Teenagers nowadays and classic books.

[Machupicchu14]

Sorry for making this new topic, but this is an issue which I find a bit sad and despairing. I have friends who like reading and yet what they mostly read is bestsellers. I mean that's fabulous best sellers are awesome but I noticed the majority of them haven't read classics. In this I want to say like what's nowadays called "old books" or "classics". I still haven't found a kid of my age (there are many of them of course but unfortunately I haven't yet come across one) who has read writers such as Tosltoy, Chekhov, Alexandra Dumas, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Ann Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Azorin, Monicka Dickens, Franz Kafka, etc (There are so many more which I can't think of right now) but yes, basically is this, in my school I'm the only one who reads these kind of books, and therefore I can only discuss them with you all and/or with my teachers. Why is this the case?

[Machupicchu14]

Please I would love of any of you had any opinion or comment

[Rob Houghton]

I could say its a shame more teenagers don't read 'the classics' but I have to admit that before the age of about 17, I also hadn't read any. Then I read Daphne DuMaurier's 'Rebecca' - which I guess isn't a classic as such but near enough. That was the first 'adult' book I'd ever read.

As a child I did read 'Tom Sawyer' and also 'A Christmas Carol' (aged about 14) but other than that, the only 'classics' I had read were at school - things like Lord of the Flies, The Grapes of Wrath, etc.

I read a few in my late teens - such as Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Old Curiosity Shop - but not much else. I still haven't read many now - maybe half a dozen or so - and to my shame I've never read any by Jane Austin.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I suppose some readers might be put off because they regard classic books as old-fashioned and difficult to get to grips with. It takes time for a book to be deemed a "classic", which means the language can seem somewhat antiquated and the story is likely to contain references to things that are now obsolete. It may require a little more effort to feel comfortable with the vocabulary and phrasing and to understand certain events or attitudes. As a result, reading a classic book tends to be less relaxing and more time-consuming than reading a modern page-turner - though it will often be a rich and rewarding experience for those who persevere.

I think it helps to have an attractive edition with illustrations (if available) and reasonably large type, and to start with an author's shorter works - e.g. if someone wanted to try Charles Dickens for the first time I'd recommend beginning with A Christmas Carol rather than David Copperfield.

[Courtenay]

and to my shame I've never read any by Jane Austin.

Rob, that's NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Seriously, though, if you ever feel so inclined, I'd recommend Persuasion. It's one of her shortest and is probably my favourite... well, equal with Pride and Prejudice, but I reckon Persuasion is Jane's best romantic plot.

That said, apart from Austen, I have to admit I haven't read huge numbers of "the classics" either. A Christmas Carol remains the only Dickens I've ever got through (I do love it, though). Wuthering Heights I endured for A-level English Literature and have no desire ever to read it again. I've never read Jane Eyre or anything by Daphne du Maurier or Thomas Hardy or... well, most of the other greats. Not even anything by Tolstoy, and I'm part Russian by ancestry (my grandmother read War and Peace in the original Russian!)... So I'm afraid you beat me hands down, and probably a lot of other adults too, let alone other teenagers, María Esther. But I wouldn't worry about it. You read whatever you want to read and enjoy what you enjoy and don't worry about whether others of your age group think the same. That's always been my attitude too.

[Rob Houghton]

As I said in my post, I started with 'Rebecca' - which was a good introduction - not really a 'classic' but it was inspired heavily by Jane Eyre - so reading Rebecca led me on to Jane Eye and into a few Bronte classics.

[Rob Houghton]

Talking of Thomas Hardy, I'd forgotten I've also read 'Under The Greenwood Tree' and also The Mill On The Floss by George Eliot.

I agree about Wuthering Heights - what a tortuous read! I think I actually gave up halfway through as the narrative structure is so hard to follow.

I did enjoy Jane Eyre though and have read it two or three times.

[Courtenay]

I agree about Wuthering Heights - what a tortuous read! I think I actually gave up halfway through as the narrative structure is so hard to follow.

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't like it. For me it wasn't the narrative structure so much as that the plot itself seemed so contrived and laboured. I never could understand why this book was supposed to be so romantic and dramatic and thrilling. Mind you, I managed to write a whole essay on it in the final exam and got a good mark (I have no memory now of what I actually wrote), so I guess it was worth it in the end...

[Kate Mary]

I read a quite a few classics as a teenager. I went through a phase of reading Thomas Hardy but I hardly ever read him now. I first read Pride and Prejudice aged 13 at school and that started a lifelong love of Jane Austen.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I started reading adult classics as a teenager too, after having read a number of children's classics as a youngster - Heidi, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables and sequels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, What Katy Did and sequels, both "Alice" books, Just So Stories, etc. I had children's editions of Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels and Ben-Hur as well.

Wuthering Heights is curiously structured but I love it for the brooding atmosphere and the poetry of the writing.

[Eddie Muir]

I totally agree with you about Wuthering Heights, Anita. As a point of interest, one of my tutors at the University of Sussex rated it the greatest novel in the English language.

[Rob Houghton]

I feel the same way about Jane Eyre - which I consider 'the greatest novel' in the English language - but then again, I would also say Rebecca was a contender for that too - just my own personal taste.

As a kid I read a few classics - Tom Sawyer, A Christmas Carol, both of the Alice In Wonderland books, Little Women, Good Wives (mainly because my mother had them from her childhood and so I read them) and also What Katie did Next (another of my mom's books) - but the adult classics remained largely untouched until I was in my very late teens and early twenties.

Daphne DuMaurier is my favourite (adult!) author of all time, but I don't think her books can be truly called 'classics' - though some might disagree. I've read every novel she ever wrote.

[Daisy]

I was totally put off the classics by having to study them at school. "Northanger Abbey" was on the syllabus and I have no recollection of what it was about at all! Besides Blyton, I read many of those listed by Anita - the Anne books by L.M. Montgomery, many of Louisa Alcott's books, The Katy books by Susan Coolidge, Brydons and Deans by Kathleen Fiddler, as well as others mentioned like Alice in Wonderland. The first adult classic I remember reading for pleasure was "A Tale of Two Cities". I have read Jane Eyre too, but that's about it! I know of others from TV adaptations but of course have no idea how close they may have been to the original story!

[John Pickup]

I've read most of Dickens' novels in my time, some more than once such as David Copperfield, my favourite. But the books I always return to are those by Enid, Malcolm Saville, the Bunter books by Frank Richards and the Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge. These are classic authors to me.

[sixret]

I will add William series by Richmal Crompton to the list, John.