Collecting the Classics

Old books get a raw deal from a lot of people today. 'Racist, misogynist, homophobic...' The litany is well-known to all. Old books aren't 'relevant' to modern society, we are told. Old writers are out of touch. Readers can't relate to the characters. Not enough diversity or inclusion. Blah, blah, blah.

One doesn't need to read about a character identical to themselves to relate to them. I certainly don't; I can't remember the last time I read a book with an introverted half-French, half-English Canadian protagonist with Asperger's. But I relate to a lot of characters that I've read. Most readers do, regardless of what the character looks like in description. The classics, however, transcend such nonsense altogether. Anyone can relate to them, if they so choose. Anyone can read them and learn from them, if they so choose.

I find the older books simply more entertaining than modern stuff. There are always exceptions to that, of course; there are some great modern books that I enjoy. But they don't qualify as 'classics' just yet.

So, what classics am I talking about collecting? Children's classics, mostly. Things younger boys and girls can read and relate to. Why younger readers? For a couple of reasons. First, they have more time to read than most adults do. Second, they don't worry about 'relatability' or other such modern ideas; they just want to read a fun story. Third, these are fun stories. Adventures that take place all around the world, or even outside of the world. Alice in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz are two great examples of books that kids still love today. The characters are memorable and fun, the stories are exciting and easy to read, and their impact on culture to this day can't be ignored.

I've got a nice list of older kids' books that I've given to my boys to read during the homeschooling years. I'm hoping to get Garrett reading more as he gets older and comes out of his autism. He already loves listening to Alice and Dorothy's adventures. He doesn't care that they're girls; the stories are great. And that's why they are classics.

There are fourteen Oz books written by the original author, L. Frank Baum. Everyone knows about the first one thanks to the Judy Garland movie. But I actually preferred the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, when I was a kid. Others in the series include Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, and The Road to Oz, to name a few. With each book, Baum expanded Oz and its environs, adding new characters while retaining the favorites like the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman (who appear in almost all the Baum Oz books). Today, there are online communities of Oz fans and lots of information, including maps, flags, dynastic lineages, history books, etc. Oz is more real than some places here on Earth.

I'm starting the third book with Garrett; I'd like to do some reviews on the Oz books as we go through; I'll do the first couple at some point this week, then as we continue through the books. Physical copies, not ebooks. Paper is better.