Re: Cider with Rosie
At some point when I was at school, I got into reading. I read all sorts, from horror to science fiction and the like, and really enjoyed it. The side effect of this was I became very good at English, especially composition, to the point I was moved up a group on the strength of my high marks.
That was until I started in my new class and was forced on pain of death to read a set number of listed novels throughout the year. One of them was Cider With Rosie. I had enjoyed reading...up to that point. Having been forced to read this, meant I suddenly didn't want to do it any more - to the point I had to physically force and drag my eyes across the page in what became absolute physical and mental torture in what I considered a dreary, tedious and utterly boring meaningless drivel. It virtually killed my interest in reading and my marks fell away considerably and by the time the final exams came round, I was being forced into reading and writing Grapes of Wrath, which I found equally torturous.
For me, Cider with Rosie was responsible for me giving up reading and I lost every ounce of interest in literature for a very, very long time. To this day, I had no idea who Rosie was (or cared even less) and wished it was me who had the cider to take away this painful experience. The mere name of it sends shivers down my spine of being forced to read this dreary, dreary book.