Pairing Classic and Contemporary Books

Read an older work alongside a newer one that responds to it, to see literature as a conversation.

Literature is a long conversation across centuries, and one of the most enjoyable ways to join it is through pairings: reading a classic alongside a contemporary work that responds to, retells, or argues with it. Many modern novels retell myths from a minor character's point of view, reimagine older plays in new settings, or answer older books that left certain voices out. Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), for instance, imagines the life of a character who appears in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847) only as a mysterious, silenced figure.

Reading them together changes both: the earlier novel's assumptions become visible, and the later one's choices gain meaning. Consider an original pairing idea: an ancient epic about a warrior's journey, paired with a contemporary novel told by the warrior's wife waiting at home. When you finish a pairing, ask: what does the newer book notice that the older one ignored, and what does the older book still do that the newer cannot?

• 1Pair a classic with a modern work that responds to it.
• 2Retellings often center minor or silenced characters.
• 3Each book changes how you read the other.