Classic Remarks: Why We Should Read the Classics

June 26, 2020

 

Classic Remarks is a meme hosted by Pages Unbound that poses questions each Friday about classic literature and asks participants to engage in ongoing discussions surrounding not only themes in the novels but also questions about canon formation, the “timelessness” of literature, and modes of interpretation.

If you’d like to participate, the list of prompts for 2020 can be found here. Each Friday, visit Pages Unbound and provide your link in the comments, though I want to see your posts linked below, too!


This Week’s Prompt:

What advice would you give to someone hesitant to read classics?


 

When I was in high school, I learned to hate the classics. Our English teachers all believed there was a “right” way to interpret literature and forced that vision upon us. As such, I dreaded reading for school, and thereby the Classics, because it didn’t matter what I thought. I’d just be told what to think in the end. So, I have since avoided reading Classic Literature.

I’ve blogged for the last 4 years, I’ve started to explore more Classics. Friends have continually pushed me to read Classic Literature and I’m thankful for this. I had no idea how much I’ve been missing out on! And now I’m excited enough about Classic Literature that I’m planning on participating in the Classics Club once I’ve achieved my Great Newbery Quest.

I want to join the Classics Club for so many reasons. All of them are not just reasons that I personally connect to, but I believe my own reasons to be universal reasons to read the Classics. 

 

5 Reasons We Should All Read Classic Literature

  1. Classic Literature provides an opportunity to understand history and culture in context. No book is written in a vacuum. All art forms, literature included, are created by and reflective of our culture, society, and the daily experiences of the artist in the world. The Classics survive the test of time because offer a more personal, accessible perspective on history and culture than most textbooks. And remember, non-fiction can be Classic literature as well!
  2. Literary references and allusions will become obvious to you. Classic Literature is a compendium of major references and everyday social allusions to concepts and characters. The idea of “Big Brother” comes from 1984. Narcissism, to be in love with one’s own self-image, is named for the Greek God Narcissus. To be Quixotic is to act as Don Quixote does in The Man of La Mancha. And a Scrooge, a greedy person, comes from Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Sure, you could learn these things from context. But understanding the source material gives you a stronger understanding of the intention behind the word, and a greater appreciation for what it means in modern usage.
  3. Classic Literature will challenge you. Most popular literature is written at a 5th-grade reading level today. That doesn’t mean they are written for a 5th-grade audience, but that a 5th-grader could read and understand the text. Most Classics are written at a much higher reading level. Faulkner, Dostoevsky, Hurston, Fitzgerald — I see many shy away from reading these authors because the writing is much harder to read. That’s okay! Challenge yourself. Push your mind. In fact, research shows that reading the Classics can activate parts of the brain associated with complex cognitive functions – all of which make us smarter.
  4. Reading the Classics improves our language abilities. Obviously, reading books like this give us an opportunity to expand our vocabulary. Partially this derives from the general evolution of the English language, older books will use different words than we would use today. But partially this is a result of a higher reading level than most. This also means we are exposed to higher quality sentences and complex ways to express oneself. I know that my speech and writing patterns have improved thanks to reading the Classics. In a world that relies on communication more than anything to run, deepening your language abilities becomes critical to success.
  5. Classics are accessible. Copyright law may be complex, but many Classics have fallen into public domain. Books in public domain have no exclusive intellectual property rights. As such, they are able to be printed by any publishing house. It’s easy to locate copies of Classics, such as Dracula or Anne of Green Gables in any bookstore, new or used. You can find copies at any library. And, if you have an eReader or related app, you can often download free versions of these books. Even if you struggle to get access to other books, the Classics are always at your fingertips.

 

To me, these are the five best reasons to read the Classics, but this is not a completely exhaustive list. I’m looking forward to my venture into the Classics Club, once 2022 rolls around. That seems like so far away but it will be here before I know it. I’ve already started drafting my Classics Club reading list… but I’m trying not to get ahead of myself. Patience, Jackie!


What do you think?

  • Do you disagree with any of my points above? Why?
  • What additional reasons do you have for reading Classic Literature?
  • Do you read Classic literature? Why or why not?
  • What are your favorite Classics?
  • Are you participating in Classic Remarks? Leave your link below!

26 Comments

  • Michael June 26, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    Like you, I never loved the books assigned to me by English teachers. But since my formal education has concluded, I’ve visited a few again and found myself appreciating them a bit more.

    Well, except maybe Lord of the Flies. I really didn’t like it when I had to read it as a freshman in high school and I can’t imagine re-reading it will change my viewpoint. 🙂

  • Briana | Pages Unbound June 26, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    Good point that many classics are widely available and often free! And more become so each year! The copyright on The Great Gatsby expires at the end of this year, so it’s not all “really old stuff.” I mean, kind of old, but not Shakespeare old!

    • Jackie B July 2, 2020 at 8:59 am

      Wow. The Great Gatsby‘s copyright ends this year? That’s crazy. I mean, 95 years old is old. But not really old. Not Shakespeare old. Still amazing.

  • Krysta June 26, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    I love the idea that classic books give us access to history! It can be fascinating to see what has changed–and what has not. I also love your point that the classics are often out of copyright and free to read! They’re an under-rated resource for readers on a budget!

    • Jackie B July 2, 2020 at 9:00 am

      And Bill reminded me of Project Gutenberg, so you can even find the Classics for free in many formats! It’s nice to see that the Classics are so readily available. The editing might not be perfect, but that’s easy enough to get past. The trick is making certain readers on a budget know where and how to find these free editions.

  • wadholloway June 27, 2020 at 4:46 am

    Is the answer! The writing in the classics is sublime, even in modern classics, that’s why they’re classics.

    As for 5, I do read and listen to books from Project Gutenberg but I find that the best ones are constantly being reprinted though they’re not much cheaper than books in copyright.

    I’ve been reading and reviewing pre-Jane Austen classics for a couple of years. The Vicar of Wakefield was funny and sly (Jo reads it for pleasure in Little Women and it was already more than 100 years old then).

    • Jackie B June 30, 2020 at 8:45 pm

      Oooh, I forgot about Project Gutenberg! That’s for the reminder, Bill.

      I still haven’t read Little Women! Did you read <em.The Vicar of Wakefield because you were inspired by Jo? I love witty, sly books. I’ll have to check it out — no matter how old it is!

      • wadholloway June 30, 2020 at 9:04 pm

        I had just read The Vicar of Wakefield which is why I noticed Jo reading it. Bill

  • Sam@WLABB June 27, 2020 at 8:54 am

    Your first point is interesting to me, and I agree with it, but it’s becoming one of the reasons “they” don’t want some of those books read.

    • Jackie B July 2, 2020 at 9:02 am

      I mean, this is why the Nazi’s burned books, right? Because they didn’t want people learning about the ideals that opposed them. It’s important to know our history; to know where we came from. As they say, otherwise we are doomed to repeat it again.

      • Sam@WLABB July 2, 2020 at 1:22 pm

        I agree, but am scared we are heading this way

  • Kim @ Traveling in Books June 27, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    I agree with all of your points, especially the first one: if you read classics, you’ll develop a more nuanced view of the past because you’ve read books by people who were living in that era. Sure, there’s plenty of historical fiction about the Regency or Victorian eras, but a modern author is always going to project their views and sensibilities onto that era. If you read Jane Austen or the Brontes, you’re going to hear– from someone who was living it– what the culture what like and what it was like to live there and then, and the issues that people were thinking about and dealing with. It also provides context into issues we’re still dealing with today. For example, someone wanting a wider view of Queer culture and history would do well to read Oscar Wilde’s ‘Ballad of Reading Gaol’.

    And the classics that have been beloved for decades or centuries just have sublime writing. There’s a lot of joy to be found in the very best writing from history, wherever it’s from.

    • Jackie B June 30, 2020 at 4:56 pm

      Exactly! I wonder how many readers think about the author when they are selecting a book and whether they are projecting their ideals onto an era or lived through it. This makes reading Classics that were historical fiction when they were published, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel even more interesting — now we have an older era projecting their sensibilities on a time even further in the past. It’s a lot to unpack. And, honestly, one of the best parts of book discussions.

      I’ve added Ballad of Reading Gaol to my TBR. Thanks for the reocmmendation! 😉

      Good point on the sublime writing! I worry that we aren’t helping educate students appropriately how to dig into dense language, though. I detested the Classics in high school. Partially due to the teachers but mostly due to how they taught. I never learned to appreciate a well-crafted sentence. Instead, reading dense language felt like a slog. I appreciate it more now, but it’s deifnitely work!

      • Kim @ Traveling in Books June 30, 2020 at 7:52 pm

        I wonder about that, too. When you’re looking at fiction about the Tudor era, for example, Philippa Gregory is the first name that comes to mind for most people. But to me, her books read like soap operas (with a dose of witchcraft), and don’t really get at what characters like Katherine Parr or Lady Jane Grey were probably really like. To each their own, I guess, but I can’t stand Gregory’s novels. I adore books like Hilary Mantel’s, where the writer goes with the facts and slides the fiction into the gaps between what we know, and don’t turn figures into heroes and villains– they get to remain complex people.

        You’re welcome for another rec! lol

        My teachers were really good about teaching us how to pick apart books for meaning without obviously pushing their own agenda (usually), but then, the older I get the more I think my little town’s school was pretty remarkable. I didn’t learn to appreciate good writing by itself at the time, but I did get a good foundation in literature and critical thinking.

        • Jackie B June 30, 2020 at 8:34 pm

          I’ve never read Gregory’s nor Mantel’s works before, but I’ve heard people say similar things about the authors. I guess this depends on what you’re interested in reading? And to the point of being able to appreciate and get through dense language, too!

          I didn’t learn much about critical thinking from any classes beyond Music. I think that’s why I was drawn so much to music — it challenged me in a way no other coursework did.

          • Kim @ Traveling in Books June 30, 2020 at 11:52 pm

            I’ve tried a few different Gregory books, and I couldn’t make it through any of them. She takes these intelligent, quick-witted women and turns them into flat, brainless characters. Mantel, on the other hand, assumes the intelligence of historical figures (except where documentation has showed that they actually weren’t bright). And her writing is glorious. I highly recommend her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. A Place of Greater Safety is brilliant, too, but it’s unsettling.

            I was definitely lucky with my teachers. Many of my classmates might disagree, but I thought the teachers in our school system were great. They taught us all sorts of skills in thinking and analysis that I still use today.

            • Jackie B July 2, 2020 at 8:29 am

              Ew. Gregory’s books sound… horrifying. That’s like a personal nightmare: intelliegent, quick-witten women turn flat and brainless. It’s how I imagine an antagonistic alien invasion to result. shudder

              • Kim @ Traveling in Books July 2, 2020 at 8:31 am

                Yeah. I didn’t make it very far into The Taming of the Queen because she turned Katherine Parr– easily the most intelligent of Henry VIII’s wives (though not always having the best judgment)– into a dim-witted country cousin. Super frustrating.

                • Jackie B July 2, 2020 at 8:35 am

                  I don’t know much detail about Henry VIII’s wives, but I can name them all. Perhaps it would be good for me to dig into these and get a stronger understanding of who these women are. Most of them must have been intelligent and confident to have married a man like Henry VIII…. I mean, not that they had much choice…

                  • Kim @ Traveling in Books July 2, 2020 at 8:40 am

                    No, they didn’t have much of a choice. They’re all fascinating people in their own right (Catherine of Aragon, for example, led an army against an uprising in Scotland and won while Henry was losing a campaign in France). Alison Weir has a book called The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and then David Starkey has one called Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. Both Weir and Starkey are well-respected Tudor historians, so they’re good sources to start with if you’re interested in reading more about Henry VIII.

  • Grab the Lapels June 28, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    I wonder what folks think about classic novels that are rewritten to be more accessible. I know my niece received a copy of Anne of Green Gables that was basically revised to shorten the sentences. Think of the first sentence of that book: it’s an entire paragraph long. Does a nine-year-old girl understand conjunctions and clauses well enough to follow the punctuation in that massive sentence enough to understand what she’s reading? I know college freshman who couldn’t follow along with that. I’m not saying books should be changed, but is the story or the sentence structure more important, I wonder.

    • wadholloway June 28, 2020 at 8:16 pm

      As a kid a number of the books I had were abridged versions of the classics – Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Don Quixote (which has an interminable first chapter) – and much as I dislike abridged versions now, I think that was probably a good idea. The stories, and not just the original words, are all an ingrained part of Western culture.

      • Grab the Lapels June 29, 2020 at 9:32 am

        Good point. I haven’t finished a number of classics because the language was so dense. A novel like Moby Dick would likely benefit from abridgment, as it contains what I would argue are too many pages to justify the message at the end.

        • Jackie B June 30, 2020 at 4:45 pm

          This is why I mostly listen to the Classics in audiobook format. The language and writing style takes a long time to adapt to after reading our 5th-grade-reading-level novels of modern day. But this is one of the many reasons why Literature classes are important! How else can we learn to push our way through and appreciate the Classics for what they are?

          • Grab the Lapels July 1, 2020 at 12:39 pm

            I would get so confused that there was no pushing through.

      • Jackie B June 30, 2020 at 4:44 pm

        Yes! This exactly! I fell in love with reading because of abridged classics. Only, I didn’t realize they were abridged when I read them originally. I felt so smart. XD

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