Way Back When
All of us bloggers had a 'back in the day' time when we ventured out with our naive little posts praying that someone would read them. We'll, I'm going to be adventurous and post one of those long forgotten articles, ready for a re-hashing with my new followers. So here's a post from my first month of blogging almost a year and a half ago. Enjoy!
The Infernal Book List
I'm sure you've all seen it, it has plagued the walls of Facebook for sometime now. It has brought on bragging airs and dismal looks. It has made your heart glow and made you want to rip it up in the same moment. It is the top 100 book list.
They lure you in by saying most have only read six (a complete and utter lie for any high school graduate) so that you think if you've read twenty-four of the books you've done pretty well. That is, until you see that one friend who has supposedly read eighty of them. Then you feel like, even though you are an avid reader, you have somehow failed yourself.
It's as if only these 100 books will ever matter, and if you dare read anything else your doomed. Well I have news, and maybe I'm the first one to say it (but probably not) I don't want to read every book on that list!
A few years back I had several people tell me to read Wuthering Heights. "You've read Jane Eyre," they said, "this was by her sister." "You're a hopeless romantic," they said, "this will tear at your heart strings." So I read it, and I hated every minute of it. Why did I torture myself and read to the end? Well because I felt as if I didn't I was failing in the reading world somehow.
"It's a classic!" those people shouted. "You're not allowed to hate the classics!" Well guess what, I don't care! Why am I going to torture myself by dragging through a hundred classics that I don't even enjoy?
Granted, there a few I would truly like to read, little women for example (amendment, I read it and loved it). But I must ask, what is so wrong with simply reading books I enjoy? There is a treasure trove of brilliant unknown books out there--and if I like it, I'm going to read it.
So what if I never read The Republic of Plato? Am I really ruined as a writer or a person if I don't?
Maybe I'm just ranting. Maybe I should at least attempt Plato. But if I'm not enjoying it I'm going to stop.
For today, I'm going to continue reading the latest James Patterson novel. I'm going to eat some more Easter candy and I'm going to read every last indulgent line. And I'm not going to feel guilty, not even one little bit.
What are you're thoughts? Should a book be read just because it's a classic? Or should we broaden our horizons?
The Infernal Book List
I'm sure you've all seen it, it has plagued the walls of Facebook for sometime now. It has brought on bragging airs and dismal looks. It has made your heart glow and made you want to rip it up in the same moment. It is the top 100 book list.
They lure you in by saying most have only read six (a complete and utter lie for any high school graduate) so that you think if you've read twenty-four of the books you've done pretty well. That is, until you see that one friend who has supposedly read eighty of them. Then you feel like, even though you are an avid reader, you have somehow failed yourself.
It's as if only these 100 books will ever matter, and if you dare read anything else your doomed. Well I have news, and maybe I'm the first one to say it (but probably not) I don't want to read every book on that list!
A few years back I had several people tell me to read Wuthering Heights. "You've read Jane Eyre," they said, "this was by her sister." "You're a hopeless romantic," they said, "this will tear at your heart strings." So I read it, and I hated every minute of it. Why did I torture myself and read to the end? Well because I felt as if I didn't I was failing in the reading world somehow.
"It's a classic!" those people shouted. "You're not allowed to hate the classics!" Well guess what, I don't care! Why am I going to torture myself by dragging through a hundred classics that I don't even enjoy?
Granted, there a few I would truly like to read, little women for example (amendment, I read it and loved it). But I must ask, what is so wrong with simply reading books I enjoy? There is a treasure trove of brilliant unknown books out there--and if I like it, I'm going to read it.
So what if I never read The Republic of Plato? Am I really ruined as a writer or a person if I don't?
Maybe I'm just ranting. Maybe I should at least attempt Plato. But if I'm not enjoying it I'm going to stop.
For today, I'm going to continue reading the latest James Patterson novel. I'm going to eat some more Easter candy and I'm going to read every last indulgent line. And I'm not going to feel guilty, not even one little bit.
What are you're thoughts? Should a book be read just because it's a classic? Or should we broaden our horizons?
Comments
The summer my mother died (and I'd just moved to a new city) I went through a lot of classics waiting for school to start and a chance to meet kids my age. It was a good experience though I've only read a few of them more than once--Jane Eyre, for example. Loved it. Wuthering Heights. Um, no.
Some classics are worth it if we push ourselves through them. I always feel enriched after finishing a Dickens novel, no matter how painful the getting-through process was. On the other hand ... I tried reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a few years ago for an online book club, and finally gave up partway through and just skimmed the rest, and I've never regretted that decision (I only wish I'd made it sooner). So I guess it depends on the person, and the book!
Having said that, I will add that some of the classics I've forced myself to read and suffered through have surprised me with their poignancy. Some of those have become my favorites (The Scarlet Letter. Tess of the D'urbervilles, Jane Eyre, etc).
When it comes to classics I like what I like. I like Tom Sawyer but not Huck Finn. I like Pride and Prejudice but not Sense and Sensibility.
There's NOTHING wrong with not reading/adoring every "classic" out there. Who has time for that? ;)
I do try to mix reading a "classic" (or best-seller, or prize winner) with a fun book, throwing in a book on writing for good measure. Some of the esteemed reads leave me baffled as to why. But I guess that's part of the learning curve too, trying to figure it out.
What a great idea to repost from the early days :-)
But I also think we should read classics because they're classics. They teach us about life and morality.
Great post! :)
Some of my favorite books of all time are classics. (Dracula, East of Eden, Pride and Prejudice, and Tess of D'Urbevilles.)
But I wouldn't assume that everyone should read them.
Wuthering Heights was torture.
Happy Weekend!