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Original poster

Should I read the classics?

62 replies

Butterflyfriend · 15/01/2016 07:25

Hello everyone.
I have to confess, I find reading Austen, Dickens and Shakespeare etc. a chore.
I have an English degree, so I can understand the language and appreciate their merit, I just feel they are mountains to climb rather than a pleasure.
Are they really worth persevering with?

OP posts:
Original poster
Butterflyfriend · 15/01/2016 09:45

At school I read Orwell and Golding and found them so exciting I have never forgotten the experience.
At school and later for my degree I read Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Othello, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Merchant of Venice, and Midsummers Night Dream, but were not particularly moved by them. I am not sure why, maybe the language does not 'flow' so well for me and they require such careful reading it feels like an effort rather than a pleasure.

I just wondered if I was missing something. I feel I should like them but I don't.

OP posts:
timelytess · 15/01/2016 08:04

Austen yes. Dickens no.
Sound.

However, I don't much care what you read or don't read. I feel rather put out that you should ask. I'm not sure why that is.

LuciaInFurs · 15/01/2016 07:58

Yes! There is so much to chose from, maybe you haven't found one that really resonates with you. I agree with a pp, pick a few from different periods. I love Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is short but a very good read. Would audio books help? Rosamund Pike has just released one of Pride and Prejudice with Audible and she is a wonderful speaker. I also very much enjoyed Hard Times and I think it's a bit easier.

I taught in a not so great school during my gap year and I found that the key to helping students love and understand Shakespeare was a great play. I would also recommend reading some of his lesser known works e.g. Titus Andronicus. TA also has the advantage of borrowing from Greek mythology (which is always fun) and it's very bloody!

springscoming · 15/01/2016 07:57

What lit did you read for your degree?
Austin yes. Dickens no. Hardy maybe.
I prefer to read Shakespeare rather than watch it for tragedies but watch rather than read comedies and histories.

JapanNextYear · 15/01/2016 07:52

I love Dickens and suggested my DH read tale of two cities as its a proper romp and short! He loved it. Hard times (also short) and has themes that seem v modern.

PerspicaciaTick · 15/01/2016 07:52

If you've got an English degree then I'd assume you've already read a selection of classics, so no, don't beat yourself up if you don't want to read more.

YouBastardSockBalls · 15/01/2016 07:49

Austen yes.

Dickens no.

mupperoon · 15/01/2016 07:48

Clucking bell, autocorrect, no apostrophe in ones!

Leviticus · 15/01/2016 07:46

David Copperfield is laugh out loud hilarious in parts and definitely worth a read. I know what you mean about the effort though.

hesterton · 15/01/2016 07:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mupperoon · 15/01/2016 07:41

Depends what you are expecting to get out of the time you're putting in and what you would prefer to be reading, I guess.

I love Dickens and Austen, and will occasionally plough laboriously through a Shakespeare play just for the achievement. After all though the latter were meant to be seen at the theatre, and the one's I've seen are the ones I enjoy reading the most.

What literature did you study during your degree?

Mrsboathook · 15/01/2016 07:39

Austin definitely- brilliant stories, wonderful dry wit. Mansfield park probably my favourite.

I'm sure someone else will say the same for dickens but I can't quite get into them. Ditto hardy.

I feel Shakespeare watches much better than reads!!