Friday, October 19, 2012

Why Read Classics?

Remember how I joined that Classics Club thing awhile back? The one where you read 50 classics in the next five years? Yes? Well they ask a sort of meme question every month and this month's question is:


Why are you reading the classics?


What a good question, eh? Why indeed. I must ponder.

1. Reading classics makes you smart! These books make you think and make you wonder about things and give you fuel for small talk. They even make you catch all the references in shows like Gilmore Girls. Classic books tend to  have substance and usually, you have to work for it... which... in the end... makes you smart.

2. The classics have all the best characters. Whether you love them or hate them, you have to admit, the characters found in classic books are memorable. Mr. Darcy, Pip, Heathcliff, Mr. Thornton, Jo and Laurie, Tess... just to name a few. I find myself falling in love (or hate as the case may be) over and over and over again.

3. Classics, by their very nature, are still relevant today. There's something to learn from these books, the moral of the story if you will. Even today, years later, that still holds true.

4. Why not? I mean, if you cut them out of your reading buffet, you'll be missing so much! None of us wants to do that now, do we? We want to read ALL the books! Some (a lot) of my very most favorite books are classics and to think that I may have missed them if I wasn't keen on reading classics just makes me shudder.

5. Bottom line: It's fun to read the classics! Sometimes it's also a little hard, but in the end, you feel such a sense of accomplishment. And often, you have a movie to watch that goes with the book. And you've got to admit, that's fun!

Do you read the classics? Why? Or... why not?

6 comments:

  1. I agree! I love reading classics, especially Dickens! His books always blow my mind! The way his characters are all connected and how his stories play out are genius!

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  2. Great post, Suey! I agree with you. While I normally don't "like" a lot of classics, I still enjoy reading them because of that sense of accomplishment and the hard work that goes into it. I hope as I continue to read classics that I'll enjoy them more and more.

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  3. Wonderful points. I really aught to read more classics as well. Stupid YA books making me stupider. ;)

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  4. Hear hear. I almost always feel better after reading my vegetables than I do after reading my sugary ones. :)

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  5. You just listed off some wonderful characters! Thank you for that. And you're absolutely right, we want to read ALL the books. Apart from agreeing with you, I don't have much else to say. I wrote my response yesterday, so feel free to check it out.
    Cheers! - Jenna

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  6. I keep meaning to pick up more classics. I think in 2013 I'm adding that to my list of books I need to read - wonder how many I can fit in with my normal book reading schedule. :) Thank you for an inspiring post to get back to the classics!

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