Why Read the Classics: Through the Eyes of Thomas Hardy

         To find a person who loves that same book as you is a wonderful and enjoyable experience.  Often, the books we discuss with others are part of an elite group of novels called the classics.  Most people have at least heard of these books, even if they have not read them.  One of these novels is Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.  This famous tale of love has been hailed as a classic for decades, touching millions of hearts.  However, what makes this book a classic?  This is the question Calvino, in his article, “Why Read the Classics?” seeks to answer.  Why are some books, specifically Far from the Madding Crowd, considered classics while other books are left in the shadows?  In this paper, we will look at the idea of classics with the help of Hardy and Calvino, as well as what it means to have our own classics. 

         Calvino states that classics are treasured by readers who love them.  Both now and at its publication, people were enthralled by the drama of Far from the Madding Crowd.  Its complex characters and vivid scenes drew many followers, even while pushing some way.  However, this reaction to the classics is common.  People tend to experience strong emotions toward the classic books, whether it be love or hate.  To these novels, one “cannot feel indifferent” (Calvino, p. 3).  They draw us out of our shells of tolerance and expose our beliefs that we did not even know existed.  Some books rub against the grain of a person’s preferences, while others run in tandem with them.  Either way, the response is impassioned.  Far from the Madding draws out our feelings about love, loyalty, and the modern woman.  It makes us think deeply about strong female characters as Bathsheba pulls the strings.  It helps us understand independence and its significance in the 1800s.  It shows us what we did not know before. 

This leads to the idea that great books leave a mark on society.  Hardy was a modernist ahead of the times.  He showed women, especially Bathsheba Everdene, as independent and capable.  She operated her own farm, commanding the men under her with a firm hand.  When she went to the market of farmers, we heard her inner dialogue about remaining stoic and professional.  She presented a fortified front so that they men knew they could not trifle with her.  Bathsheba was a bold and confident female character.  Shortly after Hardy’s career as an author of these strong female books, the idea of the modern woman started to spread and increase in power.  It still was not till the 1900s that real progress was made, but I believe Hardy can be credited with some of the momentum of the women’s movement.  His character Bathsheba showed society that a woman could be desirable as well as strong.  She did not need a man to run the farm or look after her.  She sought love for her own happiness, not out of necessity.  As Calvino states, these books carry “in their wake the traces they themselves have left on culture” (Calvino, p. 2).  This is true, not only in Hardys time, but also now. We still see the effects of this novel.  In 2008, Suzanne Collins published the first book in her world-famous series, the Hunger Games.  These novels presented a strong, independent girl named Katniss Everdeen, who received her name from Bathsheba.  In 2015, there was a movie adaptation of the book that did well at the box office.  These lingering effects of the novel show that, not only were 1800s readers fascinated by this classic, but so are readers of today.  This book has stayed with us through the centuries and made an impact on society for the progress of women.  This marks it as a classic, at least in Calvino’s opinion.  It still has things to say to us, even years later. 

While this book was written in a time when women held little power, we are reading it in a time where that is changing.  However, in both times, this book has had something to say.  Calvino states that “Even if the books have remained the same…we have most certainly changed, and our encounter will be an entirely new thing” (Calvino, p. 2).  In other words, true classics never fall silent.  They have something to say into every moment of history.  The way Far from the Madding Crowd was heard in the 1800s was different than how we hear it in our own day and age, but it is nonetheless valuable.  In this way, we are always re-reading the classics and interpreting them in new ways.  While this novel was progressive and thrilling in its own time, as Bathsheba paved the way for more female characters like her.  The book is still heartwarming and thought provoking in our own time, where women have more power, partially thanks to Bathsheba.  To Calvino, this is the kind of book that earns the title of a classic.

         Calvino makes several insightful points in his article about the classics, but I would disagree with him on one point.  Despite differing views on a novel, Calvino claims that when we read a book, we know whether it is a classic or not.  He writes that when we read a book, we can “Instantly recognize its place in the family tree (of classics)” (Calvino, p. 4).  In the case of Far from the Madding Crowd, culture seems to have decided this already.  The very fact that I am writing this paper is a testament to the station it holds in literature.  People saw something in these pages that spoke to them.  They wanted to re-read, if only to understand in a new way.  In this way, the book stayed with people.  It placed itself in the minds of its readers and refused to be eliminated.  This begs the question of how are we to know if something is a classic if we have already been told by society that it is?  Yes, other people saw it as a great work of literature, but we cannot see the novel without the historical context.  Does this not take away the whole idea of sensing a classic?  What if you did not encounter Far from the Madding Crowd as a classic?  Without this pressure, how would you feel about the book?  Would you identify it as a classic?  Would you like the story?  How would this change your perspective?  This being said, if you disagreed about the status of the novel, you would most likely receive some push back.  If I were to claim that Tom Sawyer is not a classic, I would have to run screaming from the hoard of scholars, out to avenge the name of Mark Twain.  These books have been put in a place of power that is not easily challenged.  With this in mind, are classics really just the result of social pressure or are they genuinely the result of an English major’s sixth sense for literature?

This also brings up the question of how we discover classics in our own day.  Calvino claims we will recognize them, but do we not wait for culture and universities to tell us what books are classics?  We say things like “I wonder what books will become classics?” or “What books will kids be reading in schools 100 years from now?”.  Most people do not feel that they have the authority to name a classic, that the world must give its permission.  However, I believe we can name our own classics.  Calvino recalls a man he knew that was deeply connected to the Pickwick Papers.  This man had read many books, but this one embodied who he was as a reader.  This novel became his book.  Calvino says that we can all find our book by “reading without bias” (Calvino, p. 3).  In other words, we pick our classics.  Just as Calvino set up his criteria for a classic, so must we.  By reading the classics, we can find the ones that fit with who we are.  These books call to something in us, helping us understand ourselves in a whole new way.  They show us what we can be and what we can do.  Not only can we read the classics in this way, but so to can we read the literature that is still be written.  I refuse to believe that a classic is only a book that has been acknowledged by society.  My classics are the ones that make me love literature in a way that I did not know was possible.  The Alice Network, The Prisoner of Azkaban, and Strange the Dreamer are classics to me, even though they are not to the world.  This is why we must read.  We must dive into literature and trust that we will find the novels that will become our classics.  To read is to trust that there are things worth reading in this world, and possibly a place for our own voice as well.  We find part of our souls in the books we love; in the way they name us. 

Schenk, Leslie, et al. “Why Read the Classics?” World Literature Today, vol. 74, no. 2, 2000, p. 428., https://doi.org/10.2307/40155751.