Let's Talk Classics - How To Start Reading Classic Literature
Hello everyone. Before We get into the post, I wanted to list the current places that you can listen to the podcast. Currently we are listed on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Pocket Casts, Deezer, ListenNotes, PlayerFM, Podcast Index, and finally Youtube. If you search up Blind Girls' Book Talk, you should be able to find it and follow it. Youtube will be a few episodes behind the other podcast sites due to the technical difficulties had when uploading the videos. We are planning to list the podcast on other sources as well so please stay tuned because as we get listed on another site, I will update you all. Thank you all and hope you enjoy this week's post/episode.
Arya
Hello fellow ink drinkers and welcome back. Today we are going to be going over how to get into the classics. Belle of course is a huge proponent of classic literature and a huge lover of classic literature. Today she wanted to go over her experience with classic literature and give some tips about where to start if you want to try to read more classics this year.
So Belle’s love of the classics all started from when she was about eleven. Her and our mother were going through the dollar movie bin at Walmart around Christmas and they came across the film called “Cricket on the Hearth”. If you recognize that title, it is because this story is actually a Charles Dickens’ Christmas story and Belle fell in love with this children’s cartoon movie. The next year, she received a book which contains a whole lot of Charles Dickens’ Christmas stories. It has “A Christmas Carol”, “Cricket on the Hearth”, a story about goblins at Christmas and many more.
From there, Belle didn’t really get into the classics or have a strong love for the classics yet. She knew they existed but at that point in time she was twelve or thirteen so they weren’t entirely on her radar yet. However, when she was in ninth grade and had to pick between reading “Lord of the Flies'' or “Rebecca”, she chose “Rebecca” and fell in love with that book. From there, her next reads were the two sequels to “Rebecca” which were not written by the original author. She enjoyed those books but wouldn’t say she fell in love with them as much as she loved “Rebecca”. After that she read “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens and again fell in love with that book.
In tenth grade, Belle read some classic plays that she enjoyed which included “Macbeth” and “Oedipus Rex”. She did have to read “Romeo and Juliet” but was not a fan of that play because she had to act it out in front of the class. She also had to read “Fahrenheit 451” for class and she also loved that book. In eleventh grade, was when Belle’s love for the classics took a gigantic leap. That was the year she read her first Jane Austen novel. She had read it for fun and the book she read was “Pride and Prejudice”. Her history and psychology teacher actually recommended it to Belle because she had thought Belle would love the book so she read it and loved it. The second Austen book Belle read was “Northanger Abbey” which quickly rose and stayed in Belle’s top five books. One of the reasons that the book became a favorite was because the main character was seventeen and Belle was seventeen at the time. One of the main quotes from that book is “If adventure does not befall a young lady in her own village she must seek them abroad”. For Belle that was close to the time when she was looking at colleges and wanted nothing to do with where she was. She just wanted out. It was nice to happen to read about that kind of situation when you are going through something similar in your real life.
According to Belle, sadly there’s not one singular book that I can say for certain if you read it, you will love classic literature. That’s not how it works at all. It’s more you find a book that peaks your interest and go from there. For her, “Rebecca“ really peaked that interest which then started her into the classics. For example, according to Belle, if one of your favorite genres is mystery she would recommend “Rebecca”. It’s an easier read to start with and then she recommends “Great Expectations” because of the mystery as to who the benefactor is. From there she would recommend looking into Gothic literature such as “Dracula” and “Frankenstein”. Ultimately what is best is to find something that interests you is the number one priority. From there, you can look into what is an easier read of the classics and then from there you get out just slowly ease into it. If by chance you are not interested in the easier reads, then you can go to a more intermediate classic. If it’s taking you a while to get through it though, that’s OK because classics are a bit harder to read. Don’t be discouraged if it takes you time to get through the book. Be patient with yourself and if you need to take a break form the classic you are reading, do it. There is nothing wrong with going to read something easier and coming back.
Thank you all for tuning into this week’s episode and post. We will see you guys next time.
Arya