Classics

I have always loved to read. I love to learn something from just reading a book. Fiction or non-fiction. Someone once told me that she didn’t like fiction because it was not a true story and nothing was to be learned from it. That bothered me. I began making a list of fiction that has changed people’s thinking. Here is just a short list: To Kill a Mockingbird, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Sister Carrie, Animal Farm, Catch-22, The Grapes of Wrath, 1984, and one of my favorites, Gone with the Wind. My grandmother bought a first edition, which was in our house forever. It was huge!

One winter when I was about 13 years old, I was ill and was to be in bed for a while. My mom came in with it in her hands and said, “You are old enough to understand this now. You will learn so much about the south and the war. You have the time, I think you will enjoy it.”

And I did. It was my first historical novel. I was totally immersed in the battles. I was in the south. I was starving with Scarlet. It was magnificent. I recovered just as I was finishing the book.

Several times, I tried to re-read it as an adult. I just couldn’t do it. The newness and the innocent eyes of a young teen made it very special and it was just not the same.

A few weeks ago, we were with Melanie – our 13-year old neighbor. As part of her high school English class, she was to choose a classic, read it and write a report. I turned to her and said, “Gone with the Wind. You are old enough to understand it now.” I really love that the schools are encouraging students to read a classic. I wonder what she chose.

When I was younger and living in Illinois, I was not the strongest of kids. Because of the cold and snow, I was assigned to a stairwell at lunch recess during the winters. I was very lonely. I did a lot of daydreaming and a lot of reading. Books were my escape. I so wanted to be an adult in charge of my own life. I was seven-years old and felt childhood was holding me back. I wonder if every child feels that sometime in their youth?