LIMITED 9 dumb LITERATURE CLASSICS found!

I've been in that situation before – you know, when you find a book that everyone talks about as a classic, but it just doesn't click with you. It might have been in high school or later on, and maybe someone older recommended it or it was part of a literature class. Sometimes these classics don't live up to the excitement, either because they're not my style or they feel old-fashioned.

But guess what? It's 2023 now, and I don't have to spend time on books that might not be good for me. Just because a book is on a list of the top 501 books you should read in your life doesn't mean it's a must-read for me. Even if a book was really famous in the past, it doesn't mean it has to be a favorite forever.

People say classic books keep teaching us valuable things. But sometimes, classic books have been popular for a long time, and it's worth thinking about other choices. So, I've made a list of nine classic books that many people say are a must, but I personally don't think they're that great. Instead, I've picked nine other books that I believe are better options.

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE BY EDITH WHARTON

Is The Age of Innocence not a great book? No. Is its story not really interesting? Also no. It has some nice romance happening in a fancy, upper-class world. But is it super boring to read? Yes. I had to read it for one of my last college literature classes, and usually when I spend a lot of time analyzing a book I don't like, I end up finding something to like about it. The Age of Innocence was different. The more I looked at it, the less I wanted to deal with it. It's really slow, the characters aren't very exciting, and it's fine if you skip reading it.

ON THE ROAD BY JACK KEROUAC

I wanted to read On the Road after studying Beat poets in a poetry class. They were known for their cool and rebellious way of writing to shock people. Let's just say that anything On the Road was supposed to shock can stay back in the '50s. I get why writers like Kerouac were thought to be daring back then, but now it's just a mess, hard to understand, and full of stuff only a certain group of people would like, even if they felt like outsiders. Like Paris Geller once said, "Jack Kerouac, you need to edit!" Totally agree.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN

Listen, don't get mad at me, okay? I know Jane Austen is really respected in literature, and I'm not saying she's not. But just like The Age of Innocence by Wharton, books like Pride and Prejudice aren't that exciting, in my opinion. (If I had to suggest an Austen book, I'd say Persuasion.) I took a whole class about Austen in college, hoping to like her work since I never had before. But each book was more boring than the last. Maybe one day I'll try again, but we both know that's unlikely.

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE BY J. D. SALINGER

Don't be mad at me for this one either. I get why The Catcher in the Rye became famous and how its main character became a big deal in culture later on. But it doesn't hold up now, and I'm saying it like I see it. It's old-fashioned. Some teenagers might still find themselves in Holden Caulfield when they read it for the first time, but it's not super impressive if you read it for the first time in 2023.

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN

I didn't notice the racist parts in Huckleberry Finn when I was younger, but now I see they're really old and best to leave behind. Plus, it's not really helpful to read about childhood or boyhood. And with the racism in it, it's better to choose something else than Huckleberry Finn.

LOLITA BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV

The fact that this book is about a grown man having bad feelings about a 12-year-old girl should be reason enough for some to not read it. People say Nabokov's writing is beautiful, but the story is weird. For me, no matter how pretty the writing is, it's not enough to make up for such a strange story as Lolita.

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE BY MITCH ALBOM

I hope I don't upset anyone who really likes this book, but I'm just going to be honest: you'll feel the same warm feeling from a Hallmark card as you will from Tuesdays with Morrie. Okay, I know nowadays the idea of an older man giving wisdom to a younger man is used a lot, but it wasn't back when this book was first written. But reading this book in high school, I could've learned the same lessons from an inspiring quote on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

LITTLE WOMEN BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

Little Women is still a classic for being a story by women for women, but there are many other stories by women about women that deserve just as much attention. And stories about women by women of color that didn't get the same praise as Alcott did for Little Women. So it's not that the story isn't good or timeless; it's just time for more women's stories now.

MY LAST INNOCENT YEAR BY DAISY ALPERT FLORIN

Think of My Last Innocent Year like a modern version of Lolita, but told from a woman's perspective. Isabel Rosen is in her last year at Wilder College in New Hampshire when she starts to like her new creative writing professor, R.H. Connelly. Their relationship isn't forced, but as the adults around her struggle, Isabel realizes the power dynamics in her relationship with her professor.