If I had a dollar for every time someone told me they quit reading due to it being mandatory in school, Elon Musk would have a narcissistic meltdown.
I have heard this story more times than I can count. And while I am almost certainly biased, I see this as a sign of worse to come. Reading, literacy itself, is falling out of fashion, and the modern education system is to blame.
As every parent and educator knows, forcing a child to do something seldom goes as intended, and often leads to contrary behavior in adulthood. Reading is no exception. Furthermore, with each child having vastly different tastes from one another, it is impossible for an educator to select a book that will appeal to all of them, let alone meet each child at their respective levels. In theory, independent reading should bridge the gap, but many children are intimidated by the fact it is a requirement, not a choice, and find themselves either dreading reading or outright lying on their timesheet.
I am not claiming to have the answers to these structural problems; I do, however, wish to extend a hand to the adults who have grown to believe that reading is for the intellectually elitist.
With more lived experience, adults are better equipped to understand the nuances of novels, especially classics, that are utterly lost on most schoolchildren. A child, for example, would struggle to reconcile “Animal Farm” with modern politics, while many adults could easily make those connections. Said nuances are precisely what make reading more interesting in adulthood.
In movies, the director is limited to what can be shown via visuals and audio, whereas books can employ all five senses to spectacular effect. A movie cannot aptly compare thee to a summer’s day without a long, meandering monologue that threatens the pacing. Lterature, on the other hand, can do so in fourteen lines that are far more likely to stick. (And perhaps the metaphor can extend even beyond that, for a more discerning reader—for example, the sun could be associated with a bloodthirsty dynasty, rending the comparison backhanded. Or maybe it is associated with a new beginning, the likes of which the protagonist sorely needs.) Novels leave you more to “gnaw” on, more to think about after the final page—which is why, according to National University, reading aids healthy brain function and strengthens neural pathways.
However incorrect, classics have a reputation for being boring. And yes, quite a few drag with the mundanities of Victorian high society—but just as many, if not more, have plotlines filled to the brim with action. Take “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, for instance, which details young boys surviving on an island and eventually turning to tyranny. There is also “The Chrysalids” by John Wyndham and “The Three Musketeers” by Alexandre Dumas, both of which are reminiscent of modern comic plots. There truly is something for everyone.
It is important to note that reading has seen a slight resurgence in recent years. “BookTok”, a popular community on the TikTok app, has encouraged many to pick up a book. However, many (not all!) of the books popularized by “BookTok”, while not intellectually void, fail to inspire the same level of thought as novels in the literary canon. Which, isolated, is perfectly fine. Reading anything is better than not reading at all, and these books pose no relevant issues.
However, reading a wide range of books allows one to take multiple perspectives into account—an ability that grows rarer by the day—and, ultimately, develop a deeper sense of empathy. One can read about both monster boyfriends and the loathsome feeling of being unwanted by our broader society. It is not a matter of either or—it is a matter of balance.
If you are interested in exploring classic literature, hard copies are available aplenty in Lake Land College’s library. Or, if you would rather read digitally, many classics have entered the public domain and can be found with a simple Google search. If you need a guide, Penguin Books UK has also compiled a list of the most influential classics which can be found on their website.
