When it comes to the classics, I fall into the "Sadly Unread" category. My first real exposure to them was through my high school English classes, and the majority of books on my reading lists didn't really click with me. Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary, The Great Gatsby, 1984, and The Scarlet Letter are only a few of the books that ended up being meh reads for me. And almost 20 years later, I still don't know what A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man was about. At the time, I had to read the Cliffs Notes on that one before taking a test on it because I had no clue what was going on. (I also don't know where my copy went; I think I lent it to a friend who apparently never returned it, not that I was particularly heartbroken about it or anything.)
Maybe the fact that I was forced to read these books had some kind of influence on my opinion of them. I certainly wasn't very keen on spending my summers reading a stack of books that I never would have chosen on my own. It was even worse when a book ended up being as dull as I'd feared. Once I was out of college, I didn't picture myself reading classic literature voluntarily very often.
The two big exceptions to my lack of success reading the classics are Shakespeare and Jane Austen. I read Romeo and Juliet as a high school freshman, but it wasn't until I read Hamlet in senior year that I really fell in love with Shakespeare. Every line was just so brilliant to me, not to mention the madness and the regicide! I've read the four big tragedies (Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and King Lear, and though I like the other three, Hamlet is by far my favorite.
I somehow never read Jane Austen while I was in school. I first became interested in her works after watching the 1995 movie adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. It took me about another five years to finally crack open an Austen novel, which was Sense and Sensibility. I read all six novels in succession, with Pride and Prejudice in the lead as my favorite until I got to Persuasion, which completely blew me away. The rekindled romance between Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth had me swooning for weeks after I read that book. It's my favorite Austen novel, my favorite novel ever period, and the one classic that I recommend reading to anyone who'll listen.
Now that I'm (a lot) older, I'd like to try reading the classics again, maybe even reread some of the ones that I originally found lacking, as a once-in-a-while type of thing. I hope that I've gained more of an appreciation for them over the years; it's something that I really didn't have as a teenager. Since I'd be reading them because I want to, perhaps I'll be able to sit back and enjoy them.
Are there any classics that you love and recommend? I'd love to hear about them!
I'm exactly like you. I hated reading books that I was forced to read. I ended up not enjoying the majority of them either. I find myself lucky though. I only had to read one book each summer for school. My sister has to read 3 or 4 books every summer. I would hate being forced to read that many books in a summer that I didn't pick out myself if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteMy summer reading lists were like your sister's, with at least 3 books each summer. I always felt like they gave us the least interesting books to read; none of them really stuck with me.
DeleteI didn't read a ton of classics in school either. I remember reading Little Women, Scarlet Letter, Of Mice & Men and Tale of Two Cities. I read a large amount of Shakespeare through drama & humanities classes though. I know I read Gatsby but that was on my own, I think. No one ever suggested any Austen or Bronte books. Bummer, I think I would have enjoyed them even as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd read Austen a lot sooner. I think I could have appreciated her books when I was younger, and maybe that would have encouraged me to explore the classics more at an earlier age.
DeleteThe more posts I read, the more I realize that high school ruined the classics for most of us. I fall into the same boat as you - I haven't read much and that is probably because what they gave us in high school wasn't suited to my tastes. But there are a lot of classics out there and there has got to be something to suit everyone, it is just a matter of finding it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the ArmchairBEA!
Tanya
That's exactly what I'm thinking, that there have to be other classics out there that I would enjoy. I hate writing them off completely just because of my experiences reading them in school.
DeleteI failed at Austen, Dickens and other classics but I adore Shakespeare. I love his comedies and his tragedies are plain jarring. For some reason, I can appreciate his version of English but I can't get into the more contemporary ones.
ReplyDeleteGood piece, Lee!
I've always been more of a tragedy person, but I don't think I fully appreciated the few comedies that I've read. I'd like to read them again one day, plus read some that are new to me, because I feel I'd get more out of them now.
DeleteI really need to read more of Austen's books! I've only read two so far!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to read the rest of them! I haven't read them in a few years, so it looks like a good time for a reread.
DeleteHahaha! It's the exact same thing for me. Being forced to read the classics in English only made them meh reads for me too. I started reading Jane Austen after watching Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice movies :D Jaclyn @ JC's Book Haven.
ReplyDeleteI loved Sense and Sensibility when I saw it, and if it hadn't been for that movie, I probably wouldn't have started reading Austen's books, which would have been a shame because I love them so much.
DeleteI think being forced to read certain classics, like Great Expectations - we skipped an entire chapter because if you hadn't read Hamlet, it wouldn't have made any sense! - is what grew my aversion to them. I really need to give more of Austen a shot, since I did enjoy P&P so much!
ReplyDeleteI remember having to read Romeo and Juliet as a high school freshman, and the teacher barely prepped us for Shakespeare's language. To this day, it's one of my least favorite plays.
DeleteI love P & P lots; I think Lizzy is Austen's wittiest heroine.
We seem to have had similar reading experiences with classics in our youths/school days! My exceptions were also Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet - loved those, but for me it was especially R&J :) Like you, I loved the Sense & Sensibility film but I didn't make it to the book. I do want to read it though, as well as Pride & Prejudice but after reading your love for Persuasion, I'll have to read that one as well!!
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