Further Things That Are Wrong (Part 2)

[Fagan_ODowd]

@Arthur

We did Emma. Hugely entertaining and relevant to our lives at the time I’d say it encouraged an awful lot of the lads into a lifetime love of reading alright. To kill a mockingbird was junior cert and that was v good tbf. I think they do films now, what are the novels on it these days I wonder the younger tfkers might advise?

@fenwaypark is our go to man for this type of query

[binkybarnes]

Of Mice and Men and The Outsiders on the junior cert curriculum anyway. Of mice and men is a tremendous book. Never read the other one though my daughter loves it

[habanerocat]

@Arthur

I think they do films now, what are the novels on it these days I wonder the younger tfkers might advise?

You’d be given a choice of two novels years ago. A lad I did the leaving cert with answered questions on the novel we didn’t do. He’d seen it in the movies a few years before.

He was from Graiguenamanagh…

[Thomas_Brady]

I suffered Emma also. Horrific Shit

[Declan_Moffat]

We did a Novel, a play and a film for Leaving cert back in 02/03.

Death and Nightingales was the novel. By Eugene McCabe. Set in Fermanagh I think in the 19th Century. Pure misery at times.

[Cheasty]

@Fagan_ODowd

I was reading a piece in the Telegraph giving out about the new bbc adaptation of Great Expectations (drug use, bad language, black people and of course Empire bashing)

Personally I find such adaptations of centuries’ old stories “to the modern age” and different settings to be toe curlingly awful and stupid. Like, you don’t want a modern adaptation of Othello set in South Armagh with the main protagonist being an IRA bomber who specialises in going to England to blow up Canary Wharf or the Baltic Exchange.

I did Great Expectations when I repeated the Leaving. My Mam decided to drop by Xtra Vision one day and rent out a VHS tape of the film version of it for me to watch. I put in on and I saw it had Robert De Niro in it and was set in Mississippi or somewhere. I gave it five minutes and thought to myself “what the absolute fuck is this?” and turned it off. Luckily I was able to source the proper Ye Olde English film version of it directed by David Lean, though I did also enjoy a modern version of it which was true to the story which the BBC showed one Christmas, I think it was 2001.

[Cheasty]

@Declan_Moffat

We did a Novel, a play and a film for Leaving cert back in 02/03.

Death and Nightingales was the novel. By Eugene McCabe. Set in Fermanagh I think in the 19th Century. Pure misery at times.

There was a film/mini-series version of that shown on RTE two or three years back.

[EmilioButragueno]

Mayor of Casterbridge By Hardy. I remember enjoying it and had great plans to read Jude the Obscure. Never happened. Philadephia Here I Come as the play. Thought that was great.
We never had Peig Sayers.

[artfoley]

@Arthur

We did Emma. Hugely entertaining and relevant to our lives at the time I’d say it encouraged an awful lot of the lads into a lifetime love of reading alright

I dod emma too and found it to be awful shite that said the girls in my year loved it. I enjoyed hamlet a lot more

[Cheasty]

@Arthur

We did Emma. Hugely entertaining and relevant to our lives at the time I’d say it encouraged an awful lot of the lads into a lifetime love of reading alright. To kill a mockingbird was junior cert and that was v good tbf.

I had a fantastic English teacher in first year, Heffo (“Dia dhaoibh a chairde”), who I always imagined was Kevin Heffernan’s brother, because he had white hair and had a very well spoken old style Dublin accent, though Kevin Heffernan didn’t have a brother as far as I know. He’d bring in 40 or 50 of his own books and lend them out to students to read. To Kill A Mockingbird was one. I read a couple of books by Joan Lingard that he lent out to me, which I liked a lot. I did pretty much give up reading any books between the ages of 15 and 18 but I credit Heffo with having that habit to give up in the first place, and I took it up again later.

[Cheasty]

@EmilioButragueno

Mayor of Casterbridge By Hardy.

My granny was a big fan of Thomas Hardy, so much so that she brought me to visit his grave in Dorchester in the summer of 1990. We stayed in some pub/B&B place run by a Corkman, who was confidently telling us Cork were going to win to the double, he was right too. I can place it to the day because I remember hearing at breakfast that the IRA had blown up a Tory MP named Ian Gow.

[Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr]

If I recall correctly, you either did a novel or a play?

Sexton St. CBS in the late 80’s was a novel free zone. The plays went in cycles of 3 for the Inter and Leaving Certs. I did Romeo and Juliet for the Inter and Othello for the Leaving. Macbeth and Hamlet were the others on the senior cycle and I think The Merchant of Venice and King Lear were the other junior options.

[EmilioButragueno]

They are full of hardship but he was a good man to develop and make you understand the character. In fairness our teacher drilled that into us before we started it which helped digest it better. Huge relief to all that we weren’t given Peig. Was a laughing stock already back then.

[Cheasty]

@Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr

If I recall correctly, you either did a novel or a play?

In my day anyway it was both.

First time I did the Leaving it was Silas Marner for the novel and Othello for the play.

Second time it was Great Expectations and MacBeth.

[Ralphie]

Hamlet and Portrait of an Artist as a young man.

Lucky to have a really good English teacher which really helps your understanding etc

[EmilioButragueno]

Not sure. Our main play was Macbeth. Think she might have done Friel in case the play questions were harder.

[Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr]

Actually, now that you mention it, SIlas Marner rings a bell (or hoards a stash)

[Cheasty]

@Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr

Actually, now that you mention it, SIlas Marner rings a bell (or hoards a stash)

In English class in sixth year, the teacher showed us a bit of the film version of Silas Marner. The main thing I remember from it was the class erupting when the same actor who played Des Baker in Sky One’s Dream Team suddenly appeared in a scene.

[Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr]

We were shown Zefferelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet for the Inter Cert. Olivia Hussey got her baps out in it prompting near hysteria in 1988-era 15 year olds.

[Cheasty]

@Elvis_Brandenberg_Kr

We were shown Zefferelli’s 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet for the Inter Cert. Olivia Hussey got her baps out in it prompting near hysteria in 1988-era 15 year olds.

I had Romeo and Juliet for the Junior Cert too. Hysteria is the right word. She was unreal in that.