A box of old books

It was a seemingly simple question, phrased in ordinary language, appearing on The Classics Club in a quiet and unassuming font and size.   Yet as soon as I saw it, it took into account all the Wheaties it had been eating and did the proverbial leap off the webpage.

Why do you read the classics?

Until then, I hadn't answered any of the Classics Club's monthly meme questions--a combination of "not enough time" and "I'm not really that interested."   But this one... this one wouldn't leave me alone.  I hadn't the time to answer it when I first saw it, as I was in a flurry preparing for houseguests, but now I have a bit more time on my hands and I'm just squeaking in under the wire.  There IS a little bit left of October, after all.

So.  It's probably evident to anyone reading my blog that I read classics.  But the question isn't whether I read classics or not--it's why do I read the classics?

The short answer to that question would be that I am an unashamed book snob and that I prefer reading classics because they tend to be far superior to almost all modern books out there.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It just POPT out!"

The long answer is much less rude and takes quite a bit more time to articulate (do tell, Amy! Is that why it's called the long answer?  What a clever creature you are, to be sure!).

Since the long answer is such a biggie, I'm going to channel my inner organizational nut and use bullet points. Yay for bullet points! For some reason they always make me feel so Academic.  Am I the only one?

I read the classics because...

• I could not live without books.  And classics are books, as I am sure you will all agree.
• I love me a big, thick tome.  A book that I can get my teeth into (figuratively speaking).  A book that will last me a long, long time.  Classics tend to be like that.  
• I like reading about the past, whether it be non-fiction history books, historical fiction or literature written in a bygone era.  I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century.  

• I love me a big, thick tome.  A book that I can get my teeth into (figuratively speaking).  A book that will last me a long, long time.  Classics tend to be like that.  
• I like reading about the past, whether it be non-fiction history books, historical fiction or literature written in a bygone era.  I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century.
• Classics tend to focus on people and how they relate to each other rather than galloping plotlines.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying a classic book doesn't have a plot.  But I tend to be more attracted to the characters and what they think about the world than to the adventure the characters move in.  And classics are stories that have remained timeless, because in general they focus on people.  People don't change.  Societies change, times change, the whole world changes, but people have been the same since Adam and Eve.  

• There's a certain sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, lean-back-and-stretch-after-a-job-well-done that comes with reading a good hefty classic.  I've yet to experience that with reading most modern fiction.
• There are so many friends to be found within classic books.  You don't mean to tell me that anyone could forget Emma Woodhouse after once reading about her, do you?
• Classics tend to be inexpensive and easy to find at used bookstores.  It is the truth, and there is no shame in admitting it.

• "In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself."  (C.S. Lewis)  Could it possibly have been said any better?  
• I love the smell of a good, old book.  I will never own a Kindle or Nook if I can possibly help it.  There is no substitute for real, old-fashioned paper and binding.
• I have met so many kindred spirits through reading classics... why, without Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and the like, this blog would never have begun.  Smoke on your pipe and put THAT in!

"...she is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain..."

~Louisa May Alcott

Why do you read the classics?