Classic literature often gets brushed aside as boring homework, but I think we lose something real when we replace Austen and Dickens with TikTok summaries. I used to roll my eyes at mandatory reading lists until I actually sat down with Pride and Prejudice at 25, and the wit hit me completely differently than it did in high school. Sure, the language is dense and some plots feel slow by modern standards, but the emotional truths about pride, prejudice, and social pressure haven't changed one bit. Should schools keep pushing these heavy novels, or are we just romanticizing the past while ignoring what today's students actually need?