Right there with you but my homework was 20+ years ago. Took me a while to stop and say hmm, what was the big deal with those books? At a different point in life now with kids and a love for solitude, classic literature was just what the doctor ordered.
Great advice. I particularly like the 5th step: read classics to enjoy them. It almost sounds revolutionary in this era of never-ending self-improvement.
My grade 11 English teacher exposed me to Macbeth and from there my deep dive into the classics began and that was 30 years ago and still going strong 📚🙌🏻❤️
You are spitting some straight facts! Classic lit has such an air of seriousness about it sometimes. It’s easy to forget they are just stories. How you engage with them doesn’t matter long as it’s meaningful to you.
some great tips here! recently i've been getting into shakespeare and i've found that reading along to the audiobooks really helps the reading flow a lot better, so i'm sure it helps with other classics as well
Great advice, Claudia. I would suggest if a new classics reader Finds the 19th C writing overly descriptive they keep in mind the entertainment available to the readers of the time. There weren’t any digital distractions, no cinema, television, radio or even gramophone. Readers were likely more patient and appreciative of writers “setting the stage”.
Thank you for such a great video. Really good tips. My first classic was Les Miserables. It was huge, and I'm still amazed that teenaged me got through it. Your point about not reading the introductions from academics is spot on. They tend to be lengthy, dry and very off-putting. Fully agree with you about The Penguin Clothbound versions also. They are seriously overhyped and overpriced, but as they come from Penguin Random House, this comes as no surprise as PRH do not **appear** to care one jot about either literature or readers. The Macmillan Collector's Library novels are far cheaper and far better quality, even though the print is very small.
Ooh ooh I went to a dinner party and read classics!!! They . . . They didn’t talk about classics . . . I was underwhelmed went back to my cave for another social season
"it's totally fine to hate a book that everyone else says is perfect" That's really good to know considering that one of my most disliked classics is... The Picture of Dorian Gray! 🙈 But even though I'm in the minority I've always had amazing conversations about it with the people who love it! 😊
I recently read the Count of Monte Cristo as a buddy read on a discord server. Then I watched the 2002 film adaptation. Oh, boy. A very loose interpretation 😅. I think if I'd done it the other way around, I would have been very confused and expecting a much more action packed plot.
@@michellehyland3675 My sisters and I read it this past summer, and all three of us LOVED it! I still have a book hangover from it and actually miss that book! I disagree that it's slow-paced, although I read a lot of classics so I'm used to the pacing overall. But my sisters and I all found it un-put-downable, and we read it in five weeks.
For me, watching an adaptation before reading is like seeing a football (soccer) scoreline before a recorded game. You know what's coming, which makes losing interest inevitable. Also, so many of them (39 Steps) bear little or no resemblance to the book. My suggestion would be to start with shorter classics, even short stories by classic authors.
@@michellehyland3675 I was curious if anyone else had comments to make about this book to see if I should pull it off my shelf and get started on it. I heard it’s good.
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My motivation was to catch up on my homework assigned 50 years ago.
Right there with you but my homework was 20+ years ago. Took me a while to stop and say hmm, what was the big deal with those books? At a different point in life now with kids and a love for solitude, classic literature was just what the doctor ordered.
LOL. Best reason ever.
Great advice. I particularly like the 5th step: read classics to enjoy them. It almost sounds revolutionary in this era of never-ending self-improvement.
My grade 11 English teacher exposed me to Macbeth and from there my deep dive into the classics began and that was 30 years ago and still going strong 📚🙌🏻❤️
If only I had this video 14 years ago when ‘Emma’ was my gateway drug into classics. I would’ve had a steady habit by now.
I love the avoiding the introductions suggestion! You are so right!!
You are spitting some straight facts! Classic lit has such an air of seriousness about it sometimes. It’s easy to forget they are just stories. How you engage with them doesn’t matter long as it’s meaningful to you.
some great tips here! recently i've been getting into shakespeare and i've found that reading along to the audiobooks really helps the reading flow a lot better, so i'm sure it helps with other classics as well
I want to read classics to enjoy and to broaden my mind.
Great advice, Claudia. I would suggest if a new classics reader Finds the 19th C writing overly descriptive they keep in mind the entertainment available to the readers of the time. There weren’t any digital distractions, no cinema, television, radio or even gramophone. Readers were likely more patient and appreciative of writers “setting the stage”.
Great video, Claudia.
Thanks Claudia for this video.
Thank you for such a great video. Really good tips. My first classic was Les Miserables. It was huge, and I'm still amazed that teenaged me got through it.
Your point about not reading the introductions from academics is spot on. They tend to be lengthy, dry and very off-putting.
Fully agree with you about The Penguin Clothbound versions also. They are seriously overhyped and overpriced, but as they come from Penguin Random House, this comes as no surprise as PRH do not **appear** to care one jot about either literature or readers. The Macmillan Collector's Library novels are far cheaper and far better quality, even though the print is very small.
I much prefer classics to contemporary fiction.
Ooh ooh I went to a dinner party and read classics!!! They . . . They didn’t talk about classics . . . I was underwhelmed went back to my cave for another social season
"it's totally fine to hate a book that everyone else says is perfect" That's really good to know considering that one of my most disliked classics is... The Picture of Dorian Gray! 🙈
But even though I'm in the minority I've always had amazing conversations about it with the people who love it! 😊
I recently read the Count of Monte Cristo as a buddy read on a discord server. Then I watched the 2002 film adaptation. Oh, boy. A very loose interpretation 😅. I think if I'd done it the other way around, I would have been very confused and expecting a much more action packed plot.
Thank you. I have started reading it. Is it worth the time?
@michellehyland3675 I think so, but it's very slow-paced.
@@michellehyland3675 My sisters and I read it this past summer, and all three of us LOVED it! I still have a book hangover from it and actually miss that book! I disagree that it's slow-paced, although I read a lot of classics so I'm used to the pacing overall. But my sisters and I all found it un-put-downable, and we read it in five weeks.
@ritawilbur6128 Thank you.
@@GuroFlemmen Thank you.
For me, watching an adaptation before reading is like seeing a football (soccer) scoreline before a recorded game. You know what's coming, which makes losing interest inevitable. Also, so many of them (39 Steps) bear little or no resemblance to the book. My suggestion would be to start with shorter classics, even short stories by classic authors.
Still single - too many Anne Brontë quotes in my tinder bio.
Tristram Shandy. Has anyone read this?
It’s on my TBR…..but I haven’t read it yet.
@cecethompson914 Thank you. I have found it difficult.
@@michellehyland3675 I was curious if anyone else had comments to make about this book to see if I should pull it off my shelf and get started on it. I heard it’s good.