Classics - teenagers - important? - and which ones?

[Sadik]

DD (14 / yr 10) & I have been discussing this in a rather non-conclusive sort of way.

Her English teacher recently expressed the view that they should be 'moving on to adult books and the classics' (context was none of the class recognising the Magwitch scene from the early part of Great Expectations when it came up as an extract in an English exercise) - mentioning Austen and Dickens specifically.
I wondered what books others thought teenagers 'should' read - I'd say Austen for sure (though haven't suggested them to dd before because my feeling is she's only just getting old enough to appreciate them). But there's an awful lot of writers I'd suggest ahead of Charles Dickens - should you read him just because he's a 'classic'. (And why Dickens over say Mrs Gaskell or Trollope's political novels or Vanity Fair?)

I think as long they read books then that's fine by me. Literature should never be forced imo. Reading is for pure pleasure and if that pleasure is found in Patrick ness and not Dickens then again - fine by me

That's kind of what I think, Hammers - I mean, obviously it's good that they have the idea that these books are out there, but at 14 / 15 it seems like they've got lots of time to discover them?

I discovered the classics at that age and I am very glad I did so. Surely there's nothing to lose by giving it a try? I think I started with Wilkie Collins. I remember I picked the book out of a mixed box of books in my English Literature classroom.

The Catcher in the Rye is great for teenagers. I remember finding the character frustrating as an adult.

How about some dramatic, spooky Poe?

For context, I'm an English teacher. DS is 13, and reads a lot of YA fiction with a particular preference for dystopian fiction. He reads avidly and I have NO desire to upset that. If I have managed to get to the age of 45 with a degree in Eng. Lit. and over 20 years teaching the subject having only read two or three Dickens novels, why should I inflict them on him at 13 just because they're "classics"?

So he has read on my recommendation things like Lord of the Flies, Brave New World, Animal Farm, The Book Thief, Of Mice and Men - as well as all the Patrick Ness novels - all of which have interested him and provoked him to think but which he has also been able to read easily and independently. Most importantly, they have made him want to continue reading adventurously, not put him off! I am going to suggest Poe and Conan Doyle next.

Plenty of time for him to discover Austen and Dickens when he's older if he wants to: my job is to keep him excited about reading.

YY to Catcher in the Rye, that's a good suggestion, I reckon it's only really readable as a teenager.

I think I may have put dd off Wuthering Heights by describing it as the ultimate Emo novel She has actually read Jane Eyre - she said she thought it started well as an interesting story of a girl going off to be a governess, then it all went downhill when she fell in love with a 50 year old and all sorts of improbable things started happening. (I guess I should have given her Agnes Grey at that point - missed a trick there)

At that age I was reading the Bronte sisters, Daphne du Maurier, Bram Stoker, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Shakespeare etc

Haven't read a Dickens book in my life

I suppose my question is does it matter if they don't read those sorts of books. AFAIK the only pre-1950 adult (so not counting Little Women / Anne of GG / that sort of thing) novels dd has read are Jane Eyre, Brave New World, Christmas Carol & Three Men in a Boat. But she reads plenty of more modern fiction & non-fiction, so it'd never struck me as any sort of issue.

I read everything I could get my hands on as a kid and teenager, did an English degree with the view to becoming a teacher (didn't) and still read loads. I find sections of Dickens interesting, but struggled any time I tried to read a full novel.
As long as they are reading, and trying different authors and styles I would be happy.
I think at 14 I'd stolen Stephen King, Virginia Andrews and Danielle Steele from my older sister and was clearing the local library out of YA, as well as getting Buffy books as birthday and Christmas presents! I was studying Shakespeare at school as well as The Outsiders and some Steinbeck I think. I remember starting to read another sister's copy of Emma and not really liking it (but LOVING Clueless!)
One of my best friends was reading The Stranger and Gormenghast because that was the kind of things she had in her house.

NotAMammy I loved Stephen King, Dean Koontz & Richard Laymon as a teen as well as the "classics"