Saturday, November 20, 2010

Ordinary People by Judith Guest



Was I supposed to read this in high school?

So here's a story about high school: As an incoming freshman, I guess I felt a need to get ahead, so I took a test to pass out of Freshman English. To prepare for the test, I was told to come having read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I was 12 when I started high school, I wasn't going to read Shakespeare. So luckily I found a Romeo and Juliet comic book in my sister's room. I could handle that.

I read the comic book, took the test...and passed! I passed out of Freshman English and was enrolled in Sophomore English. Thinking back, I wonder which books I missed out on, which is why I'm asking if Ordinary People was one that I should have read?

This is the story of a family grieving the loss of the oldest son, Buck. Each of them grieve in their own way, and try to make sense of the accident differently.

A deep, detailed, and nuanced look at a family, loss, and guilt.

2 comments:

DuMei said...

I didn't have to read it in high school but I've heard it's a good book. We also didn't really read Romeo and Juliet... we watched the movie and kind of followed along in the book.

Emily Gee-Clark said...

Hahahaha...I vaguely remember having a Romeo and Juliet comic book. I think Mom gave it to me!