To Persevere or not to Persevere? The Classics

I am going to stereotype two typical views on how you should read. I am going to formulate them at their extremes, so bear with me:

Perspective A: It doesn’t matter how you feel about the book or whether you enjoy it at all, get over it and read all the great classics, or everything perceived as “intellectual.” Tough it out through the dense and ancient tomes, even if you hate it and it doesn’t make sense. Otherwise you’re stupid and a coward.

Perspective B: Don’t read anything you don’t want to read. If it’s hard, ditch it. If you’re bored, give up immediately. If you’re not in the mood, get rid of it. You should never slog through something that doesn’t keep your goldfish-brain screen-addled attention. You should never have to think or work or challenge yourself. If you think you have to do that you’re a snob and a fake and a scold.

That is the most inflammatory way to view both ideas.

So, okay…let’s tone it down. Maybe it’s more along the lines of:

Perspective A: The classics and the ‘hard books’ are worth it, even if they can be difficult and require endurance and effort.

Perspective B: It’s okay to read books you actually enjoy. Reading is supposed to be fun. Not everything should be a slog.

So now that we’ve calmed ourselves and tried to be reasonable and brought the debate back to earth, let’s address the heart of the question. Should we or should we not require ourselves to persevere through difficult works of literature.

I will give my own simple answer: on average, yes. But sometimes, no.

Helpful, right?

I finished The Brothers Karamazov with something of a dutifulness, but I am so glad that I did! It took me a really long time to finish Middlemarch, but it rewards perseverence!

However I nearly threw Nicholas Nickleby at the moldy, spider-infested wall of a condemned barracks while on watch duty one night. I promptly stuffed a random paper from the duty desk into the book at page 233 and there it has remained for fifteen years. I suspect it will remain there till the end of time. After too many times of opening the book with gritted teeth and eyes rolling with pure irritation with every single character, I could endure no more.

Sometimes there are great riches that only the long-suffering can ever receive. Sometimes you suffer long for no good reason. I cannot tell you which books will be worth it to you. I can’t even tell me which ones will be worth it to me!

The best I can do to resolve this question is this: the number of times I have been glad I persevered through a difficult text far, FAR outweighs the number of times I have regretted pushing through. Food for thought.