by Eric Schenck
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read one of the “classics of fiction” each month this year. I’m happy to report that I’m on pace to succeed.
While I won’t tell you which books I’ve read so far (no spoilers here!) this year of reading has taught me a few things.
I used to think it was a waste of time reading old novels. But now?
I realize it can actually teach you quite a lot – even if it’s not what you expected. In honor of the nine classics I’ve read so far in 2025-
Here are nine reasons you should read them in the first place.
1) You can get off the self-help train.
I used to read self-help books almost constantly. Whether it was about optimizing your time, optimizing your health, or optimizing your optimization (sadly, not a joke), I was trying to get to the ideal level of everything.
But if you really want to improve your life – the classics will help.
Stories like this teach you lessons on love, death, success, and what it means to be human.
What more do you need?
2) You can hate on the classics you don’t like.
I said there wouldn’t be any spoilers here, but I can’t help myself. Don’t hate me for what I’m about to say…
But I read “Beloved” by Toni Morrison and I couldn’t stand it. Too poetic. Plus, you’re telling me a ghost came back to live with her and everybody was cool about it?
Pssssssh.
There’s a special kind of club (even if you’re the only member) where you hate a book everybody else seems to love.
And with the classics?
That club is all the cooler.
3) You see what all the fuss is about with the classics that you love.
Ok, another spoiler:
“Madame Bovary” might just be the best book I’ve ever read. Until you read them, you don’t know why the classics are the classics. But then you do, and assuming it’s one you like – you get it.
There are books out there that will grab you, throw a cold bucket of water on your head…
And make you look at arsenic in a whole new light.
(If you know you know).
Give the classics a try-
Because a book that will shake you is out there, and it’s just waiting for you to open it.
4) You see how similar we really are.
We live too much of our lives in our own head. Spend enough time in your own thoughts, and you start to feel like somehow you’re separated from everything around you.
No wonder we’re all so fucked up.
That kind of isolation starts to dissipate with the classics. All these stories are different. But they’re also, remarkably, the same.
People have plans. Things happen, and they have to put those plans to the side.
If anything, this is the central theme of these stories. But it’s also something that connects all of us.
5) You start to win your focus back.
I’m fine admitting it: I watch too many short-form videos. Experts say that’s what’s killing our attention.
At first glance that’s not too much of a problem. I’m still productive. I can still put my phone away when I need to. I still get my work done.
But focus isn’t just about crossing off a checklist. It’s also about enjoying the little things that life gives you for free.
Butterflies. Clouds. The breeze all around you.
Focus allows you to concentrate on just how interesting the world is.
But it’s a muscle like anything else. Forget to use it, and you lose it.
Reading these kinds of books can help.
6) Your vocabulary improves a bit.
Naturally, a book that’s considered a “classic” is usually a bit older. What that means? An older style of language that actually relied on an expansive lexicon (see what I did there?).
Who doesn’t want to sound a bit smarter? Plus, expand your language, and you expand the way you are able to interpret the world.
Sounds like a deal to me.
7) You get to experience that wonderful feeling of “I have always felt that – but I’ve never said it.”
This is maybe my favorite.
We’ve all had the experience, in one way or another: you’re reading a book, going through the motions, minding your own business paragraph after paragraph-
And then one solitary line hits you like a freight train.
It’s a peculiar feeling when somebody puts into words something you never could.
You thought maybe, just maybe, you were the only one to feel this specific shade of emotion. But you weren’t-
And some random woman from the 1700’s just proved it to you.
Is there a deeper kind of connection?
8) They’re the cheapest travel you’ll ever buy.
In selecting the 12 classics that I read this year, I tried to have a good mix of different nationalities.
So far I’ve gotten British, American, French, Russian, and Greek. A pretty nice mix – and a reminder of just how big the world is. These books usually cost less than a coffee, but they truly do transport you to a different time and place. All you need is the patience to make it through the slow parts-
And maybe a blanket if you’re reading outside.
And lastly:
9) They make you suspicious of “new and improved.”
I don’t know about you, but the last few years have made me feel more “burnt out on tech” than ever. These days, all I seem to read about is the newest billion-dollar AI company. It’s interesting. I also think it’s misguided.
We think the next big thing is inherently better.
But read a novel from 200 years ago-
And you might realize that “old” is exactly what you needed.
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