Modern vs. Classics

Rejoice!!! I just went back and read my post "Oh Charles!" and it occurred to me: I didn't technically have a whole year in which to complete my goal. If I went from when I began to when I plan on finishing, I suppose I should technically have until January 24, 2011. Excuses, excuses, I know, but I just can't believe I let myself get tangled up in reading other people's stuff when I had my own goal! Next year, it won't happen like that.


Here's the thing... I don't like modern day books. Ooh I know I just lumped a vast amount of literature together and flippantly said "I don't like them" but the truth is: I'm a classics kind of girl, and I don't like today's writing styles. Maybe I need to force myself to read some modern day books? No, I've noticed that with the present day stories, they're almost always based on my beloved classics, so not only am I familiar with the contents of the story, I'm disappointed when it's not even near as good as the originals.


I still shudder to think of the Danielle Steel novel a loved one asked me to read last Christmas. It took me about a day and I was miserable. I sped through the painfully cheap version of Jane Austen's masterful Pride & Prejudice and ended up supremely embarrassed that I'd just read a few hundred pages of that stuff. Never again.


Here's hoping everyone will stop giving me books I "just have to read" because "I'll love it"... If indeed, I find a modern day novel that I enjoy half as much as my familiar old classics (and let's be honest, there are hundreds upon hundreds of classics I can still discover), I will happily recant my firm beliefs. As it stands, I'm content sticking with what I love!