A guy at our library book club said we should only read classics now

We were picking our next book in the community room last Tuesday, and Mark argued that modern fiction is a waste of time compared to Dickens or Austen. I pushed back, saying new stories can be just as good and reflect our current world. Where do you stand on classics versus contemporary books for a club?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.sarah9d ago

Mark's got a point, classics are proven.

abby_harris9d ago

Disagree completely. Classics are great but they only show one slice of life, mostly from old, dead white guys. A book club stuck in the past misses out on so many amazing voices happening right now. Sarah might think classics are proven, but that just means they're safe. Where's the fun in only reading what everyone already agrees is good? We need stories that speak to our actual lives now, not just what people thought was important 200 years ago. Why should a club ignore all the brilliant authors working today?