A little help?

[luco]

I have a question for you guys.

As most of you know, I never finished High School. I got to the middle of Grade 10 and then everything else became too overwhelming. And, even though I've gone to College, an Animation course is NOT your typical College experience.

Add that all to the fact that I've been lost in my own world for most of my life and well, I'm more then a little out of touch. It hadn't bothered me before, but lately, it has. There are books and plays and writers and musicians that I don't recognize. There are historical facts and events that are common to everyone else that I have no clue about. There are shows and myths and trends that escape me and don't even get me started in maths and sciences!

I've recently been wanting to basically teach myself all that I missed out on, but I don't even know where to begin! So, that's where you guys come in. Because all of you are intelligent, talented and thoughtful people. All of you have such strong opinions and you can't even begin to know how much I admire you for that. How young and childish I often feel...

So, I was wondering if you guys could help give me a direction. Can you name books you think should be read, or were asked to read. Plays and poetry, writers, history, myths, sciences, just ANYTHING! What were you guys taught? What would you consider common knowledge? And not just school-wise, but world-wise as well! I don't even know how to properly describe what I'm asking, but hopefully you guys can figure it out. I just need a good starting place. A list of something to work from because I'm tired of my own little world, but am not quite sure how to step outside.

And even if you're still in High School, please don't hesitate to add your own input. I wasn't able to be where you are now.

Thanks.

Comments

[kaizoku-shinobi.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say that in terms of "common knowledge", it doesn't necessarily come from things learned in high school. There are plenty of people who've finished high school and college but are not aware of many "common knowledge" type of things. It's a really subjective matter, but I feel that you'll understand it better if you look at media than at academics.

Since you want to continue learning new things and what you've missed, I'd recommend reading some foreign literature along with classic English stuff like Shakespeare. "Snow Country" by Kawabata is an easy read, but it's very haiku-like so you can get a real feel of Japanese writing style. I also enjoyed "100 Years of Solitude" by Marquez. "The Encyclopedia of the Dead" by Kis, and anything by Borges, if you like really fantasy-ish stuff. For poetry I'd recommend the classic Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", as well as Carl Sandburg.

For math and sciences, there are often textbooks in libraries that you can borrow and read through. Most of the stuff learned in high school isn't really required for anything unless you take a job specific to a certain area though, so most people never remember that stuff.

World-wise, I think learning how to cook or sew (home economics kind of stuff) is really important since it helps a lot in life, so maybe read some cooking books or handcraft books or take some lessons. Also, I feel that learning finance or economics can be helpful too, so maybe learn basic things like what a stock is, or how to manage your finances. For things not that needed in daily life, learning a new language can be a nice challenge. It also allows you to learn about other cultures and even meet new people. I've learned Japanese myself, and also Chinese through school.

In the end, I think it depends on what you yourself want to learn the most. I don't think it's too late to keep on with your education, whether you go back to school or not. Hope this helped!

[sentora.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna suggest a few unusual ones, but I think you'll benefit from them.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
The Alanna series by Tamora Pierce
A Wrinkle in time by Madeline E'Lingle
A day no pigs would die by Robert Newton Peck
The Giver
Fahrenheit 451.
Where the red fern grows.
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne Macaffery
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques.