When I hear someone talk about “classic” literature, my ears tend to turn off. I have an unfortunate bias against them. To me, classics are the ones literature teachers force you to read. They’re the ones on the “100 books to read before you die” sorts of lists. For the most part I am not a fan. I have very few books that I was forced to read in college or high school that I thought were “good.” I’m sure I am missing terrific stories, but for the most part, when I see a book that has been around since before I was born, I walk right by.
That being said, I do have a few books – mostly for kids – that I think stand the test of time and are worth reading and owning and re-visiting. Here are some books I consider “classics” that have broken through my bias and I actually enjoyed them.
“Classics” for Kids
The Enormous Egg – My son earned a free book for summer reading one year as a kid, and he picked this. Ugh. I had never heard of it. It was written in 1956. It was “old,” and I was NOT interested. Of course, he insisted on us reading it right away, every night at bed time. And it was enchanting! I had no idea we would thoroughly enjoy this story of a boy who cares for an extremely large chicken egg that hatches a dinosaur. It was a huge hit in our household, and I was pleasantly surprised. Every time I see that cover (a new, updated one from the original) I remember that sometimes my bias can keep me from books I otherwise would enjoy.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Originally published in 1967, and the winner of the Newbery Medal, this is the story of a girl who runs away to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art with her younger brother where they stumble onto a mystery. I read this one as a kid, since it was relatively “new” at that point and an award winner. I don’t remember a lot of the stand-alone books from my childhood reading, but this one and a few others stand out as keepers.
Half Magic – Originally published in 1954, this magical story stuck with me from my childhood reading as well. A family of kids finds a magical coin, but when they make wishes on it, they only get half of their wish. Their efforts to work around this glitch and word their wishes just right is part of the great fun of this story! Obviously, my love of fantasy and magic stories – as well as my love for mysteries – started early.
The Monster at the End of This Book – I remember two pictures books from my childhood – this one and Bears in the Night (part of the Berenstain Bears books), both published in 1971. This is the book that I searched for as my friends started to have babies. I felt this silly story was a must-have library addition for any home. It is just as silly and fun as I remember from my own childhood.
The Phantom Tollbooth – Originally published in 1961, this is the story of Milo, a boy who is bored and just going through the motions of life until his toy car takes him through a mysterious toy tollbooth into a wondrous land. As a kid, I was thrilled with the wordplay in this book, and when I “got” one of the jokes (like the Island of Conclusions – you can only get there by jumping), I felt like I won an intellectual award. Reading this book made me feel smart. And it was another step forward into my love of fantasy stories and lands.
The Westing Game – When my husband and I got married and we combined our personal libraries, we each had a copy of this Newbery Award winner published in 1978. It was just another sign that I picked the right guy! I adored this mystery when I was a kid. And I am thrilled to say that my own kid thinks it’s spectacular. His fourth grade teacher read it to the class, and they all fell in love with the book. He’s read it eight times since she gave them each a copy at the end of the year, and he says every time he reads it he catches something new. That is the mark of an excellent book! Recently Scholastic offered them for $1 a copy, so I bought 20. This book is too good – I plan to hand it to every kid I see until I run out.
“Classics” for Teens
Killing Mr. Griffin – As a teen, I could not get enough of Lois Duncan books. They were weird and spooky and suspenseful, and I loved all of them. Killing Mr. Griffin (published in 1978) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973) are a couple of her titles that were acclaimed when they were first written and have stood up to the test of time.
Lord of the Flies – This is one of the few books I read in high school and college that I didn’t despise. It’s a dark, brutal story originally published in 1954. The psychology of what could happen to a group of boys stranded on a remote island with no adult supervision was fascinating to me as a young person, and still fascinates today.
The Outsiders – I can’t remember if I read this book on my own or if it was required reading in high school. Originally published in 1967, this West Side Story-like tale of rival gangs and two young men caught in the middle is a short but powerful read. I made the mistake of having my teen watch the movie version from 1983, and that might have ruined my chances of ever getting him to read the book. The movie did not hold up well in reality compared to my memory of it. But the book holds up decade after decade.
“Classics” for Adults
Cat’s Cradle – I went through a Vonnegut stage in high school, I think to impress a boy. But in the process I founds some fascinating stories. Cat’s Cradle is the one that I really enjoyed and have hung onto after all these years. Published in 1963, it’s the story of a writer and the children of a man who helped create the atomic bomb as well as a mysterious compound called ice-nine. It is a dark, satirical look at what can happen when science is pursued for science sake without thought for the impact on the population of the world (among other things). I think Vonnegut books in general are considered classics, but this one isn’t as often mentioned as some others.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Another quirky science fiction novel, this one published in 1979, which was part of my high school reading as well. This is about the last surviving man on Earth who is rescued and taken on a space adventure. It’s also about the quest for the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, and it kicks off the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy which in the end had five books. As I said, quirky. This is one of those books that has something of a cult following. People who have read it have several inside jokes and references that only make sense to those who have read it.
Much Ado About Nothing AND The Taming of the Shrew – I credit my high school British Writers teacher for the fact that I love these two plays. I can live without a lot of Shakespeare, but these two plays – considered two of his “comedies” – are my favorites. Much Ado About Nothing is about a young woman who is falsely accused of an affair who fakes her death so the truth can be discovered. The 1993 Kenneth Branagh-directed film is fantastic. I also adored the book The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson which is an adaptation of this famous story. The Taming of the Shrew is about a willful woman, and the man who claims he can tame her. The Cole Porter musical Kiss Me Kate is an adaptation of Shrew as is the move 10 Things I Hate About You.
The Three Muskateers – I read this book, originally published in 1844, because I wanted to try a “classic” and I liked the general story. I was pleasantly surprised at how many scenes from the 1993 movie were directly from the original text. It’s a ridiculously long book, but I enjoyed it. At least when I see one of those “Have you read these classics?” lists, I can mark this one off with a smile (instead of a shudder like some of the others I have read but didn’t enjoy).
