If you’re like me, you know what it feels like to have impostor syndrome.
It’s when you’re successful – but you think it’s all just dumb luck. Your thoughts are a mess of shame and fear because oh my god I have no idea what I’m doing! They’ll soon figure out how stupid I actually am and then I’m screwed!
And that is why I’m here.
Because I absolutely believe that I’m clueless.
Not in every aspect of life – I know a lot about my favourite boyband. And weirdly enough, about cheese. Also: Greek mythology! But there’s one thing I barely know anything about: classic literature.
Why is that a problem, you might ask? Well… classic literature is part of my degree.
And while I’ll (hopefully) have my bachelor’s at the end of this year, I’ll have read – what, five? – whole works in that field. Five. How sad is that?
What made me start this blog
The following is my list of reasons for getting into classic literature and writing about it in a blog:
- I love the act of reading.
- I love the aesthetics of reading.
- I want to be perceived as (and really be) smart. I’ve given up on street smarts, so let’s go with the books.
- Classic literature is extremely hyped and there must be a reason for its success. I want to know what it is.
- I have a goldfish brain. I forget what I read. This blog helps me remember.
- I want to connect with people who relate!
Which brings us to our next questions:
What exactly do I mean when I say “classic literature”?
And what can you, my dearest reader, expect from my posts?
To me, “classic literature” is literature by mostly dead writers that stuck around – think Goethe, Austen, Dostoevsky.
I’m not here to lecture. I’m figuring it out as I go – but I can tell you this: for every book I read you’ll get a comprehensible summary – see Russian Literature or, for example, German Literature!
In Bookish Buffoonery, I’ll share my thoughts on what I’ve read with you. Make sure to check it out!
I’d love to take you along on my journey – of escaping impostor syndrome and jumping headfirst into a new world of self-education, awkward deep-dives into popular novels, literary crushes, unsolicited opinions about Booktok and whatever else my 20-something brain finds important this week.