A Good Book

Or how to ruin it.

So there are certainly many good classics out there.  Gone with the Wind, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein, etc.  And there is one surefire way to destroy these books.  Make them required.  As I sit here, I listen to my sister complain about how boring the summer reading is, and how much she hates the mythology book she has to read.  Now, when I did that reading, I loved the book, but that's because I'm a huge lover of Greek mythology.  But I also read the book with the mindset of "Oh, this stuff is cool" rather than "Ugh, required reading," which I think makes all the difference.

This post isn't really about books.

When doing something becomes a chore, I think we tend to go through it quite mechanically rather than enjoying what could be an interesting experience.  For example, now that I'm not taking piano lessons, I find myself pretty excited to sit in front of a piano and sight read it.  I don't have to sit there and plod through the piece to get it perfect, memorize it, and present it to a teacher.  It is no longer a chore.  Which is a pity, since now I actually don't have anyone guiding me, my piano skills are deteriorating quite quickly.  Same with my violin. 

And I'm sure that my new obsession, makeup, would be a lot more boring if I had to attend a class or something on the different colors, makeup brushes, and application techniques. 

Things that are a hobby are just so much more interesting, even if they'll become boring the moment you put them in a classroom setting.  Quite honestly, reading The Odyssey in high school was really boring.  But I've reread it since (call me crazy), and I really liked it.  I also hated reading Great Expectations back in middle school.  I haven't read it since, because I got so bored by it.  Well, I haven't actually asked anyone who didn't read it in class if they liked it, but it has to be a classic for a reason, right?