface shirts and posters."
Leeser
That was my thought too. It's like everybody only watches the first half of the movie.
Tyler Durden
"Tyler Durden. Hands down."
[deleted]
Yeah I think the socioeconomic message was lost on most people who just paid attention to the first half of the movie.
Lolita
"Lolita. I hate that the name has become synonymous with young, seductive, coquette types. The entire book includes accounts that she was an unwilling participant and trapped."
notusuallyaverage
It's interesting how so many people pretend like Nabokov glamorized Humbert Humbert. Nabokov wrote him as a lying, murderous monster.
Chances are, you can think of people out there who misunderstood the assignment, too.
Like, is there anyone out there who actually idolizes Don Draper? (Answer: Yes. Sadly, yes.)
Have some suggestions of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!