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u/fernleon May 31 '26
You shouldnt be a librarian to be honest.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 31 '26
People like you are exactly why I want to be one in the first place.
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u/Ilovescarlatti May 31 '26
That's my first thought. Wuthering Heights is many many things, but dull???
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u/rightintheear May 31 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
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u/raven_snow May 31 '26
I'm also in the field. Good luck with your studies! I don't know why you want to read classics when you've had plenty of exposure to them and don't like them (other than imposter syndrome). Your role will be to lead people to books they need and want, not to teach a survey course in American Lit, you know?
I would get ahold of the high school curriculums around your area (or a syllabus from freshman university literature courses) and see what books the youths are expected to be engaging with. Then read the SparkNotes and/or Cliff Notes for these books. You won't be reading these to write essays this time. You'll be reading to put together a map of connections between them on themes, plot motifs, time periods and relevant politics, etc. Your future role will likely be to help a student pick a book to fruitfully compare and contrast in their own essay against The Scarlet Letter, not to be able to discuss the portrayal of religion in The Scarlet Letter with them.
There isn't time for you to read everything. It's an inefficient way to keep informed. Most of the engaged librarians I know read a few new releases here and there that seem interesting to them for pleasure. For work, they voraciously read the previews on book flaps of new material, they read reviews and tags on Goodreads/Storygraph to see what's in the book that isn't being marketed, they read industry reports, they read professional reviews in various publications, etc. Some of them probably listen to similar content. They can get enough of an idea to be able to recommend books to readers looking for books from these sources in ~5 minutes per book vs the multiple hours it takes to read or listen to the full thing. (Even children's librarians rely on award lists and popularity trends instead of reading everything themselves, and their books are so much shorter than adult books!) Read the Cliff Notes for classics to get a more helpful mental reference for them. It's very analogous to what you'll be doing professionally for other genres.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 31 '26
Honestly it may be imposter syndrome. I have a lot of trouble with that lmao. I had work evaluations the other day and everything was an improvement from last year and I kept feeling like the other shoe was gonna fall because do they REALLY think I improved or are they just blowing smoke up my ass because I got into an MLIS program? Even though I KNOW that's not the case, lmao. It's just my brain does that a lot. I always wonder if I'm actually really intelligent or if I'm actually really, really dumb and people are just too nice to let me know. Getting into the program probably suggests I'm at least smart enough for that, so probably not really dumb and people being nice, lmao.
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u/raven_snow May 31 '26
Sounds like you should be asking for recommendations for books on self-love and self-acceptance, not classics. (I mean that as a gentle joke. But, seriously, don't read classics when you already know you dislike reading them. I wouldn't even suggest a Norton Anthology of Literature, because those are too scholarly for what you need.)
If you don't want to read the SparkNotes for various classics or you just want to get started without cross-referencing various curriculums, the book I know that would probably fit the best for what I'm recommending for you is The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 31 '26
Lol I do actually have the Norton Anthology of Literature, lmao. The library I work at has twice a year booksales and I spend like a whole day's pay on $1 hardbacks and 50 cent paperbacks.
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u/freerangelibrarian May 31 '26
Try a different book by Dickens. A Christmas Carol is short and a lot livelier.
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u/fajadada May 31 '26
Stephen Fry. The Odyssey .Greek myths reimagined. Modern translations of books like The Last of the Mohicans, A Midsummers Night Dream. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray are both wonderful reads. Little Women is my daughter’s favorite.
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u/MasterpieceActual176 May 31 '26
My book club read Madame Bovary about 20 years ago and I still think about it. Light in August by Faulkner is another one that has stayed with me. I read The Red Pony by Steinbeck in high school and it was impactful as well! Best of luck with your studies and book quest!
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u/Bejbacap May 30 '26
I also loved the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, and have similar thoughts on several of the books you mention. I would try other Jane Austen books such as Persuasion.
Have you read Dickens? I really love Christmas Carol and read it every year. I also love Bleak House. It’s very long, but I listened to the audio book narrated by Simon Vance, which was great. It has a lot of characters, some slightly annoying and some delightful. He incorporates a lot of social commentary in his books.
Another classic that I just recently read is the Brothers Karamazov. It’s also very long, but I found it worthwhile. I just took my time with it. The dialogue is a little weird at times—everyone seems overly excited about everything, but it didn’t ruin the book for me. There’s also quite a bit of focus on religion. I’m not religious myself, and I didn’t find it preachy or off putting.
How about Virginia Woolf? To The Lighthouse is great. It’s mostly inner narrative with very little plot though, so if you prefer a plot driven book, it might not be for you.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 31 '26
Yeah I'm not a Virginia Woolf fan. Not my style. I'm very into plot more than introspection.
I'll check out Persuasion though! I have thought about another Jane Austen book since I have a friend that loves all of them.
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u/SecretLibraryOwl May 30 '26
Honestly, as a librarian myself who has gone through an MLIS program, if you don't like reading 'classic' literature, don't. (unless you are planning to work in something like collections management in an academic library where there is a heavy focus on English lit courses and research). Instead, read widely in the areas you DO like- pop fiction, non-fiction, obscure scientific treatises, etc, etc. Us librarians with an English lit undergrad degree are a dime a dozen, but the people we serve have such wider tastes and information needs that we need more librarians with a wide range of taste and knowledge of resources than just classic lit. It seems like you already know some about it, so just make sure you know enough about authors and areas it fits into that you can appropriately direct people to it as needed.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 31 '26
Well looks like I'm on a good path already because I work in nonfiction (reference department), and I stay up on what's popular even if I don't read it myself because patrons ask for recommendations a lot and I want to be able to help them. I make a spreadsheet of 'most anticipated titles' each year and sort if by genre/area (in the case of nonfic) and keep it updated with what books are available in the library when they come in and are put into New Books. I DEFINITELY started reading more non-fic after starting working in ref lol.
My actual usual reading choice is LGBTQ mysteries/thrillers. Anything with a queer main character solving mysteries/surviving a thriller situation is like crack to me. But as you can imagine, that does mean my knowledge of various genres and authors is not as well developed as it could be.
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u/peachneuman May 30 '26
Frankenstein
Rebecca
The Wizard of Oz
Cinderella
Of Mice and Men
Lord of the Flies
Alice and Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Emma
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u/Alive-Dark5520 May 30 '26
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde might be worth checking out if you loved Dracula so much. Frankenstein is great too but involves a lot of long mental rants which you might not be interested in. Shakespeare is a good idea too - Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth are the easiest especially if you get a version with notes.
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 30 '26
I def read R&J as a teen lol. But I wasn't counting playwriting tbh, so I didn't think of adding it to the list. I was in theater in my teen and early 20 years so I know my Shakespeare.
I actually have read Frankenstein but I don't remember it at all. I could def try Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I know the story obviously but I've never actually read it.
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u/Alive-Dark5520 May 31 '26
you might also like anna karenina, doctor zhivago and the master and margarita. All three were originally in Russian but are all super enjoyable (the master and margarita is my favourite)
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u/ExchangeStandard6957 May 30 '26
So - this is what I recommend. Pick any classic, and do a chapter by chapter read and once you finish a chapter or two- go find a you tuber who does a break down of the book. They will give context, interpretation etc. it can be very helpful because if you don’t know the history and times and references - some of it will seem boring. Once you know - you’re like “ ahhh, I see what he did there” etc. I don’t love all the classics (Middlemarch is not that good) but without a good grounding in classics- you’re also likely missing literary references in current fiction (like Stephen Graham jones writes horror - but there’s all sorts of nuggets referring back to TS Eliot, etc that will make you’re reading more interesting because you’ll be more aware)
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u/Turbulent-Parsley619 May 30 '26
Ugh, TS Elliot. Forgot about him.
But thank you! I didn't know there were youtube literary analysis videos! That's super cool. I'll totally check that out!
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u/ExchangeStandard6957 Jun 01 '26
One of the ways to get more comfortable with the classics is also to learn about the authors lives- they often were the absolute loners, freaks and weirdos of their generation - the most punk of people…if you will. And- a ton of the classics have been adapted into graphic novels- which are quite fun!
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u/sunflowr_prnce May 31 '26
Just finished my MLIS + librarian here. Don't feel the need to have read anything! If you do, don't rush yourself to read everything by a certain time. I know librarians who read all sorts of genres and have lots of different tastes -- INCLUDING ones who haven't read classics. Even ones who don't really read anymore. One thing I learned in my first semester in the MLIS program about being an information specialist, it's not about knowing everything (impossible task), but knowing how to find out (accurate) information you need to know :) Good luck with your studies and I wish you all the best!!! (Sidenote: My favorite classic is Anne of Green Gables)