Just realized classic literature isn't always better than modern stuff

I was in a book club for 3 years that only read books from before 1950. Everyone acted like anything modern was trash. Then we read "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett for a change and I was dead wrong about new authors being shallow. Has anyone else dumped the "old is better" mindset?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_sanchez9d ago

Getting out of that bubble sounds like it was rough. What worked for me was alternating old and new on purpose, like one classic then one contemporary. Picked up "The Great Gatsby" and it was fine, but next read "The Hate U Give" and it hit way harder because the language felt alive, not dusty. Reading something like "Beloved" from 1987 still feels modern in its voice, so the line is blurrier than people admit.

faith_torres839d ago

Wait, have you ever felt like you were faking it trying to like those "important" books? Because that was my whole book club experience. I read "Anna Karenina" and it was good but I didn't love it like everyone said I should. Then I picked up "Such a Fun Age" and it just clicked, you know? The voice felt so real and I was into it from the first page. I think people get stuck on the idea that old books are automatically deep because they survived, but some modern authors are just as sharp. Switching it up like that made me trust my own taste more, instead of trying to force myself to like things.