[Unknoob]

"The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas" and "Dom Casmurro", both by Machado de Assis, were required reading during the last 3 years of school in Brazil. It is common for college entrance exams to use the books as example for questions.

I forgot most of the plot because I only read it for school, maybe I should revisit it now that I no longer dread reading.

[romwell]

This must surely have been the best way to utterly destroy the book for all Brazilians.

I don't dread reading, but I am realizing I have to re-read all of my Russian poetry, because so little of it I could truly relate to at the age we were forced to read it.

[gen220]

It’s funny you mention this. One of my best friends went to secondary school in Moscow, a very nice one. I really enjoy reading Russian literature, and whenever I talk to him he says the same as you. We were chatting about Dead Souls, and he was like “you know, I have no idea who in their right mind gives a ten year old Gogol and expects him to come away enlightened.”

One of my good friends at work was raised in Germany, and he has similar things to say about Theodore Storm and Thomas Mann: “oh, that’s what all the old people tried to get us to appreciate in grade school”.

Maybe we should raise our kids on Harry Potter and Twilight, so we can save the good stuff for later :).