Reading Classic Literature

by Colleen P Moyne (Colmo) (follow)

Reading (50)      Books (29)      Novel (25)      Classics (11)      Classics (11)     

We’ve all seen those lists that tell us ‘the ten novels we must read’ and most of them are considered classics. There seems to be a great emphasis on how important it is to be able to read and discuss the great classic novels.


Here’s a typical top ten 'must read' list from the internet:

- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen


At the risk of sounding ignorant or uneducated, I can’t see what all the fuss is about. I've attempted to read a few of the most highly recommended ones and really struggled – and for a while I felt rather guilty that I didn't enjoy them. They were classics – everyone should read the classics!

At one stage I even kept them prominently displayed on my bookshelves to give the impression that I had read them, but soon realised that it was a rather pretentious move. Thank goodness no visitors ever asked me my opinion of them!

I can see why these books were considered great in their time but I find them cumbersome and dated. Give me a good Alfred Hitchcock or Agatha Christie any day - to me these are the classics. We all have different tastes in reading and a preference for certain genres. We should read what we love and not what we are told we 'must' read.


There may well come a time when books like Fifty Shades of Grey or the Twilight series become ‘must read classics.' Will everyone feel an obligation to read them then? I know I won't.

I've learned not to feel guilty about not liking the classics. How about you? Have you read them? Did you enjoy them? What is your opinion of a ‘classic’ book?

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