Classics and me: Changing my stand

In my February 8, 2006 post (The Challenge), I challenged myself to read eight classics, in addition to some non-classics I planned to finish this year. The challenge was for me to find out if I’d ever be able to stand classics, which I’d always labeled as boring, their language and themes being reflective of eras I can hardly relate to.

Eight classics after, here I am, ready to concede that my friends Salve and Tayns are right in thinking that classics do present interesting facets of the lives and events in the authors’ respective milieus.

Needless to say, I did enjoy my foray into the world of classical literature. I laughed at Tom Sawyer’s and Huckleberry Finn’s antics in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; chuckled at Scout and Jem Finch’s frolics in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird; emphatized with Oliver in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist; wondered if indeed Pearl in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter was out of this world; flinched at Catherine and Heathcliff’s unapologetic brashness in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights; lived with the gods and goddesses in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology; and laughed at Pettrucio’s wit and got shattered by Katherine’s “taming” in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

I got so engrossed in the challenge that I no longer simply borrow classic books from friends. I have started collecting. Just last night, I bought a copy of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. And yesterday afternoon, Ellen gave me a copy of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing as a Christmas present.

So I am glad I made that challenge for myself. Not only was I able to conquer my “allergy” toward “Old English” but I also discovered a world beyond my turf. Now, I can say classics aren’t really so bad; thanks to Tayns and Salve for their encouragement. It took me quite some time before I got “infected” with their “afflictions,” but I’m glad I eventually managed to develop this “classic disorder.”



*One might ask how I fared in the non-classics. I am happy to say I was able to finish all the titles I listed — and more. I also enjoyed all the courtroom dramas in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Partner, The Chamber, The Runaway Jury and The Brethren; and a lot more (list to follow).

But while I did well in the non-classics and read most of the classics I dared require myself to finish, I must admit there were classic titles I failed to read: Jane Austen’s Emma and Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper simply because I don’t yet have a copy of said works; and Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, which I did try to read, but did not quite finish, it being a poem and poem being not a favorite read of mine. I also have a copy of Ferdinand Marcos’ The New Society (it was my mom’s and it's not in the list) but I did not even touch it, politics (which I hate) being its theme.

So I guess I both lost and won the challenge. And that means I can — and will — buy the white gold necklace I’ve been wanting for myself. That is, if it’s still there. As for treating my friends to lunch or dinner, I don’t think there would be any problem with that. Anyway, it's Christmas.

** Just in case there are those who are thinking that my claims — that I am very busy and that I have read all these things — are conflicting, here’s the explanation: I always bring a book wherever I go. I read while waiting, while cueing and while traveling. I am such an impatient person that I always need to be doing something, lest I’d be very annoyed, especially when the person I’m supposed to meet don’t come on time. So bringing a book with me is like shooting two birds with one stone — it lets me cope with my reading program and helps prevent my temper from flaring when someone doesn't come close to my expectations.