I only started trying to develop a reading routine last week. So far my plan is to read what I like, mainly books that were adapted into movies, and some non-fiction (rock biographies, true crime). After that I plan to read some books by Cormac McCarthy, Truman Capote, Charles Bukowski and Philip Roth.
But so far I have very little interest in authors considered classics, even though I studied literature in college. Some classics authors I want to read are Melville, Faulkner, Hemingway. But at the same time I don’t plan on reading authors like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy or Márquez. In college a lot of teachers/colleagues were praising these authors, yet I didn’t get the appeal. I know I shouldn’t be worried about stuff like this, but it always made me feel like my reading choices are inferior.
by dancinginthedark7
3 Comments
No. People tend to not have control over what they like or dislike. It’s like your favorite color. You didn’t decide its your favorite color, you just saw it and it was pleasing to your eyes. Same thing with hobbies and media we consume. Writing styles have evolved since the “classics” were written and a lot of people can get bored reading these.
Your reading tastes are neither good or bad, it’s just a thing and you shouldn’t be self conscious or second guess whether it’s good or not to not like classics.
“I believe that the phrase ‘obligatory reading’ is a contradiction in terms; reading should not be obligatory… If a book bores you, leave it; don’t read it because it is famous, don’t read it because it is modern, don’t read a book because it is old…. If a book is tedious to you, don’t read it; that book was not written for you.”
—Jorge Luis Borges
They’re interesting for perspective but often modern books are quite a bit deeper and more entertaining.