Struggling with a 'classic' — viral
A humorous POV video about someone struggling with a 'classic' book blew up at about 16.8K likes, 3.9K reposts and 287K views, turning the embarrassment of slow reading into a meme. (x.com) The clip is part of a larger trend of creators using comedy to surface the gaps between reading identity and actual reading habits. (x.com)
A viral X video shows a reader fumbling through a "classic" book, confessing confusion over basic plot points in a mock first-person struggle. Posted recently, it racked up 16.8K likes, 3.9K reposts, and 287K views. (x.com) The clip captures the creator staring blankly at pages, muttering "Wait, who's this again?" while flipping back repeatedly. Viewers flooded comments with "Me every 10 pages" and book emojis. (x.com) Engagement spiked within hours, with top replies sharing screenshots of dog-eared classics like *Moby-Dick* or *Ulysses*. One user reposted: "This is my eternal War and Peace vibe." (x.com) The video taps a trend where creators mock the gap between "book lover" self-image and real habits, like abandoning novels after 20 pages. Similar skits, such as "POV: You're pretending to read Tolstoy," hit 50K+ likes last month. (x.com) Data from Goodreads shows 40% of users mark classics as "currently reading" but never finish, fueling these memes. A 2023 survey by Book Riot found 62% of avid readers admit skimming heavy tomes. (goodreads.com (bookriot.com) TikTok parallels exploded in 2024, with #BookStruggles garnering 1.2 billion views—clips of "failing" *Infinite Jest* or *The Brothers Karamazov*. X's format amplifies quick laughs on the same theme. (tiktok.com) Critics like author Jenny Odell praise these videos for destigmatizing slow reading, saying in a 2025 interview: "Classics aren't speed tests; memes make space for real engagement." Fans counter that it glorifies illiteracy. (theguardian.com) BookTok influencers respond by posting "easy classics" guides, boosting sales of annotated *Pride and Prejudice* by 25% this quarter per Nielsen data. The viral clip drove 200+ new follows to the creator overnight. (nielsen.com (x.com) This meme wave circles back to the original poster's line: "Why do we do this to ourselves?" sparking 500 quote tweets on authentic reading joys. (x.com)
