To roll my eyes when someone says their favourite book is a classic

[Eyeroller100]

I'm an avid reader and I'm always looking for new books to read so I often ask people what their favourite books are. AIBU to roll my eyes every time someone mentions one of the classics.

I know people do love them and they may well be their faves, but I am quite skeptical as if they are saying it to make themselves sound better.

I've tried reading a lot of classics and I just can't get into them at all! They are pure effort

I'm a book nerd...quite literally...but I wouldn't ever judge anyone by what they read actually. I'm just happy that people DO still read!! What upsets me is when I hear people say that they never read a book (or any literature of any kind) and haven't since they left school. I find that sad. I have two all time favourite books...both classics...1984 and To Kill A Mockingbird. Have read them both countless times...that's what makes these books timeless. However, I'm partial to an absolute trashy rom-com, or a good, gritty crime or thriller. Loved reading Emma, hate Hardy, love Shakespeare, hate Ibsen. It's all down to personal choice at the end of the day...who are we to judge? Let's just encourage people to pick up a book and read!!!

I have quite an eclectic taste in books. Two of my favourites are Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. Also enjoyed Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities".
But you will also find me enjoying Jeffrey Archer books, Harry Potter,Morganville Vampires and crime Novels. Happily Reading Michael Connelly, Harry Bosch series on my kindle just now. Not a chick lit fan, although I have read a couple. I have read the 50 shades series, and I was bored.

I really don't give a feck what people read though.

Similar to TV. I can happily watch a current affairs programme, but will happily switch off my brain with mind numbing crap such as Big Brother and Towie.

''But I do think 'classics' is self perpetuating. What was classic might no longer be deemed classic if reconsidered. I think the 'classics' should evolve.''

Agree with this statement!

I'd love to know what classics you have tried, OP. I can understand people finding the language/style inaccessible in certain books, but I am surprised that you find them boring.

I have probably read more classics than most, thanks to a degree in English literature which forced me to read a lot! I can't say that I got on with all of them. For example, I never really enjoyed Wuthering Heights and I found Virginia Woolf rather irritating. Perhaps I'd enjoy them more if I went back and re-read them now, I can't say.

However, some of the classics are undoubtedly among my favourite books. I'm certainly not saying that to sound clever, it is simply how I feel. I will never forget taking home Pride and Prejudice when I was in the sixth form, feeling irritated that I had to read it, as the name of the book and the cover all told me that it wasn't going to be my thing...and then I stayed up half the night because I couldn't put it down until I'd finished!

These days, I find myself wanting to go back and re-read a lot of the classics that I read when I was younger, and I'm also keen to tackle some of the ones that I never got round to reading, like War and Peace. I very rarely talk about what I'm reading to anyone in real life (other than dd, who has an insatiable appetite for books!), so I'm not trying to impress anyone.

The time that I have available for reading is relatively limited, so I want to use it well. I have zero interest in chicklit/crime novels/holiday reads etc, so I don't read them, but I certainly don't judge others for reading them if they want to. And I do read some modern fiction too, but tend to go for "quality" over an easy read - not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive.

Recently, I have read a fair bit of children's literature too, at dd's recommendation - stuff like Philip Pullman, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I have promised her that this year, I'll finally get around to reading the Harry Potter books too, so I'm clearly not choosing my books to look clever!

I find a lot of 'classics' hard work.
It can be like reading in a second language.

I love the stories of the Brontes and Austen and Hardy. I could tell you all about the books because I listen to them rather than read them.
I love easy to read stuff like Monica Dickens and Sue Arnold.

My favourite author is Barbra Comyns. After her first book she wrote very well but in such an accessible way.

I don't think I have the right sort of brain for 'difficult' reading

I read loads- fluff, fantasy, thrillers and classics. My favourite since I've been a young teen is Jane Eyre. I've read it so often, if you read me a sentence I can pinpoint where and what's happening.

The more you read, the more likely you are to like a classic.

I re read most Jane Austen books every year, never get tired of reading her.

Most of the rest of my reading is crime novels, many of which are total trash. I sometimes flick through the book club / nominated for prizes books on friends coffee tables, and if there isn't a body by page two I put them down again.

Yanbu!

I read loads, I download books on my kindle and have 8 to read at the moment plus a pile of actual books.

My favourite books are The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns both by the same author. A Thousand Splendid suns made me cry my eyes out. I also adore the Bill Bryson books which have me howling with laughter.

But I love a good crime thriller, lots of escapist chick lit, books about WW2 and also North Korea (the autobiographies written by people who used to live there).

I hate the vampire, fantasy type books and have no interest in reading them. As for the classics, most don't interest me. I've read a lot of the Bronte sisters books and Wuthering Heights and Little Women are both good books but Dickens leaves me cold.

It's all about personal taste and I am far from a book snob. If someone told me my reading tastes weren't very highbrow then I'd laugh in their face and get back to my latest Marian Keyes.

AIBU to roll my eyes every time someone mentions one of the classics

YABVU. And a dismissive tit. Just because you aren't capable of reading any book older than you are, don't be so rude to people who can.

I don’t see why you wouldn’t believe them.

I read a lot. Or used to pre- kids and iphone. I have tried reading many many classics, most of which i hated. Including Tolkien which I have been told I will definitely enjoy because I like “that sort of thing”. ie. a bit of fantasy.

However two of my absolute favourites are To Kill a Mockingbird and Taming of the Shrew. If I were talking to someone i felt had opinions on books I’d probably say those two. Even though there are some others- jilly cooper, pratchett, sidney sheldon, even jeffrey archer that i love equally. But there are many many book snobs out there that would judge. Although sometime it is fun to say jilly for the reaction :).

Same with music. I think listening to a wide variety says much more about a person than one who only will listen to a certain genre.

I inherited a “library” when I bought a house. Hundreds of books. I read a great deal of them, many of which I would never have looked at in a bookshop.

Some unheard of authors were gems, some well known authors were terrible. On the whole I understood why the classics were deemed such.

To me it’s it similar to music, and to judge somebody because they say their favourite piece is by Mozart rather than by some grunge band or brass band or whatever you’re into, is unkind.

I have just finished Coming Home and feel bereft.

I will read it again next year

I liked crime and punishment and Anne of Green Gables and Orange Wendy.

Most of the other less well known books I enjoyed at the time, I couldn’t remember what they were called.

I will never forget taking home Pride and Prejudice when I was in the sixth form, feeling irritated that I had to read it, as the name of the book and the cover all told me that it wasn't going to be my thing...and then I stayed up half the night because I couldn't put it down until I'd finished!

Same here, though my like of Austen began with Northanger Abbey. This led me to explore Ann Radcliffe's well known book and other gothic novels.

OP's clearly one of those people who has no actual enjoyment of reading, and does it because she thinks it makes her clever.

That's the only reason she could be offended by people whom she considers not to be intelligent enough claiming that they like 'serious' books. If she read because she enjoyed it, she wouldn't care because it wouldn't affect her reading pleasure. It does, however, affect her self-perception as a clever person, and that's why it offends her.

I inherited a “library” when I bought a house. Hundreds of books

What an amazingly wonderful thing!

YABU To roll your eyes definitely - perhaps if snobbery didn't exist around reading (from both ends of the spectrum) then maybe people wouldn't feel embarrassed about admitting their real choices. It's attitudes like this that help to perpetuate this culture.

I have read classics (also some studied at A level) and I reread Pride and Prejudice quite frequently but I have also read things like 50 shades or A Child Called It. I definitely fought with myself over reading 50 shades as people were so down on it - then I realised I was being an idiot and I didn't give 2 shits about other people's opinions. Best decision I've made for a while.

YABU op. I love new/modern books too but none are able of holding my attention and me reading them more than once. Persuasion is my favourite book of all time - hence my username.

I ploughed through the Game of Thrones series one summer, and found them harder going than many classics.

A friend was asking me for book recommendations just last night, and I said exactly the same thing.

I'll read the next one, if it ever comes out, but only because I am a very fast reader. If I read any slower than I do, I couldn't possibly justify spending any more precious reading time on Martin's tomes at the expense of other books.

I genuinely love Henry James & Jane Austen and loathe crime thrillers.
You can roll your eyes all you like, but that would be my honest answer if you asked me!

Possibly people mention classics when asked because they are genuinely memorable - after all they have stood the test of time - whereas other books they've read are more easily forgotten?

I used to think that about Classics, (that they were boring)
So I set myself a challenge that I was going to read one classic a week, for a month - to see what all the fuss was about.
I won't lie, it was difficult and there were times where I thought Is this book ever going to end? and nothing actually happens, where's the plot? Where's the twist? Where's the excitement?
However, I persevered and when the month came to an end I decided to reward myself and give my brain a rest from concentrating. I treated myself to a 'lighter' read (think one of those 3 for £10 books that you can pick up in most supermarkets)

Well, what a load of drivel!

I'm not big on English Lit and I'm not really sure why something is well written, but I just knew that this book was poorly written.
It had a 'thin'/paint by numbers/follow a format and churn em out quick quality about it.
There was something really lacking about it.

It wasn't even in the same category as the classics I'd just finished reading.
Also, a lot of the newer fiction (think Gone Girl type fiction) all follow the same formats.

A classic will stay with you for a long time. There's a richness to them that is missing from a lot of books that are easier to read.
I feel that you almost have to train yourself to concentrate. Once you have the concentration, you will enjoy them more.

Someone else will explain it better than me, I'm sure.

JacquesHammer It was! Unfortunately a lot of them were damp and the mouldy pages had stuck together. However they were still useful as they kept us warm all winter, they burned slowly surprisingly.

I Marie Kondo'd my house. My books went (i have a Kindle), except for the complete works of Dickens. I love 'A Christmas carol', in all forms ( i traveled from Liverpool to see it on the Old Vic in November). I also love Terry Pratchett, but passed them on.

I was brought up on the Classics and I have a really good broad knowledge of subjects, thanks to the Adults around me. This seemed to be looked down on, even at Uni, which is where I thought would be the last place to be anti-education. This came up in general discussions, I don't talk about this unless it comes up in conversation.

I've enjoyed a range of books, which were better for my development, but my personal favourite just happens to be what it is. I lot of my other favourites are classics.

It always amazes me that people past teenage years roll their eyes, though.

Classics do evolve, that's why we have "modern" classic, and they will keep evolving as long as people keep writing.

Maybe we should pause this thread for a while, in case it gets too heavy for the OP