Every once in a while, I try to compose a list of classic books I feel that I must read. The list usually ends up being about 100 books long, including Charles Dickens, Plato, and Virginia Woolf. I spend a few months and check a few off the list. Then, inevitably, I start to feel pressured by the length of it. I realize I forgot a classic like Madame Bovary and the list starts getting longer instead of shorter. I start reading as fast as possible, and if a new book comes out that I really want to read, I force myself to ignore it.
Eventually, I destroy the list — sometimes by throwing it into a fire, to make it as dramatic as possible.
Fortunately, I am not alone in my feelings of guilt for not reading the Classics with a capital “C.” Journalist Erin Geiger Smith explores the topic in a piece for the Wall Street Journal, “The Classic Books You Haven’t Read.” She talks to a number of people, from published authors to a high school English teacher, about the books they haven’t read. Many of them agree, having “book guilt” is pretty unproductive, considering so few people have read all of the Classics. The article is definitely worth the read, especially as a way to put off starting Ulysses just a little bit longer.
If you do want to check a few books off your list, however, you could check out one of our Fall 2016 literature courses: