importance of classic editions

For this blog I have decided to take a different approach.  Instead of talking about something that we have read, I want to talk about today’s class period.  Today we went to the MASC section of the library.  I previously never had been to this part of the school here.  I wasn’t expecting much, but when I got there I realized I was in a truly special place.

Yes, there was just a bunch of old books laid out on a table, but to me that is a very important thing.  It’s one thing to talk about historic greats in literature and all, but it is important to have examples of things of the past.  For me, if I have a standard new releasing of a Charles Dickens novel, I’m really not going to be all excited for it.  On the other hand, if I see the same novel just one hundred years older, I am going to be more interested.  Even if I can’t actually keep the older editions, which is fine with me because I am afraid of damaging them, I still feel a little more connected with the work.

This is an important tradition to keep up.  While classics are nice to read, to be able to see an actual classic version of it adds a little something extra for the student….at least I think so.  Right now I read books that have just came out.  The last thought in my mind is always, “is this going to be taught as a classical novel one day?”  The fact is we never know.  I think it would be good to always have a stock of novels just in case they become classics in later years.  In my experience I’ve noticed that more times than not a novel becomes popular after sometime, rather than later.

With the cinematic world taking over popular novels, most people will remember films over books.  I feel that as long as we keep classics and take good care of them, it will help them be remembered for a long time to come.