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I think the classics are important if you're a hard-core reader. When I was only nine or ten, I started reading those juvenile classics like The Secret Garden, Jane Eyre, Tom Sawyer, and my favorites, The Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Cruseo. Now that I'm older, I don't read as many "classics" as I use to. I usually wait until I have to read them in my literature/English classes. Last year in World Literature I read Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) which took place in the Regency Era like Jane Austen's novels. It was an okay book. I think I kept up with it pretty well because Eliot didn't ramble on about nothing like Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ugh. I'm reading The Scarlet Letter this year for American Literature and Fahrenheit 451 for English. When I read my first Hawthorne short story back in 7th grade, I thought to myself, what a wind-bag. I love literature, so for me to say something like that about a "classic" authors is pretty unusual. I can barely make out the story in The Scarlet Letter because he talks about so many different things and the words get all jumbled up. As for the bunny trails? Don't even get me started! No wonder they didn't want women to write--they would have put the men out of business back then........................................
What do you think about the classics? Have any favorite authors or books? What are you reading for school or just for enjoyment?
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10 comments:
I don't read classics as often as I used to, but I still do read them. I'm an English major, so during the school year, I often read my "fun" books (mainly YA), because I spend so much time reading classics in class. During the summer though, I do try to read more classical literature. My favorites are gothic classics, like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Phantom of the Opera, The Woman in White, and Dracula. :)
I've read a few classics voluntarily: Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudic by Jane Austen, as well as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. For English I've had to read more modern classics like Animal Farm, The Catcher in the Rye, and of Mice and Men. I didn't really enjoy the ones for school as much as the ones I picked up myself, but they all have their merits.
I'm a fan of classics, not all, but there are some that have become my favorites, such as Wuthering Heights, Persuasion, and The Jungle. Hopefully I can read some more classics this year.
I'm the opposite of you actually! I don't remember reading ANY classics back in middle school or high school...I think I used the Cliffs Notes for all my papers and tests :-) Now, though, it's all I want to read it seems. I've discovered Jane Austen and Edith Wharton, and I've been building up my pile of "classics" to read, like the Scarlet Letter and Black Beauty and The Secret Garden. I feel like I've missed out on some great books and want to read them all now!
I read them from time to time because I enjoy them, but I try to read them separate from each other by a few months, because too many at once can be boring for me. I love Jane Austen.
But there are a few that I really liked that were also school requirements, such as Of Mice and Men, The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible.
I read them for both "fun" and school. I enjoy most of them while others I find boring. My all time favorite is Jane Eyre but I also enjoy the Jane Austen books that I've read. My favorites when I was younger were Swiss Family Robinson and The Little Princess.
I have to say I agree with you about The Scarlet Letter I liked the main idea of the story and the ending moral but really it seemed buried among looong descriptions.
I think the classics are important to read as they have stood the test of time.
Sometimes I just pick one up for the fun of it. My favorite classics would have to be Dracula, Crime and Punishment, The Count of Monte Cristo. Haven't read the Scarlet Letter...yet so... :)
I used to barely read classics, but after I set up a challenge on my blog called Ltierature Week (where I read a classic book everyday and reviewed it for a week) I've gotten so much more respect for literature. Now I read almost more literature than I do YA. It's just so beautiful and worthwhile, and I feel like everybody should try to read as many classics as they can :)
Some of my favorite classics:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I read quite a few classics on my own (Little Women, Jane Eyre, Of Mice and Men, etc.) But I've also read quite a few classics at school as well, such as Anthem and Fahrenheit 451. However, I tend to enjoy the classics I read on my own better, simply because I'm able to read them at my own pace and don't have to worry about the essay or evaluation that's going to be due on this day or that.
~Denise
I love reading classics and I have a few on my list to read. But because they are not the thinnest books I normally wait till I have lots of free time to read it. My favourite writer is Jane Austen..Also books of the Brontes sisters are high on my list!
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