Hey fellow readers! Today I wanted to talk about classic novels. We've all had to read them at one point or another, especially in high school. What prompted me to write about this topic was because I was reading Erika's input over at Midnight Book Reviews and her take on the latest Great Gatsby movie.
I remember thinking back in English class where we had to read books like, The Scarlet Letter, or Grapes Of Wrath, or 1984, or Animal Farm, and Romeo and Juliet, and I kept thinking to myself, "God. Does anyone actually ever enjoy all these reads, or are we fake liking these books because we're told to read them?" Frankly I actually never finished reading Grapes of Wrath or The Scarlet Letter. Because who really wants to sit through, reading about sin or the great depression? It actually makes me even more depressed just thinking about these novels. It's a wonder that I completed high school at all. I think I BSed half my papers in that class, and the teachers probably knew about it too. I also actually remember one point where my eighth or ninth grade English teacher told us to break out Romeo and Juliet, and about half the class groaned in unison.
And what about the Jane Austin novels that people keep raving about? I know I should probably be ashamed to have never read a Jane Austin novel, but seriously, if I went back in time and lived like those characters, I don't think I'd survive in that world.
I'm seriously not trying to offend anyone who do like these type of reads, I'm just trying to gain some perspective. What is it about these novels that are so intriguing? The writing style really is what bothered me the most, I think, when I couldn't complete The Scarlet Letter. Did we really talk like that back in the old days?
And though The Great Gatsby was one of the few books I enjoyed reading, I noticed that they were doing yet another rendition of the movie. According to Wikipedia, There are four film adaptations of this movie. One done in '26, one done in '49, one done in'74, and one done in '00, and now there will be one done in 2012. Yes, yes, it's a great classic, everyone should read about the downfall of the great American dream, but how many more times does this movie need to be remade? I'm sure there are several other great books that should be given a chance to be turned into a film.
I don't know about the rest of you, but it is probably not likely I will watch this version, unless it's being played on TV. So, I just wanted to basically gain some insight today, on what you as readers think of classics, and how many times you think a classic novel turned movie, should be remade?
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