Re-Reading the Classics As Adults
by Kelly Laney, Springville Road Regional Branch Library
You know those lists of recommended “must reads” that include classic works of literature? I used to go through one of those occasionally and check them off: “Read that, read that, read that…” and smugly considered myself to be fairly well-read and on top of my game. I mean, after all, a lot of us read these musty oldies in high school, right, so why waste any of our precious later years on re-reading them?
But our book club at the Springville Road Library, The Reading Roadies, has a tradition of reading at least one classic work of fiction every year. (This year’s pick is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, if anyone would like to join us for the discussion on September 18 at 6:30 p.m.)
Last year we picked Wuthering Heights, and I made an interesting observation. I remember thinking Heathcliff was the bomb and Cathy was fabulous—when I was in high school. As an adult, I just wanted to slap the fool out of both of them and tell them to get over themselves. Who would have thunk my perspective would change over the decades?
What I’m trying to say is, whether it’s a book you’ve read a long time ago and enjoyed, or one you’ve never gotten around to but want to see what the fuss is about, pick up a classic at your local library and give it a go. You may be surprised by either the author’s genius or your own mellowed insight. I’d recommend anything by Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad, Mary Shelley, Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Charlotte Bronte, Isacc Asimov, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Carson McCullers, Alexandre Dumas, Richard Wright, or a host of others. Who knows? I might even try Of Human Bondage again . . .
No. No, I won’t.
But our book club at the Springville Road Library, The Reading Roadies, has a tradition of reading at least one classic work of fiction every year. (This year’s pick is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, if anyone would like to join us for the discussion on September 18 at 6:30 p.m.)
Last year we picked Wuthering Heights, and I made an interesting observation. I remember thinking Heathcliff was the bomb and Cathy was fabulous—when I was in high school. As an adult, I just wanted to slap the fool out of both of them and tell them to get over themselves. Who would have thunk my perspective would change over the decades?
What I’m trying to say is, whether it’s a book you’ve read a long time ago and enjoyed, or one you’ve never gotten around to but want to see what the fuss is about, pick up a classic at your local library and give it a go. You may be surprised by either the author’s genius or your own mellowed insight. I’d recommend anything by Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Herman Melville, Joseph Conrad, Mary Shelley, Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Charlotte Bronte, Isacc Asimov, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Carson McCullers, Alexandre Dumas, Richard Wright, or a host of others. Who knows? I might even try Of Human Bondage again . . .
No. No, I won’t.
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