Last year I shared some of my best advice for getting started reading classic literature. With the popularity of The Odyssey, a stream of forthcoming classic-to-film adaptations, and all the conversations we’ve been having about the post-literate world, it seemed like a good time to revisit the topic. The eight tips I shared last March still stand—this essay contains some of my long-held thinking and observations from my years in the classroom as well as cohosting the Novel Pairings podcast and leading online book clubs. You can find it all here:
But I’m also aware that this first batch of advice requires a lot of thinking…it might even veery into the realm of overthinking our reading (shocking coming from me, I know!). Today, I wanted to share a few quicker, easier, looser recommendations for getting (back) into reading classic literature. Whether you find your footing from the first round of thoughtful deliberation or are inspired by the freeing words in today’s post, I hope you decide to pick up a classic if its calling to you. These books are for everyone!
It seems that one of the reasons so many of us put off the classics is we are waiting for the “right” time. Saving the good stuff is a common readerly problem! Whether you’re waiting for the ideal stretch of uninterrupted time, the perfect online class, or the Substacker you love to host that readalong—DON’T! Read the classic that is calling your name from the shelf as soon as you start to hear it. It doesn’t matter if it’s having a renaissance or is Substack trendy. If you loved watching The Odyssey and really want to read the poem, go for it! You don’t need to wait for guidance. If some obscure mid-century mystery that no one talks about is calling to you, pick it up! You classics don’t have to be the ones that everyone else is reading. Listen to your gut on this one and don’t put it off any longer.
I love marking up a classic text, researching the historical context, and searching for some JSTOR articles to supplement my reading. There are also certainly classics I’m very glad to have read with a class (Ulysses…Paradise Lost…) because I’m not sure I would have been able to push myself through them on my own. But—and I’m reminding myself here as much as you—we don’t have to read classics this way. We can pick up East of Eden and fly through it like the juicy saga it is, no pencil in hand, no instructor guiding the way. We can read classics for the delicious plots and the unforgettable characters just like any contemporary book we pull off the shelf. Remember a lot of classics were popular novels in their own time and people just…read them! Overthinking how we read these books can keep us from reading them at all.
Yesterday a friend told me about another friend who made her book club read The Odyssey this month. The group kind of hated her for it, and apparently she is only permitted one book club choice a year because she always chooses a big classic (last year was Middlemarch). I get not wanting every book club gathering to be discussing a Homeric epic or 800 page Victorian tome, but I think it’s kind of brilliant to fit this into a book club regularly. It gives everyone an opportunity to stretch themselves and fit in a book they’ve perhaps always meant to read, but also—per tip #2—you can book club a classic they way you’d book club any book! The discussion can have the same vibe as all the other meetings whether that’s deep literary analysis or talking about which characters you loved and hated and then moving onto wine and snacks. I really think throwing in classic for book club but then treating it like “just” another book is a great way to get back into reading this kind of literature. It’s fun, communal, and a good reminder that these books are classics precisely because they have been discussed and debated for centuries.
Tell me your thoughts!
What are some classics you’ve been meaning to read forever?
What are your best tips for getting into classic literature?
Has your book club ever read a classic? If so, how did it go??
For questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing fictionmattersbooks@gmail.com or responding directly to this newsletter. I love hearing from you!
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Happy reading!
Sara
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