How did you feel about novels you were forced to read and analyze in school? I like some books we read and some were boring, but they all had us analyze them half to death. Being forced to analyze books for themes and allusions and literary devices and what not just takes all the enjoyment out of reading, especially when the themes are obvious (Gee, Animal Farm is a political satire of 1940’s soviet Russia? I never would’ve known). My English class is starting “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe tomorrow and I do not want to read it, it’s just going to get in the way of me finishing The Dark Tower series which is a lot more fun and interesting compared to what the class novel is about. We’re also going to read Animal Farm later this year which I really don’t want to do because I like that novel and I don’t want to have it ruined for me by writing a five page essay on why the pig’s name is Snowball.