One thing I really enjoy about reading the classics is that you really get a sense of what life was like in a different era, and the things that they were concerned with at the time. Let’s not forget the immense array of vocabulary you come across such as “hitherto” or “presentiment,” words which we don’t see often today, which can sound erudite, as well as the way they use words in painterly, expressive ways.
I’ve reviewed several classics already, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Brothers Karamazov, which feel like they are set in different worlds. With all the digital technology at our disposal, I can only imagine how the events would’ve in those stories would’ve changed if the characters could correspond via email or cellphones, and not through letters, notes, or by word of mouth. But these limitations forced the characters to either wonder or reflect what someone else was thinking, and what course of action they should take next.
But aside from the technological aspect, it’s the themes that feel universal in classic works. Themes about the human condition, including happiness, the soul, good and evil, and the consequences of certain modes of thinking. Not only do the authors give us insights into the minds and attitudes of the characters, but their longings, and how their past affected them. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, it showed what happens when someone rejects their moral conscience; in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it showed what it feels like to be an outcast in society; and in The Brothers Karamazov, it showed different beliefs and value systems, and their implications on the characters’ lives.
Although I do enjoy reading modern literature, especially science fiction books, there is something about the books written one hundred plus years ago that wow differently. They’re not only a time capsule of the attitudes and beliefs of the people of that time, but they carry messages that still resonate with us today: all the challenges and obstacles, tragedies and misfortunes, lest I forget joys and triumphs, of being alive.
Fallton Havenstonne 