the classics?

someone's copy of war and peace compared to a MacBook Air

I've been trying to increase my "bookage" and knowledge base by reading more.
I love reading, I just wish it didn't take so much time. (I am a rapid reader, but it still takes so much time!)

I recently bought "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. I've been reading a few pages here and there. I'm a few chapters in. So far, so good.

There are a great many characters with similar names, however.
I may have to create my own dramatis personæ, (yay Latin!) so I can keep up with who is who.
So many princes, viscounts, and princesses.
If I can get through this book, and keep all of the characters straight, I will feel accomplished.

....

1984.
Madame Bovary.
The Grapes of Wrath.
Great Expectations.
The Old Man and the Sea.
Les Miserables.
The Picture of Dorian Gray. 
The Good Earth.
The Scarlet Letter.
Wuthering Heights. 
...I could go on...


All of these are "classics".  Yet all of these books are, to me, depressing. There are good parts, but there are also a great many sad parts. They end on a minor, depressed note.

I attribute it to the fact that many writers were also slight nutjobs.

For example?
Virginia Woolf. That woman was insane, I tell you. Absolutely bonkers.

Edgar Allan Poe was no better, marrying his 13-year-old cousin. He went off the deep end, too.

Jane Austen, though she wrote fabulous romances, had a rather bittersweet love life of her own. 

Charles Dickens? Well, his novels greatly reflect his own morose outlook. His life was no cake walk. 

Lewis Carroll? Holy cow, that man had issues. I'm not saying any more about him.


Many of the great writers seem to have led melancholy and pensive lives.  I'm sure there are exceptions...perhaps. Do you know of any?

I suppose sad events are what could drive one to pen, paper, and hours of solitary confinement.

Book-writing is hardly a social task. You agree with me on that, right?

But what I will note about many (ok, some) of the classic novels: they are well-crafted.

They are written in such a way that they can grip you.
They make you muse and ponder things that in day-to-day life, you might not think of to wonder.
They broaden your thinking and scope of humanity; giving you insight into another human's mind.
For writing is thought, and thoughts are (sometimes) precious things.

...though, some thoughts need to be chucked. Some thoughts are best left to the writer.
The adage, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything"?
It still holds true.