Reviewing classics. That phrase sounds like an oxymoron. Add "as a teenager" to the end of the phrase, and it sounds even more oxymoronic. How can a person truly review a book from a time period they have never experienced? Books that have been beloved for decades by thousands of brilliant and qualified people? Books by writers who have such an extensive collection of titles to their name that the book you are reviewing seems like a minuscule part of their grand contribution to the universe? Even worse, what if you simply didn't like the book? What if your review is about to be a negative one? Scary, huh?
A classic book is a book like any other. The only exception to this statement is that classics have years worth of support. A reviewer's job is to make comments on a book based on the writing quality and whether it is enjoyable to read. All classics must have good writing quality. If they didn't, they would not have received the amount of support that makes them a "classic". The second reason for a review, the likability of a book, is the part in question when reviewing classics on this blog. A classic book will have quality writing, you can count on that fact, but it may not be a great book for young women, as the purpose of this blog is to recommend books to young women.
The notion that classic books are not for young people is all too popular. A lot of readers think that classics are unattainable and can only be read in college classrooms, but that fact is not true. While analysis might be more thorough in university and more prestigious situations, reading classics solo or in pre-college years can broaden your perspective by conveying traditions, expectations, pitfalls, and successes in history; topics so vital to learn in such pivotal years.
In our time, a lot of people have the tendency to think and say that an event, time period, or whole generation of people in the past are either all good or all bad (people my age usually say that the past is all bad). Classics teach us the complexity of the past. Classics teach us that nothing is completely black or white, good or bad.
While I used to feel conscientious and a little bad about reviewing classics (historically more often than non-classics), classics are often more important for a reviewer with my goal - getting young women to read more often and to find the next book they are going to love - than reviewing new YA books. YA books were written with the specific intention of reaching young adult readers - hence the category "YA". Classics, with the exception of young adult classics that have since their publication years, become adult books as well, were not intended for young adults. Most classics are extremely enjoyable to read because of their time-traveling capabilities. I speak from experience, a fact that this post conveys more than any other.
Comments
Post a Comment