The Magic of Classics!

There must be a reason why classics are called classics. There's this whole aura around them that makes you feel so different, and not just because they belong to a specific period in time. There was dystopia back then too, futuristic stuff, incredible science fiction and best of all, incomparable fantasy. What is it that makes us go back to classics for that 'complete and unabridged' feeling of satisfaction? How are classics so appealing? In this online course (MOOC) called The Future of Storytelling, they mentioned the way literature transformed; how earlier it was "more group and culture based" and now it is "more introverted and individualistic". 

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Stories were more about a place as a setting and then about the characters who form an integral part of the story. Important characters were barely just one. There were complete, imaginative worlds where fantasy came in. Humans interacted with other living forms by talking and hanging out with them without feeling weirded out. If you got to take advice from a caterpillar, you simply did. You did not make faces or feel strange or think it's unnatural. If you wanted to fly to Neverland and meet naughty pixie fairies, you simply needed to believe that you could fly. You didn't wait for a superhero or logic to come into the picture. I love that optimism, that simple, unbiased acceptance of the world for what it is. I love the lack of criticism and analysis. It makes me as a reader feel how vast and believable everything is, how it is simple and possible if you just believe in it. It's not always how it happens in real life but you're far better off if you hold on to these beliefs you inculcate while reading, one major reason being that you're always optimistic!

Let's consider some examples. Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie) is an imaginative story beginning with the simple idea of a boy who doesn't want to grow up, which is pretty much a normal feeling in kids. When you read the story, however, you're so drawn into that boy's adventures, his feelings and thoughts and behaviour, his interactions, other characters who're associated with him and a whole new world of Neverland where you meet pixies and pirates. When you read The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum), you see a normal girl in Dorothy who falls into an adventurous situation and there're scarecrows and talking animals and witches and castles.  

I remember being absolutely petrified and hooked to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (R.L. Stevenson) when I first read it, just because it was so different (and scary) from anything I had ever read. It was a piece of wonder and I was nothing short of amazed. It's such a deep story, coming out of the concept of man having two sides: the good and the evil. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) was just as creative and although slightly dark, it's beautiful in the way it's told. There are many other examples, including Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), The Invisible Man and The Time Machine (H.G. Wells) that make you feel so warm and nice and 'classic' when you read them! 

Have an open and accepting mind, and you'll love all these stories. I watched Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) yesterday when its second movie adaptation was running on HBO. I haven't read the book as yet but I do like the story. It's so full of characters, yet you don't feel lost. It's a small, unique world. It shows the protagonist of the story as a strong, dreamy and imaginative girl who likes to do as she likes and has the ability to stand up for her own. Apart from what she does in Wonderland, it's quite cool the way she behaves when she's at the family gathering with her family and relatives, the way she signs up for a business deal instead of allowing her mother to marry her to a lord. This book came out in 1865. Awesome, much? :)

It's not just about the magical, it's about the stories based on societies and human-people too. They're all incredibly detailed and imaginative. I'm not denying the unique essence of modern literature, new genres and quick reads, but classics such as these have their own sense of time. You always feel different with such books. If you haven't read these, I'd suggest you should! A personal recommendation would be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and although I read it in school, an abridged version most probably, I'd still think it's worth a read.

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“With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to the truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.” 

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What do you think? Do you like these books as much? 

PS- How about the blog's new look? ;)

Classic Talk # 1: A Christmas Carol

Classic Talk is a new category of posts on my blog, pertaining to 'just-a-little-something' related to the classics I'd be reading this year. (One of my reading goals is to read and re-read classics!) I didn't want to make it a review. How do you even review timeless classics? No idea! Though I definitely wanted to write something about them. It had been quite a long time since I last read a classic and I don't really know how the idea to start reading them again struck me, but I'm glad it did. The first one I read this year is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I remember a time in school when I started reading these books, one after the other and I suppose, the books had a different kind of an impact back then. That's the case with all classics, actually. As much as some readers explore the books, look for meanings and themes, criticize some authors and favor others for their style of writing or character building or stories, even, I don't think I'm that kind of a reader. It might sound weird, but I tend to like almost every author for whatever they write. And God forbid if I ever dislike a classics author! The only exceptions are when I find what they write ridiculous, but that's also just my perception, based on my way of thinking.

Charles Dickens

Anyway, coming back to A Christmas Carol, it's kind of my favorite by Charles Dickens (till now. I'm yet to read/re-read the other books). It's a funny story, if you ask me, even funnier to have it as a favorite, but I just can't help it. Ebenezer Scrooge is a shrewd, miserly, unkind and selfish man, someone who'd never spend a dime on anything 'frivolous' (and he found a lot of things that fit that definition) or for anyone else. Damn, that man hasn't even smiled since years! He calls Christmas a "Humbug". He has just one living relative, his nephew Fred. This is a story of unbelievable transformation of someone so shrewd, into someone who's almost 'lovable', alongside celebrating the spirit of Christmas too, of course. The underlying theme is the celebration of Christmas in the true spirit, with cheer and happiness and love. The story begins with the day before Christmas when Scrooge returns to his quarters (home) and starts noticing strange things starting right from the door knocker at the entrance. He's visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, who was his partner in business in life and who passed away a few years previously. Jacob Marley's ghost visits him to warn him about his unpleasant, unloved possible future life (and after life), if he doesn't learn to be a better man.

Jacob warns Scrooge that he'll be visited by three ghosts at night, those that'll help him understand the extent to which his present character is not good. Scrooge is ultimately 'shaken up' towards the end of the night, when the three ghosts have made their visits one after the other (I didn't quite understand the time gap :| ). The first one is the Ghost of Christmas Past, who makes Scrooge go through his desolate past, how he was as a kid, his family, the girl he loved, the place where he worked and used to make a merry Christmas! The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the spirit and happiness 'in-the-air', every place they went, rich or poor, all had a kind word and a smile to give. He was also shaken up by seeing how his clerk, Bob Crachit, lived with his loving family, living on the meager wage he gave him. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was the final catch! Scrooge was, by that time, on his knees, pleading forgiveness and promising to be a better person. 

As a reader, you can't help like the way the theme is projected: that even a person who seems beyond repair, can, with a dose of reality, be shaken and stirred and made to understand the power of love and kindness. That the spirit of Christmas is something so enjoyable, that it's better celebrated not just once, but throughout the year, that a kind hand and a warm smile can do you much good than any amount of money ever can. Of course I loved the inclusion of ghosts as well. I loved the writing style (even though some people call it exaggerated, I still like the way he used his words!) and I loved some of the quotable quotes from the book! I love the way this book sold like hot cakes the year it was published, and how Dickens wrote a Christmas story for years after that. I guess this is one classic I'd know a lot about! I even liked the movie! 

Have you read this book? Did you like it as much as I did? 

PS- Any views on what I can include in these Classic Talk posts? For this one I've just typed in one go!