Bookish Banter: Classics, Yay or Nay?

A little Bookish Banter to get us through.  Bookish Banter is a little bit of banter about our bookish thoughts as we have a friendly discussion over a nice cup of tea. 

Classics, yay or nay?

Let's start by talking about what makes a classic, a classic. Now everyone considers classics differently. But according to wiki...

A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, for example through an imprimatur such as being listed in a list of great books, or through a reader's personal opinion. ... The terms "classic book" and "Western canon" are closely related concepts, but they are not necessarily synonymous.

Ash-

Really it depends on the book. I have read some really great classics, then I've read some really bad classics.

I'm going to mostly go with nay. I've read more bad and boring classics than interesting ones...

Like said up there, everyone considers classics something different. Some people even consider Harry Potter to be a classic. I do not. At all.

I think a classic is anything written in the early 1900s or earlier. It's something that no matter how old it is, it's still being read in school. It's still being talked about. 

Some of my favorite classics are...

And some of the worst classics in my opinion... Though I haven't read too many classics.

So all in all, I'm gonna have to say nay to classics.

Jenn:

I don't find many classics I like. I haven't read too many but I think out of the ones I have read I like less than I don't like. I honestly don't understand the hype around most classics. I understand that some people like them, and I respect those that do. I think it takes a much more mature brain than mine to enjoy them at the level they are to be enjoyed. I mainly get bored with them.


I find classics to lack character development or find them really just slow and hollow feeling. Or I just don't get why the story is so interesting? Like The Great Gatsby. I was confused why this story was good. I thought it kind of dumb really. I didn't get it at all.  I think for the time they were written they were grand and people got more out of them than I do today. I think they are written for things that were important at the time they were written.


Don't get me wrong, I think classics are very important and I am so happy we have these books too look on and see how people lived or wrote during their time. I also think some of the content is still very important to this day. Especially books like Fahrenheit 451- which I love!


I just don't enjoy them. They are dry to me like I said empty. I am not much of a literature person either. I like heart pounding, page turning, gut-wrenching books. Those are hard to find in classics.


Another problem I find with classics is the way they are written, the language in which they are written. I can understand them sure but I just feel out of place with they way they speak, especially in the much older classics, like Swiss Family Robinson... which I enjoyed but didn't love.


I am just not made for classics, but I know there are some great ones out there and little by little I will keep reading to find those golden treasures that are hidden among the sea of classics.


Here are a few I loved so very much...

These not so much... 

There are still many more I want to read. I will keep reading and see which ones I like. I don't go to classics first, but I won't absolutely say no to them either. There are some good ones and I don't want to miss those. 


So what do you think of classics?