I mean, really.
I am so tired of the “high art” and “low art” mentality when it comes to reading. People are READING. That alone is a victory to me. I mean, I am a PhD student in English and I fucking LOVED the Hunger Games. Yes, I read the classics. Are they relevant? Maybe. Remember Shakespeare was written for the masses and was the equivalence of SOAP OPERAS. Are the classics enjoyable? For some, but not for me. If I can enjoy something and see the influences of the classics, that’s awesome. If it can stand on its own, then more fucking power to it as a piece of literature.
Reblogging for commentary. Honestly. Shakespeare was like 78% dick jokes. And Wilde would think you’re an idiot. The end.
Commentary for the win.
Shakespeare routinely made up his own words and was something for the commoners too. Or did you forget all the weirdly awkward fools interludes that involve codpieces and mammary puns?
Jane Austen was considered romance novels, back in the day.
Oscar Wilde wrote about gay sex. And more gay sex. And more gay sex. And everybody was like, “Oh my god this is such sleazy gay sex.”
I’m pretty sure, 50 years from now, people are going to be comparing The Hunger Games to 1984 and they’re going to put it in a comparative lit class with Roman Lit and mythology.
Harry Potter is already being study in college classes. I know people who have written theses on it.
You want to read something REALLY badly written? Something featuring Long winded, run on sentences about Hell, featuring an emo protagonist who can’t shut up about how evil he is?
…No, not Edward Cullen. Lucifer, from Paradise Lost.
Suck it, elitist bitches.
Best post ever.
Aaahh, waking up to this post (well, its comments) is brilliant….
I always loved reading books but I rarely ever read any classics. Whether they were for kids or for adults. I read to have fun, I read because I enjoy it, I read to feel things and I read to escape reality. If something makes me feel good, I’m going to read it. Regardless of how good or bad people think it is.
There are SO many books in this world….why limit yourself only to what people call classics anyway? There’s something for everyone and rather than forcing yourself to read what others consider good, you should find for yourself something that speaks to you.
Ha. Ha ha ha ha. I’m studying to become an English teacher and I’ll freely admit that I like the Hunger Games more than anything I’ve read by Jane Austen, or (the majority of) Shakespeare’s works.
Mostly reblogging for the “Oh my god this is such sleazy gay sex.”
THIS. Get your friggin condescending comments out of my bibliophilia, thanks.
Also though, so like if Wilde is considered “classic” now but his contemporaries thought it was sleazy gay sex, what is the future going to think of smutty slash fiction?
