What makes it a classic anyway?

Summer reading.


Not fun.


I have three books to read this summer. No big deal, I love reading. One of them's a history of the plagues of the world until 1967.

Cool. 


I'll procrastinate until the last two weeks of school and then probably not read it anyway.

Normal.

The second book is random and not worth getting into right now.

I'll enjoy it.


The third book -- the one I'm currently trying to finish -- is Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Oh goody, a classic!


I have this thing about "classic novels that everyone is expected to read and love in high school that you're only reading because you heard that everyone in America has read it too".


I don't enjoy them.


And really people.


We all know that classics aren't classics because of the wonderfully rich and captivating storyline. 


Take Catcher in the Rye. I can't for the life of me find a plot! Okay, so he failed out of his prep school and lives in New York City for a few days. Where's the problem? Where's the climax?!


Granted, I'm only two thirds the way through. But I'm so confused, there's no saving this book in my mind.


What's kept me reading is how it's written.  



And that, my friends, separates the good books from the classic books.


The author has a witty way of describing things not unlike myself *cough cough* that makes me want to keep reading just to hear what he'll say next.  


Examples? Of course!!


Great Expectations. What a fantastic bore. Now, if you asked me if I've read this book, I'd reply, "Define read." Still, I do know the book. Do you think scholars swear by it because Pip made them rethink how they live their own lives?

No.

The only reason people suffer through that book is because Charles Dickens was an interesting writer. Interesting as in different.

What was this post about? Oh yeah, classic novels. Look, this is totally my opinion. Most of the time it's random and has no thought process and when I finish reading it I'm like, "Wow that sucked".


But if I don't write about what I feel, what the hell do I have a blog for?