If you want to read classics you just have to accept that they were written in a different era to what we live in now. Don't blindly accept each belief and moral they expressed, just accept that that's the way it was, right or wrong you can't undo what was believed then. If you think you'll be too distracted by opinions you differ from to get into the story, then don't read it. You'll miss the good, and just be miserable. Life's too short to read bad books, whatever your interpretation of bad is. Read the plot outline online, and be done with it.

Also reflect on how strongly defined your own values and beliefs are. The mind can't distinguish easily between truth and reality. That's why affirmations work, with repetition your brain believes it as true. Similarly, surrounding yourself with people, shows or books whose values are different to you, no matter how 'fun' they are, can lead to you accepting and then believing those different values, beliefs and morals.

I loved Trixie Belden as a girl and kept a fee books. A couple of years ago I came across them and decided to read one to see if my pre-teen daughter was ready for them. Nope. The plot was fun and pre-teen-exciting, but I could jot get past the author's habit of describing the physical characteristics of each character she introduced, within a few lines of their introduction (sometimes before their name) and ever good character being attractive and every bad character being unattractive. I knew that my daughter was too fixated on appearances at that stage to avoid taking on that 'pretty is good, ugly is bad' mentality.

But if you think you can let the negative, misogynistic, racist etc passages wash over you with just a 'glad we've grown as a society' thought and delve into the books, you may find a lot of good values and attributes we seem to have thrown out with the negative ones. Many classics, values aside, have a different 'formula' and tlrhyt to story telling than modern writing, which can also be enjoyable.

It's really up to you. Can you read the troubling passages without getting bogged down, blinded or swayed by them? If you can, go for it. And if you can't - and it's fine if you can't - then find something else to read.