Why You Should Read Classics (even if you think you hate them)

I used to despise classic books. Like non-fiction, they just seemed boring. But one summer (I was about fourteen or fifteen) I picked up a cheap $6 copy of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Barnes & Noble and I was blown away. A couple years later, and it's still my favorite book.

From then on I bought the cheap classics at B&N whenever I had any babysitting money. It was torture having to pick between The Lost World and Wuthering Heights. I discovered the magical world of Five Children and It, the sad but beautiful tale of Jane Eyre, and life in the jungle with Swiss Family Robinson. The summer I turned sixteen I discovered Jane Austen. Wowzers.

The great thing about classics is that their is a wide variety. You have romance, steampunk, sci-fi, fairy tales, pirates, jungles, dinosaurs, shipwrecks and on and on. They even came out with modern editions of classic books to appeal to today's Twilight fans.

And whimisical covers for book lovers of all ages.

And then there are re-written, easier to understand classic books. I hate those with a passion. Don't mess with a best seller that has stood the test of time. When you chop it up, you take away the magic, the whole reason it was so popular in the first place.

Read any classics lately? Love or hate them?

A Classic Book Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Spoilers Included in Review*

Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre, led a very sad life. I read her biography. The first part of Jane Eyre is based on Bronte's own experiences in a boarding school, where her two older sisters died. The story starts out with orphaned Jane Eyre living with her aunt and cousins, who mistreat her. Later she is sent away to Lowood, a boarding school for girls. Jane stays there eight years, six as a student and two as a teacher, and finally leaves to be a governess at Thornfield.

She falls in love with Mr. Rochester, the owner of Thornfield, and later becomes engaged to him. But at the altar she learns that Rochester is already married to a mad woman he keeps locked up on the third floor. Jane refuses to marry him and runs away to a small town.



After a number of years as a teacher of the town's school for girls and living with her cousins Jane finally returns to Thornfield. To her horror, the house is burnt down and deserted. She learns that Rochester's mad wife had escaped from the third story and set the house on fire and went on top of the roof. Rochester went after he, trying to get her down, but she slipped and fell, immediately dying. Rochester himself did not escape without becoming blind and injuring his arm.



After learning Mr. Rochester's new whereabouts, Jane immediately sets out to find him. They have a happy reunion and are married.



I really enjoyed this book and the author got me into it. I gasped with Jane at the sight of Thornfield reduced to ashes, and cheered as she refused to marry St John since he did not love her. Jane Eyre is acknowledged to be a work of genius and I agree.

Chapter37 - pg. 643

'My Master,' he says, 'has forewarned me. Daily He announces more distinctly, "Surely I come quickly!" and hourly I more eager respond, "Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus!"