Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
I like to read books too, but I understand that everything is derivative all the way back to before the nothingness. Just knowing that the classics are there, either stored locally on my SD card or somewhere in the cloud is usually enough. The ideas presented in the classics have replicated on down to everyone, virus like, as is the word's way. We don't really have to "read" the classics to understand them.
Is there a digested version of the classics available? lol, there's probably hundreds!
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Exactly.
Also, I'm not sure having a strategy is good or necessary for classics. Classics or not, these are just like any other book. Some are good, some aren't. If you're having trouble with a book and you're not enjoying it, don't bother with it.
If you're worried about not keeping up with intellectual company, just read summaries and analysis on Wikipedia or something to understand what it's about.
Personally, I enjoy the ancient history writers like Thucydides and Herodotus, but can't stand Plato. And as far as 19th century writers go, most of those classics are just trash. Approach classics like you would any other book you'd read now: Don't go for name recognition, read a summary of the book and if it's a book you would normally read if it wasn't a classic, then go for it.