The secret to reading more classics? Don’t treat them like homework.

I’ve been meaning to for years and thought my moment had come last winter, after a weekend spent researching the best translation for a Dostoevsky newbie. Then life happened, as it does, and the moment skittered on by. I set my brand-new copy on the shelf, and it has been sitting there ever since, spine uncracked, its pristine pages a testament to my lapse.

I don’t make this confession in shame. I read many wonderful books last year, some new releases, others longstanding members of my to-read pile. I offer it more in a spirit of solidarity.

If you’re reading this, I imagine you have your own _Crime and Punishment_ waiting patiently on your bookshelf or online wishlist — that classic you’ve always wanted to read but never got around to actually reading. It could be _Pride and Prejudice_ (1813) or _Great Expectations_ (1861) or _Brave New World_ (1932) or _In Cold Blood_ (1966). Heck, it may even be _Crime and Punishment_. (Like I said, solidarity.) For whatever reason, certain books elude our best intentions.

Maybe we worry their dated language and cultural references will overwhelm us. Maybe we’re afraid the book will reveal our shortcomings as readers, and just like in school, we’ll be embarrassed for “just not getting it.” Or maybe it’s just a thick old boy of a book, and honestly, where will we find the time? As familiar with the classics as I am, I’m equally familiar with these hesitations.

And for some readers, they don’t just pertain to a handful of books but classic literature as a whole. To help with this predicament, I reached out to my friend and colleague Henry Eliot. Eliot is an editor at Bloomsbury Publishing, a former editor at Penguin Classics, and the author of _Penguin Classics: In Search of the Best Books Ever Written_ (2019).

He also hosts the Substack book club Read the Classics with Henry Eliot. Which is to say: He’s read a lot of classic books. But before discussing how to approach the classics with more enthusiasm, our conversation turned toward the barriers that may keep readers from starting them in the first place.