School program in literature: books

Not so long ago, the Internet discussed the list of Kuznetsova – books for children, which seemed monstrous to our officials. No one is fully aware of the sources used by the children’s ombudsman’s assistants when preparing this very list. Marshak’s poems, a character from the folklore of the Komi people – a rooster horse, and even books that have nothing to do with children have come under the distribution. Literature experts have already asked to deal with this ridiculous misunderstanding.

In the meantime, officials are thinking, we decided to make our own list of superfluous books in the current school curriculum. The superfluous is not at all because they are not masterpieces. But because our children, even by the 11th grade, have not yet matured to them – this is on the one hand. On the other hand, public morality and outlook on life have changed so much that the experiences of the heroes, over whom our parents sobbed, now seem to be sucked out of the finger, far-fetched and funny. Not to mention the fact that the very approach to teaching literature with the eternal dull “what the author wanted to say” is hopelessly outdated.

The prose of Andrey Platonov is generally a complicated piece. The writer has a very peculiar language, complex speech structures. This is not even literature, but pure art. To understand it, you need to have some established views on literature in your head. You need intellectual baggage, your own preferences, pardon the pathos, life experience. Love to read, after all.

Often it is impossible to try on the actions of Platonov’s heroes. And how can we understand them without this? how to sympathize with them? In general, this is too early for our students. This is incomprehensible, and does not arouse interest in studying serious literature.

Alternative: the current program is sorely lacking in contemporary writers. The same Prilepin – he writes magnificently, the syllable is pure pearl. And the reality in which the action takes place is much more recognizable and understandable. And there is something to argue about. Or, for example, the wonderful writer Vladislav Krapivin – his books for children and adolescents not only find a response in children’s souls, not only make them empathize, but also captivate. This is very important – if we really want our children to love to read.

Just don’t throw your slippers at me. I read the book, and more than once. But at school I skimmed through it. And the essay on the topic was stupidly compiled from various reviews of critics. By the way, I wrote excellently. Fyodor Mikhailovich is a gloomy writer. But he also has more cheerful things, with which it would be much more logical to begin acquaintance with the work of Dostoevsky. For example, “The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants.” A cynical teenager will probably like such banter over narrow-minded people more than Raskolnikov’s tragic reasoning and Sonya’s desire for self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice is not in vogue right now. Even psychologists do not approve of him.

Alternative: firstly, you can find a more life-affirming work in the bibliography of Dostoevsky himself. Secondly, there are books that inspire. Bulgakov’s “Notes of a Young Doctor”, for example. And what a discovery Chekhov’s stories can be! “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” by Gogol, if you like. Why not? After all, captivating is more important than engaging in sad moralizing that has set the teeth on edge.

Yes, Tolstoy is our everything. However, it is almost impossible to understand Anna’s throwings now. Why can’t you just walk away from your unloved husband? Why did you have to marry him at all? To cling to a certain man – is it really impossible to live in peace without trying to jump out in marriage? Anna solves problems with the help of a train. So-so example.

By the way, there are also many complaints about War and Peace. To overcome endless descriptions of nature, albeit filled with a double meaning, battle scenes and monologues in French … Of the heroes, only Natasha evokes sympathy – when she spits on all the rules of decency and walks around the clock in a greasy dressing gown.

Alternative: novels by Valentin Pikul. They have the same indirect relationship to history as War and Peace. Still, the “Battle of the Iron Chancellors” is much more exciting. Like The Three Musketeers, just our way. Again, interest in history awakens.

Luckily, we didn’t take them apart in class. The stories were asked for independent study. I, like an obedient child, read them. And I still regret it. “Don Stories” almost killed my love of reading, and at the same time the fragile child’s psyche. I don’t know about you, but I never liked the meticulous descriptions of brutal murders. Brr … still frost on the skin, when I remember the Cossack cut by sabers. Why is this? To add cruelty? There is enough of it anyway, without “Don Stories”.

Alternative: brothers Strugatsky. “Roadside Picnic”, “Monday Starts on Saturday”, “Snail on the Slope” – something will be mastered by high school students, something will suit younger children. But to ignore in the school curriculum science fiction, fantasy and Russian authors who worked in this genre and are recognized throughout the world is a crime.

Although no, Nekrasov should be left on the lists. But to complete the image, tell how Nikolai Alekseevich worked on his work. The great Russian writer had seen enough of his father’s atrocities in childhood, who mocked the serfs. In his student years, he spent the night in shelters where the beggars brought him – his father refused to support Nekrasov, and he was left penniless. And he was not a saint: he played cards, drank. In general, he was a living person. And there is always more interest in living people than in paper characters, aspirated, described on the pages of textbooks.

Alternative: Authors must be told honestly. Don’t try to make monuments out of them. There is a living story behind every person that can evoke a response. It would also be worthwhile to arrange an honest debate in which children could express and argue their own opinion. So far, this is not encouraged in many schools. There is an opinion voiced in the textbook, it needs to be learned. Show yours – you get a pair. Not very motivating, to be honest.