Sorry Mcgrath but absolutely nothing could persuade me to reread Hardy's 'The Trumpet Major' which was part of our curriculum although fortunately after a lifetime of avoiding everything else by him I finally found (after hearing the Melstock Band {Bless}) 'The Ruined Maid', 'Absentmindedness in the Village Choir', 'Great Things' and several other treasures
Also forced to read 'My Early Life' by Winston Churchill - it made having teeth drawn without anasthetic preferable and helps to explain why I am a life long socialist (By the way The Ragged Trousered Philantrophists should be a must)
Do today's children have a better choice of compulsory reading?