I love reading classics. Most of the time, anyway. But there are some I am intimidated by, that I can feel staring at me from the shelf because I still haven’t read them, haven’t even attempted to. But there is also little better than the feeling of finally having done so, of having conquered a classic you were perhaps a little scared of. I know what I am talking about because I spent the last week reading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which is a German classic that is almost 1000 pages long. And while doing so, I thought a lot about how to best tackle an intimidating classic to make sure you’re not getting lost, or giving up halfway through. I dare say I have come up with a few helpful tips, which I am sharing with you today!
Don’t Start Slowly
I find that with a book I am anticipating some trouble with (whether that turns out to be justified or not), getting the timing right is crucial. It’s never a good idea to start such a book during a particularly busy week, when you know you’ll barely have time to read, or where your brain will be all mushy by the time you finally open the book. No, in order to conquer an intimidating classic, you need a solid chunk of free time on the horizon. I’m not saying you can only read them on annual leave, but perhaps pick a time where you don’t have much going on. And then, be smart about when you actually start the book.
I love starting a new book on a slow Sunday, when I know I have enough time to read a decent amount of it in one day. And for intimidating books, I dare say that’s even more important. There is nothing worse than starting a new book and only getting to page twenty or so and then the next time you pick up the book you’ve forgotten who all these characters even are. No, with a classic like that you want to get to around page 100 during your first reading session, so you feel like you have gained some actual ground and have found your footing in the story. Of course, if it’s a short classic, then making it to page fifty might be enough. But generally, making it through those first often confusing pages in one go is a good idea. Because quite often you will find that once you have properly started the book, it’s not all that intimidating anymore anyway.
But Take Your Time With It
Now, I know this might sound confusing or at odds with the previous point, but I think particularly with classics it is really helpful to read them carefully, and often slowly. The language tends to be outdated, and therefore harder to understand or read as smoothly as contemporary writing. And a lot of its beauty gets lost if you’re simply trying to make it through as quickly as possible. Trust me, I’ve been there. There have been more than enough books (mostly classics) I’ve tried to speed read because I didn’t enjoy them and simply wanted to be done with them. At that point, it might be better to stop reading the book altogether, instead of wasting your time with it. But if you don’t slow down and take the time it needs to properly read a book, then its possible beauty, genius, or wit cannot become obvious to you. So yes, try to make it a decent chunk of the way through the book in your first sitting, but don’t speed read.
Stay Consistent
If you’re feeling slightly intimidated by a classic you’re reading, I would advise you not to leave entire days between reading sessions. That hesitation will only increase with every passing day, until it will become ever harder for you to pick the book back up again. With my recent reading of The Magic Mountain, I set myself a daily reading goal to ensure I would stay with the book, and allow myself to get into a rhythm with it. Reading difficult books sometimes requires discipline, and more often than not once you’ve opened the book and have immersed yourself in the story again, you will realise that little nudge was all you needed.
Dive Deeper
Particularly with scary classics, immersing yourself in its world as much as possible can be very helpful. Chances are there will be entire podcasts dedicated to it, or biographies of the author you can listen to as an audiobook, or a YouTube video explaining the themes of the novel. We live in a world with endless information on our fingertips, and it would be silly of us not to make use of it. A classic can feel foreign to us, because it is old, and literally from a bygone era. Familiarise yourself with it, learn about it, and discover new meanings in what you’re reading. It will help you understand the story better, and maybe see it in a different light.
Be Sensible
All that being said, sometimes you just don’t vibe with a book. It goes from being intimidating to boring or just really not up your street. And while I do believe it can be beneficial to stick with something that isn’t your cup of tea, our time on this earth is also incredibly short and we don’t get to read enough books as it is, without adding a bunch of classics we think we ought to read at some point, but have no genuine interest in. I know there is a classic out there for everyone, it’s just a matter of figuring out which one is for you. And I would highly recommend choosing one that seems a bit out there, a bit scary, a bit intellectual or whatever. Engaging your brain in something like that will be a breath of fresh air compared to the TikTok hellhole most of us make our brains endure in our spare time. So find the right classic, be intimidated, and read it anyway!
I hope these tips have been helpful in case you are trying to bring yourself to finally pick up that classic, you know the one I’m talking about. You can do it! Happy reading!
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