Classics - Decoded for Beginners

When I first started reading, I didn’t know much about genres and used to have a hard time understanding one. So, as I read more over the years, they started making sense to me. Though, there are sub-genres to genres which tread on a fine line (we will talk about them later) as it becomes difficult to categorise them. Classics fell in the same category and it used to confuse me a lot. I did google about its basic definition which goes like, “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.” Well, it made sense to me when I first read it because any book can be exemplary as per the reader’s opinion. So, what makes it different? Then I planned to read one classic every month, last year, to not burden up my reading schedule but stay connected to classics.

Now, picking a classic book is a task, because usually, your first book in any genre should be a pleasant one. That book should be able to convince you to read more in that genre, or at least try it again, in case it doesn't satisfy you. If you can read big books (something over 700 pages), you can pick any like War & Peace, Gone With The Wind or Middlemarch. But if you are a little apprehensive with a new genre, then start with short books (under 100 or 200 pages at the max) like The Metamorphosis, Animal Farm or The Call of the Wild. That way, you’ll be able to understand if it is for you. Also, you’ll be able to finish it early without spending much time. I started with a small book and later picked something with a light storyline.

The more you read, the more you’ll understand what works for you and whatnot. After a year of reading classics, I realized I enjoyed a few books more than the others and few of them have become my favourite. Also, they are called classics because even after written years back, their content still stands true. You might wonder while reading how you agree with things which were written some 100 years back or even more. Those circumstances are still relevant, and people can relate to them. What they have to say is yet to be read by generations to come. Hence, there comes another criterion which is called Modern Classics, books which are written post World War II comes under this category. I read books from both the category because I wanted to inculcate a habit of reading classics and generate my interest in this genre. 

Below is the list of books which I have read last year:

• The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• Kafan by Munshi Premchand
• Gaban By Munshi Premchand
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
• Lifting The Veil by Ismat Chughtai
• The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
• The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

So, the list contains both short and long books, and I have enjoyed most of them. Go, make a list of what you want to read or pick any book from the above list and start making progress because classics are not always boring as they seem to be. They have a distinct style and narration which sets them apart just like any other genre. Who knows, it might start falling under your favourite genre? You won’t know until you try.