The Return of the Classics

I have a confession. I’ve been reading Great Expectations and have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Also, I’ve had a desire to read more classics. 

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!!!!

I know, I know. Yes, this is the same person who, just two years ago, wrote an entire blog post on why they hated Edgar Allen Poe and thought that classics were overrated. Is it because I’m freshly 18 and my frontal lobe is developing? Perhaps. Is it because Great Expectations is being taught to me in a way that’s entertaining? Probably. But, most of all, is it because a lot of these classics are on Banned Books lists? Almost definitely. 

Perhaps it’s some teenagery instinct in me to want something more when someone’s told me I can’t have it. I want to know so badly what people who ban books don’t want me to see. I would venture to guess that this is why my To Be Read list this year does have a substantial section made up of books on these banned lists. 

Banned books have been increasing in number in the past few years. The 2023-2024 school year had over 10,000 book bans with over 4000 titles removed from shelves in schools. The books on these lists deal with a variety of topics, many of which involve “themes related to race, sexuality, and gender identity” (Pen.org). Restricting access to certain perspectives and topics is really damaging to students: it changes “what [students] believe about themselves and also what they believe about others,” which not only affects how people treat each other, but also can cause students to create biases about students whose stories they don’t see. Also, books banned on pieces of history erase parts of that history, and cause students to misunderstand what actually happened. (Columbia.edu)

As I get older, I’m beginning to fully understand the importance of reading about different perspectives on history, as well as other people’s lived experiences. So to help give myself, and any interested readers, a head start, here are the books on my list right now (some courtesy of Goodreads’ banned books list). 

1. 1984 by George Orwell 
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
9. A Secret History by Donna Tartt
10. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
11. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
12. I’m Glad my Mom Died Jennette McCurdy
13. We Both Laughed in Pleasure by Lou Sullivan

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson