I wanna read more classics but I sometimes find them like. So detached that it's hard to find the emotion and it makes them difficult to enjoy. Do you ever get that? Really I was wondering if you had any Pro Tips on reading old(er) literature. Thanks!
I totally get what you mean. Sometimes itâs just down to that particular authorâs writing style, but often itâs because of the way people wrote in that specific period and how they expressed the emotion in their works. My advice would be to get used to older writing styles, as the more you read the more youâll be able to understand them, and itâll become easier to pick up their (usually) subtler way of showing emotion. Also reading more about the period and themes of the works often helps too, just so you have a greater background understanding. Also, if youâre reading in translation, then be careful whose translation you choose! Some translators will focus more on the literary beauty, some on the content and themes, some on the accuracy, etc. You may need to do some research when choosing a translation, but itâll be worth it overall. That all being said, hereâs some classics that show more emotion (at least when I read them):
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Victor is the most melodramatic character ever, letâs be real)
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (does it need saying? I weep at like every single page)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (although most of Shakespeare is filled with emotion, this is the one that I find saddest)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (this was one of the first classics I read; the style makes it very accessible & you get closer to the characters)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (always has me in stitches)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (a lot more heartfelt and bitter than her other novels, you really get a sense of Austen herself)
Giovanniâs Room by James Baldwin (more of a modern classic, but itâs really beautifully written and very emotional)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (first book that made me sob so hard I couldnât breathe, and unfortunately I was in public at the time)
Medea by Euripides (Iâve got the Philip Vellacott translation by penguin)
Book XVIII of the Iliad by Homer (actually Achilles is even more melodramatic than Victor Frankenstein, and this book proves it; also book XXI-XXIV. I like the Robert Fagles translation)
Book II of the Aeneid by Virgil (mostly the very end bit when Aeneas sees his wifeâs ghost, which always breaks my heart. David West translation)
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