I go back to school this weekend, and if there’s one good thing about school, it’s that I don’t have to take any more English classes. Don’t get me wrong, I love English, but I hate reading.
In 10th grade, we got to read any book we wanted and write an in-class essay about it. Well, I read about the first 30 pages of “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac and realized it wasn’t for me (It had words, and lots of them). I chose the book because because of a line in an Our Lady Peace song (“Jack Kerouac, K-K-K-Kerouac”).
The first 30 pages of a book usually give you a general overview of the characters and the setting, so I decided just to wing it after that. I was too lazy to even read the SparkNotes for it. I just hoped that my teacher wasn’t a Kerouac fan, because I made up every single thing that happened. I wonder if the book is actually as good as I made it seem. Oh well, I guess I’ll never find out.
I also hate discussing books in English class because everyone tries to make things in the book seem more important than they really are. Teachers have always taught me about the deeper meanings and symbolism of blood, water, and trees, but I’m sure if you’d ask the authors what they were trying to accomplish, I think they’d say, “Uhh…I like trees, okay? It’s just a book. Get over yourselves.” At least that’s what I’ve always told everyone in my English classes.
Tags: boo reading, jack kerouac, our lady peace
