One of my fondest moments in my life came when I was about 10 years old. I was sick with... wait for it... bronchitis. (Yes, bronchitis has been with me for a long, long time!) Anyway, while tucked away in bed my mother opened my door and placed a stack of 8 or so BIG library books right next to me and said "Have fun reading!" What?!? Was she thinking I could read all those? She answered "Of course you can" and walked away. As usual, mothers know best and she was right. I became a BIG reader and some of my favorite times were walking to the local town library by myself and staying there for a long time while looking through all the rows and rows of books. Even now I can almost remember the 'smell' of the building and can almost 'see' the faces of the librarians. See the picture above!
I then went to college and took a course in Russian Literature and was obsessed with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I then moved on to British Literature and really found my stride: Austen, Dickens, Gaskell, the Bronte sisters, and George Eliot. My American favorites? Alcott, Steinbeck, Hawthorne, Wharton.
When asked, though, I could never really articulate WHY I loved all these "Classics." I found myself relying on standard phrases like "Timeless Treasures" or "Of Universal Appeal." What I didn't know, and couldn't know until I became a Christ-follower, is that good books embody themes of sin and suffering and (hopefully) redemption. While not overtly using words like 'sin' and 'depravity' and the 'human condition' our minds can be expanded to look at the grander perspective of life through characters who struggle as we do. In a word, there is 'meaning' behind the story.
There has been a revival in the last few years of encouraging Christians to engage with Classic Literature, aka BIG OLD BOOKS. Click here for the most recent article of this kind by Josh Irby published just a few days ago. [By the way, the author uses War and Peace as an example of how to read a book for the 'bigger perspective.' If you intend to read War and Peace and don't want any spoilers, you can skip those paragraphs.] I recommend that you read his column and hear from someone else the virtues of enhancing your spiritual life by the reading of good classic literature. As the author states: "As we spend hours observing the life of another—be it Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, or Churchill in the The Last Lion, or Pierre in War and Peace—we cannot help but reflect on our own life and the state of our souls."
Finally, Josh concludes his message with this statement: "So, read the Bible. No literature could ever take its place. Read great Christian books. We need to hear the voices of our brothers and sisters through the centuries. But also make time for great literature. Read Big Old Books and find your Christian life enriched."
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