Why I read classics

Friend LB asked me last night what good books I've read  lately, which is always a difficult question for me to answer - usually people are asking what good new books I've read, and there aren't that many - it's like asking what great paintings have you seen lately - most likely the answer will be a Cezanne or a Van Gogh or something from a museum rather than a contemporary work in a gallery, right? That said, right to the top of the list goes The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers - and LB enthusiastically agreed that it was an amazing book, especially as a debut novel - smart and moving and scary and beautifully written. After that, the deluge  of mediocrity. We both had the same reaction, btw, to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, which is often compared with or grouped with Yellow Birds as they came out at about the same time and both deal with the brutal aftereffects of the Iraq war, but I found after some initial promise that Billy  Lynn just went nowhere and I abandoned it about halfway through - in an earlier post I asked if others had the same thoughts or if I was just cranky and out of synch - LB confirms it's not just me  - some novels get strong reviews because they deal seriously with admirable subjects - noble intentions not make a novel, film, or documentary any good. The only other recent readings that come right to mind as recommendations are several classics - Tale of Two Cities, for fun, and Middlemarch, as one of the monumental works of English lit. and totally compelling and impressive in every line. Later in the year I'll go back and review my readings and post my 2013  list.