There still seems to be a stigma that in order to be a “real” bookworm, you need to have read the classics. I don’t know why this is a thing, but any real bookworm knows that this is complete crap. The mottos of being a reader are:

“Don’t let anyone judge you for the books you read, or the books you choose not to read.”

“Read what you want to read. Life is too short to read books you do not enjoy.”

It’s fairly simple. We’ve learned over time that we can’t force ourselves through classics just because they’re classics. It’s completely different if we want to read them because of real interest or to broaden our knowledge of literature. I’m not big on reading classic literature because the language is so different and let’s be honest, classics are very wordy. However, there are some I’ve had a general interest in reading, like Gone With the Wind, Jane Austen’s books, and a couple of others here and there. I’ve had different reasons for wanting to read them, but until I had those reasons, I never once cared about reading them if I didn’t have to.

My motive for reading Gone With the Wind was because it’s one of my mom’s favorite books, as well as the quote, “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” Another reason was the fact that my mom had told me how Scarlett was very much a procrastinator, often saying, “I’ll worry about that tomorrow” (or something along those lines). When I finally picked up the book during the 2020 quarantine, I loved it and I was so happy I took the time to read it. If anyone asks me what my favorite classic is, it’s Gone With the Wind.

I never gave any of the Jane Austen books a second glance in the bookstores until I saw Tirzah Price’s book, Pride and Premeditation advertised on Goodreads (or Instagram). Seeing that it was a modernized version of Pride and Prejudice, with a murder-mystery twist, I knew I wanted to read it… and I did. Then I subsequently read the original work by Ms. Austen to get the original story. Since then, I’ve also read Sense & Sensibility, and bought three more of her works with a plan to read them, eventually. However, thanks to a modernized tale of a classic, I’m a fan of the original.

That’s not to say I’ll read every classic. For instance, I know I’ll never touch Dracula or Frankenstein, or the really long and *cough*boring*cough* ones (at least to me they seem like they’d be). But I do have some more on my list, including Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 on my TBR list, as my high school Literature classes never covered those books (to be fair, I went to a Tech school).

I think it’s cool if you want to read the classics out of pure interest for whatever reason, but I highly disagree that in order to call yourself a reader/bookworm you need to read the classics or else you’re just faking it.

So, my friends, what’s your stance on this topic? Do you have interest in reading the classics for pleasure? Which ones have you read? Discuss.

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