06 . 07 . 2026 · bombay · Life Notes

A Case for Reading the Classics

I got tired of modern writing, so I picked up a classic – and I haven’t been able to stop since.

There will always be more books to read, that you can, and one just has to make peace with this unreasonable fact of life. I just did. There is much joy to be had in being on top of the ‘read’ list for the latest Booker, Pulitzer or NYTimes top 10 reading lists.

And there is just as much joy in picking up a 100 year old classic, and devoting entire days and nights to it; as i recently discovered with The Count of Monte Cristo.

For some time, more specifically after I was done with A Man Called Ove, I wasn’t able to find a book that aligned with me in the moment. Either they were too superfluous, or expected me to be forgiving, or just left too many open ended questions. I think as I get older, I get less patient with everything else. I used to feel guilty about leaving books unfinished, not anymore. There are way more books out there than I have breaths left.

On a whim I picked up the The Count of Monte Cristo from the overloaded bookshelf. Before I knew it, my life was taken over by Edmond Dantès and his mis/fortunes. It seemed as if my whole life I was waiting for this story – extraordinary as it is, at nearly 1000 pages, not once did I feel the need to put it down. And once I was done with it, I could not stop thinking about it for days, nay, weeks. I still wake up thinking about it sometimes.

At first I thought this was an exception – the master appears when the student is ready kind of thing. To test out if classics were really calling out to me, I picked up Frankenstein – Mary Shelley’s 200 year old masterpiece. And I was besotted again!

I don’t know what it is, but classics have me twirled around their little finger for now. If this is a phase, I hope it never ends. I have realised that a classic really slows me down. I read with intention, and with the attention it deserves. These books have been around for generations, and they deserve the respect they have earned. In short, a classic really forces me to stop, think, continue, and be in the moment. I have sailed with Edward Dantès, and dined with the Count Dracul. I have watched the fiend struggle with emotions, and I have sobbed with the Buendia family.

For what it’s worth, I have started really enjoying my reading again. I know it has been just two books, but I have Dr. Zhivago, A Hundred Years of Solitude, Anna Karenina, and ton of other classics I cannot wait to devour.

So what will you read next? A classic or a NYT Top of the Week pick?

Photographs MADE WITH IPHONE

MuMBAI · BOOKS · LIFE Notes