Why study literature from the past?

Old dusty books scattered around a room, perhaps in a study, or on shelves that haven’t been touched for years, maybe since you studied at school. And even then, you only looked at the books to study for exams. On that note, why did we have to study those books, from authors long dead? It may appear as though studying literature from the past has little to offer us in the present. Pointless, even. Yet, if there was a point to this, what would that point be?

There are multiple answers to that question. To begin with, every time we read a book that has been written or set in the past, we are able to discover ways of lives that we would not be able to experience in a present time. When we read, we learn about how people have lived in the past, what they felt, the people that they knew. Books provide a gateway to the past.

Reading about the history and the lives that people led also teaches us about the present. What lessons can we learn from those who lived before us? Will we make the same mistakes? Or, will we learn from them and ensure that they don’t get repeated? Only time can tell.

Also, literature helps us to better understand the world we live in. Events that happen in the present often mirror those that have occurred in the past. When an author puts pen to paper, they are often drawing from personal experience. Think about, for instance, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The book was a product of his lived experience of America in the 1920s.

Lastly, the last answer to this question is, and arguably the most important: enjoyment! The stories from the past endure to the present because people gain pleasure from them, and read simply for fun.

Time to dust off those books then, and discover for yourself the journeys that past literature can take you on. If you would like to begin, or indeed continue, your voyage with literature, with The Great Gatsby, Peter Davies’ book is a good place to start. It can be purchased here on the Greenwich Exchange website.