"Imagine you're shopping for your next read. You scan the bookstore shelves, registering the promising titles and colorful covers as you go. Among them are several older classics you promised yourself you'd read one day, and you feel a familiar pang of guilt over having not picked them up yet. Is today the day? No, you decide, and opt for a newer book that is currently trending on social media."
"I get that, yet I still want to make the case that reading older books - particularly those laureled as classics or part of the literary canon - is a valuable practice that every reader should make time for. These works are often not only wonderful reads in their own right but also provide unique opportunities for modern readers - opportunities newer books may not."
"To live your daily life, you don't need to know anything about medieval Chinese warfare, Romantic poetry, or the myths of people who honestly thought a giant serpent encircled the world. Even so, older books still offer valuable insights into the universal qualities that make us human. Our beliefs and collective knowledge may have evolved, yet the life struggles we face, the existential questions we ask, and the ethical challenges we contend with are all reflected in the writings of generations long past."
Readers often choose contemporary titles for relevance, freshness, and to support living writers, especially given more than a quarter million books published yearly in the U.S. The abundance of new releases makes finding time and determination to read older works difficult. Older books, particularly classics in the literary canon, remain valuable reads that offer unique opportunities modern books may not. Perceived staleness prevents some readers from engaging with older texts. Despite differences in historical knowledge and beliefs, older works reveal enduring human struggles, existential questions, and ethical challenges that continue to illuminate present-day understanding.
Read at Big Think
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