Turning The Page On What Defines “Good” Literature

I attended a private school from 6th through 12th grade. My school prized a classic model, meaning we read a significant amount of Greco-Roman literature and studied mythology and Latin extensively for many years. One girl in my graduating class once told me that after every “entertainment” book she read, she had to read something “classical” and “of merit.” Now, these are not her exact words. However, they capture the general feeling behind her approach to reading, as well as many academics’ approach to literature in general.

Now, far be it from me to tell anyone what to read. 

That does not pertain to me, and it does not constitute a part of my business in the least. What intrigues me, though, about the tension between literature for fun and literature for the greater good of mind, body, spirit, and society is that many of the books now deemed classics were once deemed literature for fun. Specifically, books from the Romantic and Gothic eras were considered to have a corrupting influence on young women who enjoyed them, and novel readers were perceived as frivolous and silly. A significant concern was placed on the morality of the ladies who rushed to the bookshop to read the new Ann Radcliffe or Matthew Lewis tale.

I often wonder if our distance from classics makes them seem so far more worthy of our attention than books such as Twilight or A Court of Thorns and Roses. 

While contemporary books like these may take more explicit liberties than those of the Romantic era, they share similar themes of dark romance, Gothic horror, the fantastic, and the sublime. This shared thematic connection is what truly unites us as readers, bridging the gap between the past and the present. The time that has passed since the publication of classics has given them a sheen of the ancient, making us feel like Renaissance men and women when we pick up an older tome, rather than one freshly printed from dear HarperCollins or William Morrow?

When reading a classic novel, we encounter new syntax and grammar, settings with distinct styles, fashions, and customs, as well as a historical landscape with politics and practices that differ from our own. Once, though, people considered these books the very contemporary fiction that we turn our noses up at today. Perhaps writing quality has declined, and older stories are simply superior in tone, mood, and theme. But, is it fair to dismiss contemporary literature as superficial? This thought-provoking question challenges our perceptions of literature and invites us to reconsider our views.

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