There is something glamorous about being able to say you're well read. A person who is considered well-read is automatically deemed very intelligent and sophisticated. However, being considered well-read also means that you have to be reading a certain type of book. You can't just read any old piece of writing; it has to be a book only intellectuals would read; it has to be a classic book. You need to be able to namedrop people like Hemingway or Voltaire instead of people like Shel Silverstein. Well, I think this is complete bull sh*t.
You know what a lot of these books are, boring. They are so freaking boring. I've read some things by Hemingway and Voltaire and Shakespeare and Viktor Hugo and all those other super fancy authors, and, not all, but most of the time, I want to beat my head up against a wall because I am so freaking bored. These books have archaic language, page long sentences and extremely slow plot lines. So why are they considered so fabulous? I don't understand it. Is it just because they are old? Is it because someone somewhere said, "This book is so obscure and difficult to read that it must be a masterpiece"? Well regardless of what it is that makes these horribly boring books so special, none of it is not enough for me to succumb to reading them. When I do get the precious time to read a book, I want to read something exciting and dangerous, not something that I need the dictionary beside me to understand. I want to read young adult novels.
Now, you may be thinking that I must be too immature or not smart enough to understand these books, and I am here to tell you this is not the case. I can understand these famous classical pieces of writing. I get what they are saying; it may take me an hour to get there, but eventually, I will understand the purpose and plot of the book. But there is a huge difference between understanding a book and enjoying it, and when I read, I want to actually like the book. I don't want it to seem like work to read a book, and that is why I favor young adult novels. When I sit down and read a really great work of fiction (I'm looking at you Harry Potter), I completely lose myself in a fictional world for hours and hours at a time. I am so emotionally attached to the characters and stories that I am often brought to tears from the humor or tragedy of the novels. Do the "great" classical works have this effect on me? Hell no. Most of the time, I just feel a strong sense of relief that the book is getting closer to ending.
When I read young adult novels, all I can think about is this book, the fake world created, and how quickly I can escape from my classes to the comfort of my bed and my book. These books make me want to read, and that rarely happens with the books that make a person seem well-read. I am not saying all of classic literature is horrible at all, and I have enjoyed quite a few of the books given this title. But for the most part, I will choose a young adult novel over a classical novel any day of the week. And I accept that even though my collection of young adult books encompasses more than 200 volumes, I will never be considered well-read, and honestly, I really don't care.
So, the next time you pick of that 600 page book that is written in archaic English that you are only reading because you want to be able to say you read it, I urge you to reconsider. Reading can be fun if you let yourself read what actually interests you.
