6 Succinct Reasons to Read Classic Lit (& How to Get Started)

by Ericka Smith August 20, 2021

I love classic lit.

I am honestly shocked into silence when someone marginalizes the importance of classic lit or announces their aversion to it. I cannot understand where they are coming from or how they got there. It just does not compute.

If you're one of those that have rendered me mute, here are 6 Succinct Reasons to Read Classic Lit (& How to Get Started).

Historical Documents

Classic lit is like reading the most interesting & engaging primary documents. They help us understand the times in which they were written. They give us insights into the mindset of the era. They inform how we interpret historical events because they were written in real time.

Example: Edith Wharton and her elite social perspective during the Gilded Age

Narrative

We learn more easily through narrative. When we engage with the authors of the past and what they wrote about through their stories, something clicks when the voices come through the medium of story.

Example: John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

Improved Communication

Classic lit can affect our vernacular in a most profoundly positive way. What goes in is what comes out, so reading classics full of rich language enhances our personal communication skills.

Example: Jane Austen's novels

Character Development

Classic literature spans the gamut of the human experience. Reading the classics affords the opportunity to develop our own character because we are encouraged to think and make decisions alongside the characters in the novels.

Example: Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Perspective

Reading classic lit is a doorway to cathartic experiences that take us out of our own struggles to give us much needed perspective.

Example: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre

Bridges

Classic lit builds a bridge between our own experiences and those of different cultures, races, beliefs, and times.

Example: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

If these 6 Succinct Reasons to Read Classic Lit have left you wondering how to get started, check out these links:

Start with a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by clicking here for a list.
Start working your way through the BBC's 100 Books You Should Read Before You Die by clicking here.
Start by winning a classic to begin your journey by clicking here.