A Farewell to Arms question

Thanks for the comments! I'll have to take a look at that book.

I read The Great Gatsby, and I thought it was the most boring novel. I didn't get any of it. Maybe I'll give it another try and try to figure out what all the fuss is about.

Well, one nice thing about reading a classic is the amount of information to be found about it. Google and search, ya know.

You just have to be willing to put in the time needed to read what's been said, what's been hypothesized, etc.

Or, How To Read Literature Like A Professor (Thomas C. Foster) is a fun little thing I've encountered, that you might find useful in your efforts. Not dry at all. He enjoys incorporating pop culture elements AND classic themes into his laundry list of things to watch out for when reading.

Josh wrote: "I've read some of the classics and started on many but never finished. I think I miss the point of a lot of literature. I don't really know how to analyze it. I've been mostly a fantasy and thrille..."


Try reading the Cliff Notes or Spark Notes version for quick and dirty sense of what's in a book. Do this until you find one that really pulls at you. Then buy the book and dig in. But read slowly, suspending all sense of expectation to the extent you can. Only by surrendering expectation can we become entirely receptive to what an author is offering. (This is especially true of The Great Gatsby.)

There are levels of reading. The first time through, you wan't get it all, or much of it sometimes, because of the pacing and strangeness of language and an author's need to bury messages symbolically. Be prepared to read a second time. Or more.

Also read reviews on Amazon and here on Goodreads.

I agree with Monty on how to read classic literature. These books are written, not to speed read through, but to slow down and enjoy. Make sure there are no distractions and fully put your mind into the story. I think it took me a couple of times to read and finally enjoy what I was reading. I am currently reading "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoi and usually I read kind of fast anyway, but this book and other classics, I had to force myself to slow down and understand what I am reading. I am almost done with the book and I am enjoying every page!

The most important thing I could say is that "classics" are classics only because lots of people have read them and found them really good for many years. So in other words, they don't start off being classics; they are all just regular old books, exactly like any other. They must be read first and foremost for entertainment and enjoyment. I think you do yourself and the book a big disservice if you can't get over the fact that it's a "classic."

Anna Karenina, for example, is one of those I started reading with the thought, "Look at me, I'm reading classic Russian literature!" But soon, very soon, I realized it was just a really good book, fun to read, and then the book took over. From that point on I didn't need to worry about how to read it as a "classic." It was just a good book. Afterwards, I could think about it as a classic, and I might re-read it, or at least parts of it, to analyze and appreciate it in detail. But the first time through, I just enjoyed it.

Oh, and since classics are just books, if you don't like one, stop reading. Go on to something else. The world is full of books, and the vast majority of them are not really to your liking. And if you are into Science Fiction and Fantasy, find classics in those fields.