Worst liberal/left wing book that you forced to read in High School or College?

My Squash ^ | 10/31/02 | Burkeman1

[Burkeman1]

Everyone has their horror story about some PC or Left Wing book they were forced to read in High School or College. My worst book was in High School. It was "The Fixer" by Bernard Malamud. It was the tale of a Russian Jew being falsley accused of the rape and murder of a Christian Russian girl just before the Communist coup of Russia. He was innocent of the crime and the book details his time in prison and the torments he was subjucted too. OF Course during his time in prison he becomes a Marxist and hopes for revolution! The entire book was one giant communist propaganda piece. Since I had already read Solzenitsyn by that time and questioned the book in class I was told to shut up by the teacher. I did- to my shame- and got my "A".

What is the worst piece of Left wing crap that you were forced to read in school?

[zook]

Herbert Marcuse's "One Dimensional Man." This was nearly 30 years ago and it fascinated and confused me at the time. But I soon realized how full of tripe it was with all this "false consciousness, no one can really know anything," stuff. As I recall, the professor was actually trying to lure us to be critical, but lefties mostly dominated the class.

[Billthedrill]

The Grapes of Wrath, but I didn't know it until much later.

[Lunatic Fringe]

"The Good Earth"

[Senator Pardek]

Silent Spring (hint - book titles should be underlined).

[TruBluKentuckian]

The Grapes of Wrath, but I didn't know it until much later.

While I agree that politically it's not very conservative... it's still the best book I've ever read.

[Live free or die]

I was forced to read a book called Zenzele which sang the praises of the new Zimbabwe after ZANU-PF took over. Naturally plenty of white racism is portrayed, but the author failed to mention AIDS or land seizures or anything else.

A rough quote from the book: "I was a slave in Rhodesia. In Zimbabwe I could really live."

What's worse is that the author of the book came to my university only a few months after Sept 11 and had the unmitigated gall to tell us that we didn't understand true terrorism. That white racism was far worse than anything the Arabs had ever done to us. I'm sure there are other PsOS I've read that might be worse, but I'm still in college and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

[Senator Pardek]

This was in a Catholic school, sixth grade - mind you.

[Fred Mertz]

Black Like Me written by that white guy.

[js1138]

Italics is correct. Underlining is for typewriters that don't have italics.

[Hacksaw]

"The Good Earth"

???????

I thought that was a good book. The father tries to impart his wisdom to his sons, but they refuse to listen. The father is a success, but the sons were vultures. I thought it showed the need to observe experience. Yes, money does corrupt the father to a certain extent, but he never loses sight of the value of his land. His sons are only interested in a profit.

[Senator Pardek]

Pale And Short Like Me written by that tall and swarthy guy.

[manfromlamancha]

I was listening to Charles Osgood and Jim Bohanen and decided that they must have studied from the same book in college: "How To Sound Like A Man While Being Screwed Up The B@#t" That has to be the worst lib book

[Senator Pardek]

I'm old - gimme a break!

[The Shrew]

I went to a small Lutheran school and the book that stands out in my mind is The Bridge at Andau?

It is the only non-fiction book James Mitchener ever wrote. He was in Austria researching one of his books in October of 1956. He went to Andau on the Austrian/Hungarian border and interviewed refugees of the Russian onslaught of Budapest to quell the Hungarian Revolution. It is a fascinating book. It would be very difficult to be a Marxist having read this book - well it worked on me anyway!

Sorry this doesn't fit your criteria but the book is well read and still on my shelf.

Regards,

TS

[Burkeman1]

My Mother has a first addition of that book- without the jacket- so the worth of it is not that good. But She believed that crap for a long time until mosquitotos and flies started to intefere with her outdoor dinner parties. As a child my mother and father never had to deal with bugs as their neighborhoods were sprayed every March with bug killing agents.

[struggle]

I hate to say it, but Platos Republic. So many students have focused on the illogical Plato instead of the Greek-era Renaissance man Aristotle. Plato's Republic was a nice fantasy, but it has no logical proof in the real world.

[ovrtaxt]

What's the sci-fi book about an environmental doomsday? The ice caps melt, processed foods start causing spontaneous combustion during digestion, an airplane impales a building in NYC (!), basically, the world ends because nobody believes the envirowhacks.

Just can't remember the name of the book!

[Senator Pardek]

My Mother has a first addition of that book

Thanks for making me feel old.

[Welsh Rabbit]

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I recently read a very good article by John McWhorter where he systematically examines the inconsistencies and outright lies that are abundant in Maya Angelou's literature.