From my own experience, I didn't have the slightest bit of trust for any book recommended by the school, mostly due to the generally horrible treatment they giv

From my own experience, I didn't have the slightest bit of trust for any book recommended by the school, mostly due to the generally horrible treatment they give in class discussion. I didn't even realize the picked books might have any value until I accidentally read 1984 on a friend's recommendation, not realizing I'd have it for class the following semester. And I still couldn't stand the class discussion of it. So if I was going to do any reading, I had more incentive than not to avoid anything the school recommended: they'd kill anything I liked about the book anyways. I think my worst experience was being assigned voltaire (candide iirc), and realizing no else one was laughing, not even the teacher