Oh, I think it’s time I admitted something. It just occurred to me as I was walking around the Montreal underground looking for lunch. When I was in high school and college, I never read a single novel. Remember all those novels that the teacher told us that we had to read; including the ones I bought for grade 13; I never read them. Well I did read one or two of the easy ones.
No, what I did was I bought Coles Notes, they’re the equivalent to Cliffs Notes in the U.S. Coles Notes was the equivalent to worshipping satan. If you were caught with them, they were confiscated. Sometimes even the teachers would read them and make sure to ask questions about a novel that weren’t discussed in the Coles Notes.
I got caught once when the teacher sprang a pop quiz on us on the current novel, The Chrysalids. The next day, she anonymously revealed my answer to one of the obvious questions to the class. Something about the protagonost having been sprayed with something. My answer was water, which was obvioulsy wrong.
I’ve wanted to read The Chrysalids ever since; it seems like such a great story.
I wonder how many novelists have a dream of having their novel replicated into a Coles Notes so that kids don’t have to read their novel. I’m surprised no one has ever asked a novelist if they paid attention in English class.
2 responses so far ↓
Amanda Henry // April 8, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I suggest you read it. All but the ending was fabulous
I didn’t want to put it down! It’s a nice change when you actually enjoy something on the reading list! The class was Topics in Speculative Fiction at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, it contained many more interesting stories 
Don // April 8, 2008 at 12:22 pm
You know what, that’s gonna be my next book. It’s short. probably take me only a week, two max, to read.
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